Paul Kadushi is the first Animal Law LLM student from Tanzania and a recipient of the Center for Animal Law Studies’ International Advocates Animal Law LLM Scholarship. Paul’s career is defined by his achievements in the fight against illicit wildlife trafficking through prosecution in Tanzania. In 2015, when he assumed the position of Head of Environmental Crimes Section, in the National Prosecutions Service (NPS), Tanzania was faced with the worst ever crisis of elephants poaching. During his tenure as Chief Prosecution Attorney of wildlife cases across the country, he led a dedicated team of prosecutors in securing successful prosecutions of high level wildlife and organized crime offenders which played a pivotal role in the fight against illegal wildlife trade. His dedicated efforts further culminated into successful execution of numerous Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition Requests received and submitted by Tanzania.
He has devotedly worked with local and international organizations in various aspects including capacity building and training workshops for wildlife officers, investigators, and prosecutors of wildlife cases across the globe. Notably, he led a technical working group from NPS which collaborated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the development and ultimate publication of a Rapid Reference Guide for Investigation and Prosecution of Wildlife and Forestry Crimes, which was issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions as Directive No. 1 of 2017.
Paul has worked closely with INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group and INTERPOL Project Wisdom, an initiative created to conserve elephants and rhinos. He has also been involved in various projects run by East Africa Regional Offices of UNODC and TRAFFIC/WWF. He is currently the Director of Asset Forfeiture, Transnational and Specialized Crimes Division in the NPS, Tanzania and also serves as Board Member of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL). He was admitted in the Roll of Advocates in Tanzania in 2011.
“I chose to join this exciting and rapidly growing field of animal law to broaden my academic horizon on aspects of animal welfare and other forms of protection of animal rights in general. Being in a strategic position, I intend to use knowledge to be acquired in the Animal Law LLM Program to influence and lobby legal and institutional reforms in Tanzania to safeguard, enhance and foster interests and welfare of all categories of animals in the criminal justice system.”