Ghizaal Haress

Visiting Lecturer

Biography

Ghizal Haress is an accomplished Afghan lawyer who currently resides in Canada. She was forced to leave Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. She is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, and Massey College.

Ghizal has an extensive record of public service in Afghanistan, having served as the country’s first Ombudsperson and the first woman to lead a law enforcement institution. Additionally, she was a parliament-confirmed Commissioner for Afghanistan’s Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution.

Ghizal has an academic career spanning over a decade, during which she served as an Assistant Professor and spent three years as the Chair of the Law department at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). Ghizal has made valuable contributions to legal textbooks as both a contributor and editor for the University, in collaboration with the Stanford Law School. Currently, she continues to teach Afghan students at AUAF virtually.