Cheick Sako

Dr. Cheick Sako is a renowned Guinean lawyer and politician, recognized for his commitment to the rule of law and an independent judiciary in Africa. Currently Vice-President in charge of Africa within the Strategic Committee of the Institut Prospective et Sécurité en Europe (IPSE), he continues to play a key role in strategic thinking on the continent.

Born in 1953 in Katy, Mali, to a Guinean father and a Malian mother, Cheick Sako grew up in Guinea, where he witnessed the political upheavals of the time. Fleeing the dictatorship of Sékou Touré, he went into exile in France in the 1970s. There, he pursued legal studies at the University of Montpellier, obtaining a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a postgraduate degree (DEA) in international law. He became a lawyer at the Montpellier Bar in 1991, where he practiced for more than 25 years while also teaching at the university’s Faculty of Law. He was also a member of the Montpellier Bar Council from 1998 to 2000.

In France, Cheick Sako became involved in the defense of human rights, notably through the association Juristes sans frontières, which he chaired in Montpellier, defending the values of secularism and fraternity.

In 2014, he was appointed Minister of State, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Guinea, under the presidency of Alpha Condé. During his tenure, he initiated major reforms, such as the establishment of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the abolition of the death penalty, and the revision of the Civil Code.