Agaaya Adongo is a Ghanaian lawyer and a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) candidate at Yale Law School, where he earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 2025. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree, graduating with First Class Honours (summa cum laude), from the University of Ghana in 2021 and a B.L. Professional Law qualification from the Ghana School of Law in 2023. Prior to commencing his doctoral research at Yale, Agaaya worked with the Office of the Attorney-General and the Ministry of Justice in Ghana and the Research Unit at the University of Ghana School of Law. He had previously worked with Ayine & Partners, an Accra-based Ghanaian law firm.
Agaaya’s research interests broadly encompass questions on African agency in international norm-making. His doctoral research examines the degree to which African customary maritime norms may establish sovereign rights and historic entitlements to the sea and the tension between these historic rights and the international law principle of uti possidetis juris. It further explores the treatment of these customary practices in colonial and immediate post-colonial contexts, especially in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and considers the extent to which they may inform contemporary approaches to maritime delimitation.
Doctoral Committee:
Professor Asli Bali (Co-Chair)
Professor Samuel Moyn (Co-Chair)
Professor Oona Hathaway (Reader)
Professor Daniel Esty (Reader)
Professor Idriss Fofana (Harvard Law School, Reader)
Education:
Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.), Yale Law School (in progress)
Master of Laws (LL.M.), Yale Law School (2025)
B.L. Professional Law, Ghana School of Law (2023)
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), University of Ghana (2021)
Contact Information:
agaaya.adongo@yale.edu