Sayed Hassan Amin (, born 28 November 1948) is an Iranian lawyer, philosopher, scholar, author and pro-democracy political figure.
Early life and education
Born in Sabzavar, Iran, Amin attended Tehran University at the age of 17 and obtained a bachelor in Law with distinction. After completing his apprenticeship in the Ministry of Justice he qualified as a judge, working in different judicial capacities in Iran while reading for his LLM (Masters in private law) at the University of Tehran.
He then went to Glasgow University in Scotland where he obtained his PhD in 1978 under the supervision of Professor John Grant, who was later the dean of the Faculty of Law at the same university as well as Professor of Law in Lewis & Clark law school.
Amin started his examinations and practical apprenticeship with solicitors under the regulations of the Faculty of Advocates in July 1980 in Scotland and was admitted as a member of the Faculty of Advocates on 10 July 1992.
Academic career
Amin started his academic career with an appointment as lecturer in law. After three years he became a Senior Lecturer in law, and after another five became Reader in law. He was appointed a visiting professor of international trade law in the faculty of law in Tehran University in October 1988. Finally, in April 1992, he was elevated to the rank of full-time Professor of Law at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Amin was a Visiting Professor and distinguished International scholar at Beijing Foreign Studies University, teaching in both the School of Law and the School of Asian and African Studies. He is currently an International Honorary Professor of Law at Hakim Sabzevari University in Iran.
Legal practice
Amin is an advocate in Scotland and an attorney at law in Iran. He qualified as a member of the Faculty of Advocates and practised international law at the Scottish bar, specialising in transnational law and in private international law with specific reference to Islamic and Iranian law. Amin was a Patron of the Prisoners Abroad and the Scottish Representative and a board member of World Development Movement as well as member of the Liberal Democrat Party and Amnesty International in the 1980s. His legal practice in Tehran is now primarily to give advice to European companies doing business with Iran and representing them in the Iranian Courts.
Specialty areas
Giving legal advice, opinion and expert evidence on all aspects of Iranian law in courts and tribunals worldwide. International and Comparative Law with particular reference to Iranian Law. Islamic and Iranian studies with particular reference to Philosophy, Law and Politics.
Academic credentials
Bachelor of Law, 1969, University of Tehran. Masters of Law, 1974, University of Glasgow. PhD in Law, 1979, University of Glasgow. (Joint prize of the Faculties of Law and Humanities, 1978.)
Publications
Amin has published more than 60 books and 200 research articles, as well as contributing to learned journals and encyclopedias. For the past 12 years he has been writing mostly in Persian. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Hafiz Monthly on Iranian studies of which 103 issues has been published over the past 10 years. His 1985 books, Middle East Legal Systems and Islamic Law in the Contemporary World: Introduction, Glossary and Bibliography, were widely reviewed, with the American Journal of International Law, a contribution to their field, essential to the international lawyer's library." He is also the Editor-in-Chief of literary journals Hafez and Iran-mehr. He began writing an encyclopedia about Iran with other academics in 2004.