Scott Leckie

Scott Leckie is an international human rights lawyer, academic, author, and social entrepreneur, recognized as a leading global expert on housing, land, and property rights. He has undertaken human rights work in over 80 countries. After conceiving and designing the UN Mission in Kosovo’s (UNMIK) Housing and Property Directorate in 1999, Scott Leckie settled over 29,000 restitution claims. As Executive Director of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) from 1991 to 2007, he served as Legal Counsel and UN Representative for Habitat International Coalition (1989-1999).

He authored a legal analysis of land grabbing in Myanmar and advised UNDP Uzbekistan on a new Housing Code in 2019, publishing a report on climate change case law in 2020. Most recently, Leckie coordinated major projects in 2021 focusing on Climate Displacement Havens and a feasibility study for a World Restitution Agency. Between 2022 and 2023, he coordinated significant projects on the Peninsula Principles on climate change within States. He has prevented forced evictions in the Dominican Republic, Panama, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Zambia, and supported HLP restitution rights for tens of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons in Kosovo, Georgia, Timor Leste, and Albania.