Mr. Ram is a retired lawyer/criminologist who has worked extensively in the development and enactment of Canadian legislation (1989-99) and the development, drafting and implementation of international treaties (1999-2021). He was employed as legal counsel with Canada’s Justice Department from 1989-2022, except for 1994-96 when he was a research fellow with the British Institute for International and Comparative Law in London, and 1999-2003, during which time was a member of the U.N. Secretariat in Vienna, supporting the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the negotiations which produced the 2000 Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention) and the 2003 Convention against Corruption (Merida Convention) (UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna).
He is the author or co-author of a number of U.N. reports on the rule of law, organized crime, terrorism, corruption, and related subjects, including the 2004 Anti Corruption Toolkit; served as the rapporteur for U.N. intergovernmental expert group processes on explosives trafficking, economic fraud and identity-related crime, and cybercrime (2000-2013); and was involved (2001-03) in internal U.N. anti-corruption and accountability matters. His primary interest and most recent focus has been on transnational and extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction, including with respect to jurisdiction over Canadian nationals and residents serving with the U.N. and other intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations.
Mr. Ram self-identifies as neurodivergent and a person with disabilities and is actively engaged in the pursuit of a range of equality, employment-equity and neurodiversity advocacy activities.