Lord Abernethy was called to the Bar at Inner Temple, London, in 1963 and admitted as a member of the Faculty of Advocates (Scottish Bar) in 1966. He was made Queen’s Counsel (Scotland) in 1979 and was elevated to Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland (Judge of the Supreme Court) in 1992, where he served until 2007. He has held many senior positions in national and international organisations (including the International Bar Association) and serves as a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Botswana.

Keith Baker
Keith Baker is a London Solicitor and an individual member of the International Bar Association for some 25 years, specialising in cross-border private client work. He is a past Chair of the Individual Tax and Private Client Committee and past Treasurer of the former Section on General Practice. Currently he is a trustee of the IBA Charitable Trust and Educational Trust, a member of the Audit Committee and a member of the Computer and Database Committee.

Sisonke Msimang
Sisonke Msimang was appointed as Executive Director of OSISA in September 2008.  Sisonke hase extensive experience working on issues of human rights and democracy in Southern Africa.  For over fifteen years she has been actively engaged in issues fo HIV and AIDS and human rights.  She has worked for a range of bilateral and multilateral agencies including the Australian Agency for International Development and various United Nations Agencies.  In addition she has worked in the academic aren, having done a stint at the African Gender Institute (AGI), based at the University of Cape Town.

Tawanda Mutasah
Open Society Institute

In addition to his legal background, Tawandah Mutasah has a history in human rights and policy work in Southern Africa. He is presently serving as Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), a part of the global Soros Network of Foundations.

Louise Oliver
Louise Olivier is the Law Programme Manager responsible for rule of law and access to justice programmes in the region.  Prior to joining OSISA, Louise worked as a consultant who travelled extensively across Africa for various non-governmental organisations, including the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA).  Before that Louise worked for the Independent Electoral Commission of Southern Africa where she obeserved the 2004 South African elections as well as the 2006 elections in the DRC. 

Dr. Phillip Tahmindjis
Deputy Director, Human Rights Institute, IBA

Phillip Tahmindjis was a Professor of Law teaching human rights in Australia, North America and Hong Kong, as well as a consultant to government and private industry on human rights and discrimination issues. He was a member of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal and has published four books and numerous articles in this field. He is currently Deputy Director of the IBA’s Human Rights Institute.

Beatrice Mtetwa

A prominent media lawyer, she has defended many journalists in Zimbabwe who have been detained and harassed.  In a country where the law is used as a weapon against independent journalists, Mtetwa has defended journalists and argued for press freedom, all at great personal risk.