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and International Courts

African Women

Click below to read our background paper:

African Women Judges on International Courts: Symbolic or Substantive Gains?

Ntyam Ondo Mengue

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR)

CAMEROON

Justice Ntyam Mengue is a Cameroonian jurist and judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Born in the Vallée-du-Ntem in 1954, Justice Mengue attended the National School of Administration and Magistracy and graduated in 1982. She worked as a deputy public prosecutor from 1982 to 1987. In 1990, she became President of the Court of First Instance in Yaoundé before becoming Vice President of the Court of Appeal in 1992. In 1998, she became a Counsellor of the Supreme Court of Cameroon, and in 2001, she was nominated as a permanent judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Mengue became President of the Administrative section of the Supreme Court of Cameroon in 2010 and remained in that position until 2015 when she became President of the Court’s Commercial Section. Mengue was elected as a judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2016, where she continues to serve today. Mengue has also been a member of the National Commission of Human Rights and Freedoms of Cameroon since 2003.

Elsie Nwanwuri Thompson

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR)

NIGERIA

Elsie Thompson is a judge of the High Court of Rivers State, Nigeria. Born and raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, she earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from Queen Mary College University London and was admitted to the English bar in 1984. A year later, she was admitted to the Nigerian bar after receiving vocational training from the Nigerian Law School, and spent 20 years working on human rights cases in private legal practice.

In 1998, Junior Chamber International named her one of its ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the year’. She was heavily involved in the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). Cases that she covered ranged from inheritance to divorce settlements, domestic violence, matrimonial causes, and maintenance. She served as State Chairperson from 1997 to 2001, Deputy Country Vice-President from 2001 to 2003, Country President from 2003 to 2005, and as Regional Vice-President for Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was also the first Nigerian to be elected to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for a six-year term in 2010.

Whilst at the Court she served as Vice President from 2014 to 2016. Thompson dedicated herself to service relatively early in her career by launching a law clinic where lawyers offered free legal services to less fortunate individuals who were incarcerated without legal representation. This initiative earned her a State Merit Award in 1986 and was replicated across Nigeria so that more indigent individuals were given access to pro-Bono legal representation. Other awards that she has received include the Trail Blazer Award from the Nigerian Bar Association Women Interest Section and FIDA Nigeria’s Award of Excellence. She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges Nigeria, the Honorable Society of Gray’s Inn, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK.

Marie Thérèse Mukamulisa

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR)

RWANDA

Justice Marie Mukamulisa is a Rwandan jurist who was appointed judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in July 2016 for a six-year term. Justice Mukamulisa received her law degree in Civil Law from the National University of Rwanda, and her LLB in Common Law from the University of Moncton, New Brunswick. She also has a Masters in Genocide Studies and Prevention, which she obtained from the Center for Conflict Management at the National University of Rwanda.

Before serving in the African Court, Mukamulisa held many high-level positions. For example, she was one of the twelve commissioners who drafted the Rwanda post-genocide Constitution and was a lecturer of Comparative Law at the National University of Rwanda. She was also Legal Counsel and Executive Secretary of the Consultative Council of Support Organizations for Basic Initiatives (CCOAIB), an umbrella organization of NGOs in Rwanda.

Justice Mukamulisa was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Rwanda in 2003 and used her platform to shed a light on women and children’s issues within the judiciary. In 2015, she became a member of the High Judicial Council of Rwanda, as well as several international judicial networks such as the International Hague Network of Judges (IHNJ). She was appointed judge of the African Court during the 27th African Union Summit.

Qinisile Mabuza

Common Court for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA)

ESWATINI

Qinisile Mabuza made history when she became the first female attorney in Swaziland in 1978. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland and her Master of Laws from the University of South Africa, where she specialized in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. Between 1994 and 2005, Qinisile served as a Non-Executive Director of the Central Bank of Swaziland and simultaneously as Chairperson of the Swaziland Road Transportation Board (1994-1997) and a lecturer at the University of Swaziland (2002 – 2005). Her depth of knowledge and experience led to her appointment on several Commissions of Enquiry including chairing the 2005 Phala Fund Enquiry.

Judge Mabuza was appointed as Judge of the High Court of Swaziland in 2005. Prior to that appointment, she was a Founding Partner and Attorney at Q.M. Mabuza and Associates. In 2016, she was appointed as a judge of the court of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and subsequently as Principal Judge of the COMESA Court – First Instance Division where she continues to serve in that role coupled with her second term as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists following her election in 2013. Mabuza’s call for debates on legalizing abortion, enhancing redress and accountability for sexual and gender-based violence, and her landmark case which gave married women the right to own and administer property in their own names in Swaziland are explicit depictions of her advocacy for gender equality.

Hortense Rabenjarivelo

Common Court for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA)

MADAGASCAR

Hortense Rabenjarivelo neé Rakotomena made history when she became the First President of the Court of Appeal of Antananarivo, Madagascar. She was born in 1951 and holds a Bachelor of Laws degree, specializing in trade, lease, and rents, provisional defense amongst others. Hortense was appointed as a judge of the First Instance Division of the COMESA Court of Justice in 2005 for an initial term of three years. Her tenure of office was renewed at the Thirteenth Summit of the COMESA Authority in 2009 and finally came to an end in 2015 after ten years of dedicated service. Other roles Judge Hortense has occupied include the Alternate President for the Succession Chamber Responsible for Matrimonial Systems, Contract, Civil and Criminal Cases, a judge in the Magistrates Court, and an advisor in the Antananarivo Court of Appeal.

Clotilde Mukamurera

Common Court for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA)

RWANDA

Clotilde Mukamurera was born in 1971 in the Southern Province of Rwanda. From a humble background in Nyamagabe, she had her secondary school education at Ecole Sociale de Karubanda. After which she earned her first degree in Law at the University of Rwanda. Clotilde holds a Master of Laws degree in Business Law from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and has trained in banking, procurement, arbitration, leasing, and intellectual property. Judge Mukamurera’s judiciary career began in 2000 as a Judge at Gisenyi Intermediate Court and later Vice President of the Rusizi Intermediate Court. She has served as a member of the High Council of the Judiciary since 2008. Before being elected to serve as a judge in the Court of Justice of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) – First Instance Division, Justice Clotilde Mukamurera served as a Commercial High Court Judge and continues to serve in that position. She was elected to serve COMESA after garnering 13 of the 15 cast votes. She is one of the three women serving on a panel of seven members at the First Instance Division.

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