Respected international judges join Freedom Under Law International Advisory Board
14 February 2024
Freedom under Law is pleased to announce that two internationally regarded retired judges, each known in particular for speaking out on the rule of law, judicial independence and the protection of human rights by both international law instruments and domestic constitutions, have agreed to serve on FUL’s International Advisory Board (IAB). They are former Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay of Zimbabwe and Justice Michael Kirby of Australia.
They fill vacancies left on the IAB by the deaths of Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu and Lord Steyn, both founder-members. They join Sir Sydney Kentridge, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Sir Jeffrey Jowell and Baroness Shami Chakrabarti.
FUL records its gratitude for the willingness of all these eminent figures to contribute their moral leadership and wisdom.
Anthony Gubbay obtained his BA degree at Wits and an MA and LL M at Cambridge. He joined the Bar in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) in 1957. In 1959 he was part of a team defending 100 members of the-then African National Congress of Southern Rhodesia in a challenge to the detention of 100 of its members without trial. Building an extensive practice he served as President of the Income Tax Appeal Tribunal and also the Patents Tribunal. In 1977 he was appointed to the High Court in Bulawayo, and thereafter to the Appellate Division in Harare. Justice Gubbay played an important role in the post-democratic court led first by Chief Justice John Fieldsend and thereafter Enoch Dumbutshena. Serving five times as Acting Chief Justice, Gubbay was appointed Chief Justice in 1990. He served in that position for 11 years, delivering a series of ground-breaking judgments affirming human rights. These ranged from freedom of speech and from arbitrary arrest to decriminalising homosexuality and asserting land rights.
In 2001 he was forced from office. The Supreme Court was allowed to be invaded, and he was threatened. He was replaced by a High Court judge, Godfrey Chidyausiku, who had served as a deputy minister, acting attorney-general and member of the Politburo of the ruling party.
Gubbay has received wide international recognition. He is an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn, a patron of the Association of Commonwealth Judges and Magistrates and was appointed to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Michael Kirby was a barrister specialising in industrial relations, the first chair of the Australian Law Reform Commission and appointed President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in 1984. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia (its highest court) from 1996 to 2009. He too became internationally known for his judgments, across many fields of law, but notably in the advancement of LGBT+ rights.
The lives of the two prominent Commonwealth judges have intersected in many ways. They were both strong proponents (with later Chief Justice Mahomed of South Africa) of the application of international rights instruments in domestic law, beginning with the Bangolore Principles and Harare Declaration. Both attended the ground-breaking Bloemfontein Colloquium in 1993 chaired by former Chief Justice Corbett, in which some senior South African judges and counsel also participated. Both have been recipients of the Gruber Prize for Justice, other decorations and honorary doctorates.
See: https://www.freedomunderlaw.org/international-advisory-board/
