Retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo – President

Retired Chief Justice Ngcobo received an LLM degree from Harvard Law School concentrating on constitutional law and international human rights. He was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and a Harvard Law School Human Rights Fellowship. Retired Chief Justice Ngcobo gained extensive experience in the legal profession, both in South Africa and internationally, before being appointed to the Constitutional Court in 1999. In 2009 he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, a post he held until his retirement. Since his retirement he has chaired many Commissions and Panels and served as Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Namibia at the request of the President of the Republic of Namibia. Chief Justice Ngcobo was recently appointed as Chairperson of the Covid Vaccines Adverse Effects Fund. He is also known as a campaigner of judicial reform and piloted many judicial reform projects.

Edwin Glasgow CBE KC - Vice President

Edwin Glasgow CBE QC is a member of the bar of England and Wales practising as an arbitrator and mediator in 39 Essex Chambers in London, Singapore and Malaysia and is a judge of the Qatar Financial Regulatory Tribunal. He was the founding chairman of the Singapore International Mediation Centre and has conducted many hundreds of international and domestic arbitrations for most of the international arbitration institutions.

Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke – Vice President

Justice Moseneke practised for five years as an attorney and partner at the law firm Maluleke, Seriti and Moseneke, before he was called to the Bar and practised as an advocate in both Johannesburg and Pretoria. In 1993 he was elevated to the status of senior counsel and served on the technical committee that drafted the Interim Constitution. In 1994 he was appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission. In 1994 while practising as a silk, he accepted an acting appointment to the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court. Before his appointment as Justice of the Constitutional Court in November 2001, he was appointed as Judge of the High Court in Pretoria and in 2002 as a Judge in the Constitutional Court. In 2005 he served as Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa.

After leaving the Bar, he pursued a full-time corporate career and served as Chairperson of many leading companies in South Africa and as a director of a wide variety of businesses. Known for his “commitment to fairness and justice” he was awarded seven honorary doctorates, served as Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, named as the Executor of the Will of Nelson Mandela and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Adv Patrick Lane SC - Vice President

Mr. Lane is a member of the bar both in South Africa and London, after formerly practising as an Attorney. He is a member of the Maisels Group and 39 Essex Street Chambers. Mr. Lane acts as counsel and arbitrator under EU, ICC, DIAC, LCIA and UNCITRAL rules in domestic and international matters and has chaired and been a member of a number of Dispute Adjudication Boards. He is a Vice-Chair of the AFSA Board of directors and is a member of the CAJAC International Guiding Committee. Mr. Lane is a Chartered Arbitrator (CIArb) and an accredited arbitrator of HKIAC and SIAC, he has published and spoken regularly at both national and international conferences.

Dr Remy Gerbay - Vice President

Dr Gerbay is a partner in the arbitration group of Hughes Hubbard & Reed in Washington DC, and an academic based at Queen Mary University of London’s School of International Arbitration. Remy was formerly Deputy Registrar of the LCIA and acting Registrar of DIFC-LCIA. He frequently sits as arbitrator in international disputes and serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of International Arbitration and the ICC Bulletin. He is co-Chair of the American Society of International Law’s dispute resolution group.

Jonathan Ripley-Evans - Vice President

Mr. Ripley-Evans is a Director at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP based in Johannesburg. He has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution, in particular arbitration and mediation, and general commercial litigation. He is an AFSA accredited mediator and arbitrator, a board member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, SA Branch, and a committee member of both AFSA International and AFSA Construction.

Adv Michael Kuper SC

Advocate Kuper SC was the convener of the joint venture between the legal and accounting professions and the Chamber of Business to establish AFSA for the purpose of providing administered arbitration and mediation in the Southern African region and the establishment of an arbitral regime consistent with the UNCITRAL Model Law. He has participated extensively as counsel and arbitrator in SADC countries, including Indian Ocean islands and has wide experience in international arbitrations in countries including the United Kingdom, France, Nigeria and the United States. He has been the Chairman of AFSA since 1996 and played a leading role in establishing the China- Africa Joint Arbitration Centre (CAJAC) He is also Chairman of CAJAC Johannesburg.

Des Williams

Des Williams was the chairman of Werksmans from 2005 to 2015 and is the head of the firm’s arbitration group. He is experienced in all fields of commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution, including international litigation, arbitration and mediation.
He was the sole South African member of the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) from 2011 to 2018 and is the former co-chair of the Litigation Committee of the International Bar Association. He is also a former member of the IBA’s Legal Practice Division and is Chairman of AFSA’s newly established SADC Division. He is ranked as one of the world’s leading arbitration specialists in the International Who’s Who of Arbitration.

Tengo Rubadiri

Tengo Rubadiri is a Practicing Attorney with over 30 years’ experience in The Republic of Botswana. He is a former Judge of the Industrial Court in Botswana and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB). He is a former Chairman of the Botswana Institute of Arbitrators and current Vice Chairman thereof, a Member of the Association of Arbitrators South Africa (AOA), and one of the Botswana representatives to the AFSA SADC Panel of Arbitrators. Mr Rubadiri is a member of the Dispute Resolution Boards Foundation (DRBF) and has experience on many a Dispute Board in Construction work, particularly on FIDIC Contracts. He has extensive training in International Commercial dispute resolution and in particular arbitrations He has a wealth of training on matters involving the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Rules) and London Chamber of Arbitration (LCIA) Rules, IBA Rules and AOA Rules

Prof Dr Maxi Scherer

Prof. Dr Scherer is a member of the Paris bar and a Solicitor of England and Wales. She is a Special Counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (London). Professor Maxi Scherer represents clients in numerous international arbitrations before most major arbitral institutions (including HKIAC, ICC, ICDR, ICSID, LCIA, SCC and SIAC) and at various seats, governed by a variety of substantive and procedural laws (including Algerian, Congolese, English, French, German, Hong Kong, Nigerian, and Swiss law), in different industry sectors, with a strong focus on energy disputes. She regularly serves as arbitrator in numerous ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, including with States and State-owned parties, with significant amounts in dispute and multiple parties, conducted in English, French and German. She has published numerous articles and treatises in the field of international arbitration and is the General Editor of Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration.

Judge Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe

Judge Ngoepe served as a Judge and Judge President of the High Court, 14 years of which was as Judge President. He has acted as Judge of the Constitutional Court, as Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals and as a Judge of an international court. From 2006 to 2014 he served as a judge and later Vice President of the African Union’s Court on Human and People’s Rights based in Tanzania. Presently Judge Ngoepe serves, on a part time basis, as the country’s Tax Ombudsman, Chair of the Appeals Panel of the Press Council of South Africa, Chair of the Appeals Committee of the Advertising Regulatory Board of South Africa and as Chair of the Investigative Unit of Cricket South Africa. He is the recipient of several awards and honours including the Duma Nokwe Award, honours by the Society of Advocates (Witwatersrand Society) honours by the Law Society and Honorary Professor of Law. He has received 4 Honorary Doctorates and served as Chancellor of the University of South Africa for 16 years.

Judge Edward Torgbor

Justice Edward Torgbor is currently a Specialist International and Chartered Arbitrator and Mediator based in Nairobi (Kenya). He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (England) and former Vice President of the LCIA African Users Council. His international experience is underpinned by having completed law degrees at the Universities of Edinburgh (LLB), Cambridge (LLB/LLM), Stellenbosch (LLD) and as Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford, England. He has many years’ experience in the legal, judicial and academic fields, and in dispute resolution. He was a barrister in England, Judge of the High Court of Kenya, Professor of Law (Stellenbosch University) and Court Member of the LCIA. His areas of specialisation include Domestic and International Arbitration, International Trade and Investment Law, Corporate and Commercial Law, Energy and Natural Resources and Banking.

Prof Lise Bosman

Lise Bosman is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague, as Senior Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and Executive Director of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and has published and spoken widely in the field of international arbitration. Lise is the General Editor of the ‘ICCA International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration’ (a seven-volume loose-leaf collection of arbitration-related legislation and commentary on over 80 jurisdictions; Kluwer Law International, published since 1984) and the General Editor and contributing author of ‘Arbitration in Africa: A Practitioner's Guide’ (Second Edition, Kluwer Law International, 2021). Her areas of specialization are international commercial arbitration law and practice; the practice and development of international arbitration in Africa; international investment law; investor-State arbitration; and State-State arbitration.

Neil Kaplan CBE KC SBS

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS has been a full-time arbitrator since 1995. Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1965, Mr Kaplan has practiced as a barrister, Principal Crown Counsel at the Hong Kong Attorney General’s Chambers, and served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List. He has been a Queen’s Counsel since 1982 and was a founder and first head of Des Voeux Chambers in Hong Kong. From 1991 until 2004, he was Chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and in 1999-2000 he was President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Since 1995, he has been a Council Member and now Governing Board Member of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and in 2012-2016 he was a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Additionally, he is a panellist of several other arbitral institutions. Since 2017, Neil has been the president of the Court of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Centre. In 2020, he was appointed first president of Delos Dispute Resolution's board of advisers.

John Bishop

John qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales (1971) and Hong Kong (1983). From 1969 to 2016 he was a member of Masons (now Pinsent Masons LLP) and was Head of Construction and Engineering, Managing Partner, Senior Partner, Chairman of the Board, Senior Partner - Asia Pacific, Head of Hong Kong and Beijing offices. Based in London, China (Hong Kong and PRC) and Dubai, John specialised in construction and engineering (including mining, dredging, oil and gas and energy projects). His disputes experience included ADR, Court and Arbitration Proceedings in many jurisdictions. In 2016, John joined Arbitration Chambers, London, Hong Kong and New York and now practices as an Arbitrator, Mediator and Dispute Board Member. As Arbitrator he has been Chairman/President, Party Appointed Arbitrator, Sole Arbitrator and Appeal Arbitrator under many of the international rules of arbitration including ICC, LCIA, DIAC, LCIA-DIFC, CIETAC, SIAC, AFSA and UNCITRAL rules. John has been recognised by most of the leading directories for his expertise in Construction, Arbitration and Mediation and has held senior roles with a large number of specialist arbitration, mediation and construction institutions.

Harry Matovu KC

Harry Matovu QC is a Barrister and Queen’s Counsel at Brick Court Chambers, London, and a Governing Bencher of the Inner Temple. He has a wide-ranging and high-profile commercial practice, both domestically and abroad, including energy and natural resources, public international law, private international law and cross-border disputes, civil fraud, finance, insurance/reinsurance and international arbitration. Harry is a member of the ICC and the LCIA, a member of the Court of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC) and a member of the panel of arbitrators of the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM). He was nominated as Silk (QC) of the Year for International Arbitration in the Legal 500 Awards 2020, and he is top-rated (Band 1) by Chambers & Partners as an international arbitrator. Harry is regularly instructed as counsel or appointed as presiding or party-nominated arbitrator in major ad hoc and institutional arbitrations (ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, ARIAS, ICSID) in multi-million-dollar disputes between commercial parties, and disputes involving States and state-owned enterprises.

Prof David Butler

Prof. Butler is Chief Consultant to the South African Government on the International Arbitration Act and Professor Emeritus and Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University's Department of Mercantile Law. He is also a member of the South African Law Reform Commission Advisory Committee for Alternative Dispute Resolution. Prof. Butler is South Africa's leading academic on arbitration law. He regularly speaks and represents South Africa at various international conferences and has written widely on the field of international arbitration, including "Arbitration in South Africa Law and Practice" (ARIA Vol. 4 No. 4 1993).

Bruce Collins KC

Bruce Collins is an international lawyer who has practised extensively in commercial law and commercial engineering and construction arbitration for more than 40 years, specialising in complex commercial, engineering, construction and infrastructure cases. His infrastructure and engineering experience also extends to hydro-electric power stations, port facilities and LPG facilities. He has taught arbitration in Moscow, Sydney, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and elsewhere and has delivered papers and lectures in cities across the world. He is a member of numerous panels of arbitrators including CEITAC, Beijing, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Centre. He is a member of the specialist Spanish Court CIMA and has recently chaired an LCIA Arbitral panel hearing; an international oil sales dispute between English and African companies and sat on an ICC panel in Singapore. He now acts as an independent full-time international arbitrator in commercial cases which often involve conflicting expert evidence.

Dr Fuyong Chen

Dr. Fuyong Chen is the Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Arbitration Commission/Beijing International Arbitration Center (BAC/BIAC) and the Vice-President of Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group (APRAG). He is a qualified PRC lawyer with a LLB from China University of Political Science and Law, a LLM from Peking University and a PhD from Tsinghua University. Dr. Chen was a visiting researcher (2007-08) at the Law School of UC-Berkeley and is a Research Fellow of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution at Renmin University of China. He is the General Editor of Beijing Arbitration Quarterly and has published over ten journal articles on commercial dispute resolution, including “Striving for Independence, Competence and Fairness: A Case Study of Beijing Arbitration Commission”, in The American Review of International Arbitration, v.18/no.3. Dr. Chen is the co-author of Chinese Arbitration Law（LexisNexis 2015）and China Arbitration Handbook (Sweet & Maxwell 2011). He is also the Chinese co-translator of Gary Born’s International Arbitration: Law and Practice and Christopher R. Drahozal and Richard W. Naimark’s Towards a Science of International Arbitration: Collected Empirical Research. Dr. Chen has extensive experience in handling various commercial disputes through arbitration and mediation and is a regular speaker at international conferences and seminars.

Jonathan Lim

Jonathan Lim is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (London). He is a triple-qualified English solicitor, Singapore advocate and New York lawyer with a broad practice covering all types of commercial and investment treaty arbitrations seated in common law and civil law jurisdictions worldwide. He has represented both private sector and government clients in the aerospace, construction, energy, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, technology, and retail sectors, among others. Mr Lim has also worked on WTO dispute settlement matters and advised international organisations and governments in Africa and Asia on public international law issues. Mr. Lim regularly sits as arbitrator and has received appointments as sole and party-appointed arbitrator in multiple proceedings seated in Europe and Asia, including Chinese language arbitrations and bilingual English-Chinese arbitrations. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore, where he teaches a course on commercial and investment arbitration.

Justice Nageswara Rao

Justice L. Nageswara Rao was elevated to the Supreme Court of India in 2016 and served a term of six years as a judge, during which he authored over 248 judgments whilst being a part of the quorum in over 700 of them. He is the seventh person to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court from the Bar. During his tenure, Justice Rao has been pivotal in shaping Indian law, with notable judgments on commercial laws, personal liberty, and social security for the marginalised communities in Indian society.

Additionally, he played a fundamental role in structuring tribunals and revamping the criminal judicial system, tackling the issues of expediency of trials and appeals. Prior to his elevation, Justice Rao was designated as a Senior Counsel in 2000 and had an illustrious career spanning over three decades, during which he appeared regularly in various high-profile cases across different courts in India in a spectrum of commercial, civil, criminal, and constitutional matters. He also served two terms as the Additional Solicitor General of India from August 2003 to May 2004 and again from August 2013 to December 2014. Justice Rao is presently an arbitrator in both sole and three-member arbitrations, having been appointed by institutions courts in India, as well as nominations by parties.

Apart from being a member of the Panel of Arbitrators at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) and Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC), Justice Rao is also empanelled as an arbitrator in the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and as a mediator in Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC). Justice Rao is the recipient of several awards over the course of his career, most recently being awarded the lifetime achievement award by the Society of Indian Law Firms.