Sternford Moyo made history last Tuesday when he was announced as the first African President of the International Bar Association (IBA). The Pan African Lawyers Forum (PALU) led by a Nigerian, Emeka Obegolu, has backed the Zimbabwean to make impact as head of the 74-year-old institution, reports Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU.
The Pan African Lawyers Forum (PALU), has congratulated the first African President of the International Bar Association (IBA) Mr. Sternford Moyo, adding that it was confident his two-year tenure would be successful.
The IBA announced Moyo’s Presidency last Tuesday.
In a massage signed by PALU President Emeka Obegolu, the group pledged support for Moyo and his vision for the association.
He stated: “I, and my colleagues on the Executive Committee, as well as the Secretariat leadership of PALU, are very delighted at the formal announcement of your ascension to the Presidency of the IBA.
“We heartily congratulate you, and the entire leadership and membership of the IBA for bestowing this singular honour upon you, and, through you, to lawyers of African descent throughout the world.
“Having worked with and observed you over the years, this is a befitting tribute to the decades of selfless service that you have given to our profession, and that you have contributed to the rule of law, and human and peoples’ rights, in Zimbabwe, across Africa and globally, which includes – although is not limited to – almost three decades of service to and through the IBA. You are a true embodiment of the principles, values and life of a model lawyer.
“As you know, we were glad to actively support and promote your candidature in the course of last year; and we will be similarly glad to actively support your presidency and your presidential plan/vision over the next two years. We will take this opportunity to be more active, and to encourage our institutional and individual members to be more active in the IBA. We will also ensure to include you and the IBA more robustly in our initiatives and activities.”
The man Moyo
Moyo, a Zimbabwean, is the Chairman and Senior Partner of law firm Scanlen and Holderness.
He is the first IBA President of African descent in the history of the 74-year-old organisation and succeeds Brazil’s Horacio Bernardes Neto with a two-year tenure through to December 31, 2022.
Moyo has held numerous senior IBA roles, including: Council Member, Management Board Member, Advisory Board Member and Chair of the African Regional Forum, Deputy Secretary-General for Southern Africa, Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), Trustee of IBA-established entities, such as the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and eyeWitness to Atrocities, and member of the Task Force on Illicit Financial Flows, Poverty and Human Rights.
His professional career has seen him hold a variety of leadership positions, including having been a bar leader in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa, and corporate leader in mining, manufacturing, financial services and leadership development.
In 1990, Moyo was selected by the United States Information Services to participate in a programme to familiarise young African leaders with the American legal system and its background. In 2004, he participated in a media advocacy course run by the University of Oxford.
As Senior Partner in Scanlen and Holderness, a large corporate law practice established in 1894, Mr Moyo specialises in mining, corporate and commercial law.
Building on predecessors’ work
Recognising the achievements of his predecessors and committing to building on their efforts, Moyo, said: ”It was great and visionary leadership that conceived and implemented the idea of the International Bar Association: to create relationships and exchanges among individual lawyers, bar associations and law societies; to pursue capacity building for bar associations; to promote continuing professional development in order to enhance service to the public; to protect and promote the rule of law, human rights, effective administration of justice and core values of the legal profession
“To promote harmonisation and uniformity in the resolution of difficult legal problems; and to work with international juridical organisations.
“The IBA, under the direction of my predecessors and its executive officers, has been highly successful in advancing these objectives. Consequently, as I take over as President of our Association, I am pleased to say that I stand on a platform of excellent work done by my predecessors and the employees of the association.”
His IBA vision
He pledged to work towards deepening the fulfilment of the objectives of the association and increasing diversity, eliminating all forms of discrimination in the practice of law and administration of justice.
“I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my predecessors and employees of the association for the solid platform from which I shall be working,” Moyo added
He outlined additional objectives and areas of focus for his IBA presidency, including: “Developing effective anti-corruption strategies; strengthening IBA project output from constituents to provide ‘role model’ material to improve the practical exercise of law; updating guidance and recommendations regarding the extractive industries so that current strategies meet investor protection and developmental rights of the communities where the investment takes place.”
Others include focusing on cyber security with the aim of working towards developing best practice guidelines for a new global framework for public institutions and private companies; and using digital resources to make the knowledge generated by the IBA more readily available to developing bar associations, lawyers in low-income jurisdictions and those at entry level in high-income jurisdictions.
The new IBA Management Board
President Sternford Moyo, Zimbabwe;
Vice-President Almudena Arpón de Mendívil, Spain;
Bar Issues Commission (BIC) Chair Kimitoshi Yabuki, Japan;
BIC Vice-Chair Deborah Enix-Ross, USA;
IBAHRI Co-Chair Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, Australia;
IBAHRI Co-Chair Anne Ramberg Dr jur hc, Sweden;
Legal Practice Division (LPD) Chair Peter Bartlett, Australia LPD Vice-Chair Carola vanden Bruinhorst, The Netherlands;
LPD Secretary Treasurer –IBA Treasurer Daniel Del Río, Mexico;
LPD Assistant Treasurer –IBA Asst Treasurer Pascale Lagesse, France;
LPD Representatives Jon Grouf, USA;
Moira Huggard-Caine, Brazil Sunil Abraham, Malaysia;
Section on Public and Professional Interest (SPPI) Chair Jörg Menzer, Romania;
SPPI Vice-Chair / Treasurer Myra Garrett, Ireland Executive Director Mark Ellis, UK.
IBA VP
IBA’s new Vice President Ms Arpón de Mendívil is a partner with the Spanish law firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, where she leads the Corporate Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group.
A member of the IBA for more than 20 years, she joined the IBA Management Board in 2009 and has held several IBA senior leadership roles, including: IBA Secretary-General, Treasurer, Chair of the Legal Practice Division, Member of the Investments Review Committee, Member of the Special Projects Fund Committee, and Member of the Rule of Law Task Force. Her tenure is for the calendar years 2021 and 2022.
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