ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the trajectory of Judge Elsie Thompson from her background to the Nigerian judiciary and onward as a Judge and eventually a Vice-President of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights. It reveals the distinctiveness of her experiences and trail-blazing paths, and is a demonstration of the impact of various factors such as socio-economic and political as well as cultural, location, education, contextual experiences, institutional opportunities, and personal agency on the ascendancy of African women to transnational courts, and according to her, divine providence. The narration and analysis of these experiences engage a convergence of theories that touch on the impact of institutional arrangements on women, and the lingering effects of political, economic, and cultural factors on women’s access to political appointments in a postcolonial context. While her experiences generally agree with literature on the subject of women’s ascendancy to these courts, this chapter closely interrogates her ascent as an African woman to a transnational court and states that not only does her presence in the court create judicial diversity, but she has made “valuable contributions to jurisprudence and the development” of regional laws.
