CAMBODIA
Ms Mao Somvutheary (Theary), Lawyer, Mekong Law Group, began working with DFDL Mekong Law Group as an independent Cambodian counsel in 1998. She is a licensed lawyer with over 12 years of experience in litigation and a variety of commercial matters. Prior to partnering with DFDL Mekong, she worked for several years in the Ministry of Justice and five years with Cambodian Defender Association during Untact. Theary holds an LLM and is currently completing the second year of her doctoral degree in political science and international relations at Khemarak University in Cambodia.
INDONESIA
Mr Todung Mulya Lubis, Senior Partner, Lubis, Santosa & Maulana, is a prominent Indonesian human rights lawyer. Lubis was one of the attorneys in the Tempo magazine defamation case. He is the founding Member of the Indonesian Human Right Monitor, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation and Head of the Ethical Board of the Indonesian Corruption Watch and plays a key role in other human rights organisations. Lubis is also a law lecturer at the University of Indonesia and is the author of dozens of publications on topics as diverse as human rights, political development and legal aid, contributing many articles to journals at both national and international levels.
MALAYSIA
D’ato Mohammed Shafee Abdullah, Commissioner, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, has served on the Federal Counsel at the Ministry of Home Affairs on matters pertaining to internal security and advised on matters on human rights under the Malaysian Constitution. Shafee defended the Asian Wall Street Journal in a case that has become an important benchmark for Constitutional and Administrative Law in Malaysia. He is the Election Legal Advisor to UMNO, Malaysia’s largest political party, and is also the legal advisor to the Prime Minister Badawi of Malaysia.
THE PHILIPPINES
Prof. Raul Pangalangan, former Law Dean, University of Philippines, received his and LLM and SJD from Harvard Law School, where he currently teaches as Visiting Professor of Law. He holds the Diploma of The Hague Academy of International Law, where he has served as Director of Studies. He was a Philippine Delegate to the Rome Conference of the International Criminal Court and was a member of the Drafting Committee. He was previously nominated as Supreme Court Justice by the Judicial and Bar Council. His column, “Passion for Reason,” appears regularly in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
THAILAND
Mr Somchai Homlaor, Executive Director, Asian Institute for Human Rights, is a leading human rights lawyer in Thailand and speaks regularly at human rights forums. He is a member of a distinguished list of human rights organisations including: the Lawyer Committee on Human Rights, the Law Society of Thailand’s Bangkok Forum, Campaign for Popular Democracy and the Chief Executive Committee of Asian Network for Free Elections. He was the Manager of Union for Civil Liberty and Secretary General for Campaign for Popular Democracy as well as President of the Union for Civil Liberty.
SINGAPORE
Dr Kevin Tan, Director, Equilibrium Consulting, obtained his LLB (Hons) from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and subsequently an LLM and JSD from Yale Law School. From 1986 to 2000, he taught at the Faculty of Law, NUS, specialising in constitutional law, administrative law, international human rights, the Singapore legal system, law and government, and legal history. He has published widely in these areas. Since 2000, he has been running Equilibrium Consulting Private Limited, offering consultancy services for legal, historical and publication matters.
