Our Team

Professor Tladi was the Chairperson of the International Law Commission which was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations to advance, for the world, the progressive development of International Law and its codification. He holds BLC and LLB degrees from the University of Pretoria, an LLM from the University of Connecticut and an LLD from Erasmus University. He is a Professor of International Law at the University of Pretoria and a Fellow at the Institute of Comparative and International Law in Africa. He has served as the Principal State Law Advisor for International Law for the South African Department of International Relations and as Legal Counsel for the South African Mission to the United Nations. He was also the Special Rapporteur at the United Nations on Giving Content to Jus Cogens. He is currently the co-editor in chief of the South African Yearbook of International Law and has served on the editorial boards of the Constitutional Court Review journal and the Journal of Practice of International Courts and Tribunals. He has authored books and chapters in books on various Public International Law topics. He has also given a number of guest lectures and talks on selected International Law topics all around the world.

* Prof. Dire Tladi was sworn in as a permanent Judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague in February 2024 and, as such, is no longer an active member of TILAPA.

Adv. Hopkins SC acts as Special Counsel. He holds BA and LLB degrees from Rhodes University an LLM from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Law from the University of London. He is a Senior Counsel at the Johannesburg Bar, South Africa and a former Chairperson of the General Council of the Bar’s Human Rights Committee. He has extensive experience in Public International Law matters including International Environmental Law and Climate Change, International Trade Law, the Law of the Sea, State Responsibility for Injury to Aliens and International Human Rights. He has been instrumental in advising on matters of law and policy reform, acting for states, international organizations and multi-national corporations in negotiations, mediations and arbitrations. He is a Member of the South African chapter of the International Law Association and has been published in various International Law journals. He has also given a number of guest lectures and talks all over the world on selected topics in Public International Law and Human Rights. He sits as a Judge in the High Court of South Africa from time to time on acting appointments.

Professor Strydom holds B Iuris, LLB and LLM degrees from the University of the Free State and an LLD from the University of South Africa. He is a Professor of International Law and holds the South African Research Chair in International Law at the University of Johannesburg. He is also a Fellow of the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany and the editor and co-author of International Law published by Oxford University Press, and co-editor and co-author of Environmental Management in South Africa published by Juta & Co. In addition, he has published many articles and chapters in books on topical issues in International Law. From 2009 until 2020 he was the President of the South African Branch of the International Law Association and from 2016 to 2018 he was the President of the Global Association. He also serves on the editorial boards of various well respected Public International Law journals including the South African Yearbook of International Law, the African Journal on International Humanitarian Law, and the Law Journal of the Faculty of Law, Palacky University, Czech Republic. He has given a number of guest lectures and talks on selected International Law topics all around the world.