By Durrell Namasani
British Council Malawi has announced that High Court Judge Dorothy Alethea DeGabriele has been given a Commonwealth Scholarship Award . She will be heading to UK to study for a Phd. Gabrielle has made a name for herself after how she handled the just finished Business Mogul Thom Mpinganjira attempt to bribe Judges case. The award however, is not linked to her performance on the said case.
Judge DeGabriele has been described by many Malawians one of the best legal minds in Malawi. Making the announcement, British Council Malawi congratulated DeGabrielle for the award. An Introductory Message from DeGabrielle said “”My name is Dorothy Alethea DeGabriele, a Judge of the High Court in the Criminal Division in Malawi. I have worked in the Justice and Governance sector for over 20 years. Apart from working as a professional magistrate at all levels, I was also a Chairperson of the Industrial Relations Court, a Governance and Justice adviser for the Department for International Development on the Safety, Security and Access to Justice Program and a National Coordinator for Juvenile Justice. I am a member, and current chairperson of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council; a high-level body that advises on the management of elections and electoral reforms in SADC countries. After graduating with LLM in Law and Development in 2010 (University of London), I desired to undertake a PhD study and the Commonwealth Scholarship Award has made that possible”.
According to DeGabrielle, she will be undertaking a PhD study (Law) at the University of Warwick. Her area of study is around Governance and effective electoral justice systems, looking at the role of courts throughout the electoral cycle. She says she persuaded that this area of research will positively impact on governance institutions in terms of formulating policies, fostering, and broadening legal and socio-political dialogue.
