
WOMEN CHIEF JUSTICES ACROSS AFRICA
Click below to read our background paper:
Her Ladyship Chief Justice: The Rise of Female Leadership in the Judiciary in Africa
Mathilda Twomey
Seychelles

Chief Justice, 2015-2020
Mathilda Twomey was the first woman to preside as Chief Justice over the Supreme Court of the Seychelles. She was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015 to serve a five-year term. She was born in Mahe, Seychelles and educated at Seychelles College. Due to her diligence, she won a scholarship from the British Council to study law in Europe. She earned her law diploma at the University of Paris-Sud, Sceaux in 1985 and received a BA in both English and French law at the University of Kent at Canterbury in 1986. Shortly afterward, she was called to the Degree of the Utter Bar in Middle Temple, London in 1987 after studying in the Inns of Court School of Law.
After receiving her degrees, Twomey returned to the Seychelles to practice at the Ocean Gate Law Center and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. In 1992, she and Pesi Pardiwalla, former Attorney General of the Seychelles, established the law firm Pardiwalla and Twomey to practice private law. She was also a member of the Constitutional Commission which drafted the new Constitution of Seychelles in 1993. Once the new constitution for the Seychelles was established, Twomey moved to Ireland to work in voluntary, community, and disability law. While working professionally, Twomey also attended the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) to receive a Master’s in Public Law in 2011.
After receiving her master’s, Twomey was appointed as the first female judge in the Seychelles to work on the Court of Appeals. While working on the Court of Appeals, she traveled back and forth from the Seychelles to Ireland to both advance her education at NUIG and act as a lecturer surrounding torts at NUIG. She eventually obtained a PhD in law from NUIG in 2015, the same year she was confirmed as Chief Justice of the Seychelles. She then stepped down from the Supreme Court of the Seychelles in 2020 after her single five- year term was completed.
Mathilda Twomey
Seychelles

Chief Justice, 2015-2020
Mathilda Twomey was the first woman to preside as Chief Justice over the Supreme Court of the Seychelles. She was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015 to serve a five-year term. She was born in Mahe, Seychelles and educated at Seychelles College. Due to her diligence, she won a scholarship from the British Council to study law in Europe. She earned her law diploma at the University of Paris-Sud, Sceaux in 1985 and received a BA in both English and French law at the University of Kent at Canterbury in 1986. Shortly afterward, she was called to the Degree of the Utter Bar in Middle Temple, London in 1987 after studying in the Inns of Court School of Law. After receiving her degrees, Twomey returned to the Seychelles to practice at the Ocean Gate Law Center and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. In 1992, she and Pesi Pardiwalla, former Attorney General of the Seychelles, Twomey established the law firm Pardiwalla and Twomey to practice private law. She was also a member of the Constitutional Commission which drafted the new Constitution of Seychelles in 1993. Once the new constitution for the Seychelles was established, Twomey moved to Ireland to work in voluntary, community, and disability law. While working professionally, Twomey also attended the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) to receive a Master’s in Public Law in 2011. After receiving her master’s Twomey was appointed as the first female judge in the Seychelles to work on the Court of Appeals. While working on the Court of Appeals, she traveled back and forth from the Seychelles to Ireland to both advance her education at NUIG and act as a lecturer surrounding torts at NUIG. She eventually obtained a PhD in law from NUIG in 2015, the same year she was confirmed as Chief Justice of the Seychelles. She then stepped down from the Supreme Court of the Seychelles in 2020 after her single five-year term was completed.