Elsie Thompson is a judge of the High Court of Rivers State, Nigeria. Born and raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, she earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from Queen Mary College University London and was admitted to the English bar in 1984. A year later, she was admitted to the Nigerian bar after receiving vocational training from the Nigerian Law School, and spent 20 years working on human rights cases in private legal practice.

In 1998, Junior Chamber International named her one of its ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the year’. She was heavily involved in the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). Cases that she covered ranged from inheritance to divorce settlements, domestic violence, matrimonial causes, and maintenance. She served as State Chairperson from 1997 to 2001, Deputy Country Vice-President from 2001 to 2003, Country President from 2003 to 2005, and as Regional Vice-President for Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was also the first Nigerian to be elected to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for a six-year term in 2010.

Whilst at the Court she served as Vice President from 2014 to 2016. Thompson dedicated herself to service relatively early in her career by launching a law clinic where lawyers offered free legal services to less fortunate individuals who were incarcerated without legal representation. This initiative earned her a State Merit Award in 1986 and was replicated across Nigeria so that more indigent individuals were given access to pro-Bono legal representation. Other awards that she has received include the Trail Blazer Award from the Nigerian Bar Association Women Interest Section and FIDA Nigeria’s Award of Excellence. She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges Nigeria, the Honorable Society of Gray’s Inn, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK.