Memooda Ebrahim-Carstens
United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT)

Memooda Ebrahim-Carstens was born in 1954 in Francistown, Botswana. She attended Crescent Primary School in Lobatse and Mater Spei College in Francistown where she obtained her “O” Levels with distinction. Memooda received her law degree (BA Hons. Business Law), from the then City of London Polytechnic Business Law School, and earned her Barristers Degree in 1983 from Lincoln’s Inn, London.
Judge Ebrahim-Carstens became the first female and citizen of Botswana to be appointed to the Industrial Court of Botswana where she served from 1999 to 2009 after she had returned to Botswana from London to run her own legal practice from 1987 to 1998. Thereafter, she was appointed to the High Court of Botswana. Memooda’s tenure at the Industrial Court afforded her considerable experience in the fields of labor law, administrative law, adjudication, and mediation. Her depth of knowledge and experience helped in developing the Court’s jurisprudence particularly in the area of employment law. Her judgments have been reported in the Botswana Law Reports, ILO publications, and the African Human Rights Law Reports.
In 2009, Justice Ebrahim-Carstens was appointed to the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) in New York after she garnered 122 out of 183 votes. She eventually became president of UNDT in 2011 and ended her tenure with the Tribunal finally in 2019. Justice Ebrahim-Carstens has held several positions and appointments in both social and public spheres including Membership Secretary of the Mansfield Law Club (London); Executive and founding member of both the Francistown Consumer Action Group and Area A Neighbourhood Watch; Executive Member of the Francistown Golf Club; Executive Officer of the Pupillage and Legal Education Committee of the Law Society of Botswana; Former Board Member of Botswana Water Utilities Corporation; Trustee of the Supa Ngwao Museum Francistown; Trustee of Y Care Charitable Trust; and Member of the Botswana Law Reporting Committee. Judge Ebrahim-Cartens is credited with the paper, “Gender Representation on the Tribunals of the United Nations Internal Justice System: A Response to Nienke Grossman.”