A new International Bar Association (IBA) award, the IBA Jurist Award, is to celebrate the ‘unsung heroes’ of the legal profession: jurists who exemplify personal sacrifice and commitment to justice.

Nominees can include, for example, lawyers undertaking cases pro bono in the pursuit of justice or judges who rule appropriately on landmark cases despite systemic or societal pressures. The IBA’s global search for these individuals is supported by Ashoka, the largest global network of leading social entrepreneurs working towards achieving social justice.

“As legal professionals, we know that there are members of our profession that represent the very best of us, yet their efforts frequently go unnoticed. Why should this be when they inspire us to do our finest work, and when they earn great respect for the legal profession as a whole? This question was the stimulus behind creating the IBA Jurist Award, beginning the endeavour to raise the visibility of “unsung heroes” in the legal community and in society generally,” says IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis.

Individuals are encouraged to nominate associates and friends they believe have gone beyond the call of duty in their role as jurists and whose stories deserve to be heard. Nominations for the inaugural IBA Jurist Award close on Friday 31 August 2018.