Richard Calland is the Programme Director of the Economic Governance Programme at Idasa. He is also Associate Professor in Public Law and Director of the Democratic Governance & Rights Unit at the University of Cape Town. He specializes in the law and practice of the right to access to information and whistleblowing protection; in administrative justice and public ethics; and in constitutional design – largely derived from his work as programme manager of the Political Information & Monitoring Service at Idasa which he led from its inception in 1995 until 2003.
In South Africa, he writes a fortnightly political column for the Mail and Guardian newspaper, 'Contretemps'. Before coming to South Africa in 1994, Calland practiced law at the London Bar.