A graduate of the universities of Natal, South Africa, Exeter, London and Ottawa, Iyavar Chetty holds master’s degrees in English and Law and is a Barrister of the Bar of Ontario, Canada and an Attorney, South Africa. Banned under the Suppression of Communism Act in 1965, he went into exile in 1967, where he continued with his active participation in the liberation struggle. He has held several senior posts while in exile, including Chief Project Officer in the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, a Senior Law Officer in the Office of the Attorney-General and later Deputy Permanent Secretary in Zimbabwe and Head of the Faculty of Language and Social Sciences at the University of Botswana. Since his return from exile at the end of 1996, Iyavar Chetty has been the Senior Executive Officer (Legal Services) for the Film and Publication Board and has also acted as its Chief Executive Officer on various occasions. He represented South Africa as a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts drafting the International Cybercrime Convention – known as the Budapest Convention – to which South Africa is a signatory, and was also involved in the drafting of the First Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Racism and Xenophobia on the Internet. While practising as a Barrister in Canada, he led a delegation of Canadian Human Rights Lawyers investigating human rights abuses in El Salvador. He also represented the Canadian National Coalition Against Racism in a successful prosecution of the Federal Ministry of Welfare for discrimination against minorities and women before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Since his appointment to the Film and Publication Board, Iyavar Chetty has been involved in drafting amendments to the Films and Publications Act to make the investigation and prosecution of child pornography offenders more effective, and was also Secretary to the Task Team on Child Pornography on the Internet established by Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. He continues to participate in training workshops for police and prosecutors involved in the investigation and prosecution of child pornography cases and has also been called upon to give expert evidence in child pornography trials. Iyavar Chetty, often quoted as “South Africa’s foremost expert on child pornography”, has written a number of articles on the subject of child pornography and children’s safety on the Internet and has represented the Board at a number of international conferences and seminars.
