COWLEY charity Oxfam has paid tribute to Lord Joffe, its former chairman, who as a young lawyer defended Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia trial in the 1960s.

He died aged 85 at the weekend.

Mark Goldring, Oxfam GB’s chief executive, said: "Joel Joffe had an enormous influence on Oxfam and its staff for over 20 years.

"His unswerving sense of justice and commitment to ending poverty was an inspiration to all those who worked with him. He was able to use his sharp legal mind and years of experience in business to challenge authority and increase the effectiveness of our work around the world.

"His fearless campaigning for care of the elderly, corporate responsibility and global development shaped the world for the better yet he always maintained his trademark self-deprecating sense of humour.

"Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

Joel Joffe CBE was the young lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela at the infamous 1963-1964 Rivonia Trial.

Exiled to Britain in 1965 he worked at a fledgling insurance company to support his family, which grew to become Allied Dunbar.

He was involved with Oxfam for 20 years and chairman from 1995 to 2001.

He was awarded the CBE in 1999 and became a Labour peer in 2000 as Baron Joffe of Liddington in Wiltshire. In later life, he was a campaigner for assisted dying for the terminally ill, proposing a private members bill in 2003 and 2005.