Arthur Chaskalson

Arthur Chaskalson, SCOB (* November 24, 1931 in Johannesburg, † December 1, 2012 ) was a South African lawyer and judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa. From 1994, he held the position of Chief Justice of South Africa and held by them together with the leadership of the Constitutional Court, he worked from 2001 to 2005 as its Chairman.

Education and professional career

Chaskalson was born the son of a Jewish -born entrepreneur and received his schooling at Hilton College. He completed his studies at Witwatersrand University, where he was a degree in Economics and Bachelor of Laws was conferred in 1952 two years later. During his studies, he became involved in the football team at his university and in 1952 was nominated for a South -wide country selection.

In 1956 Chaskalson in Johannesburg his admission to the bar. During his legal career, he has participated in numerous political trials and defended apartheid opponents. He achieved fame as a member of the team's defense in the Rivonia Trial, in which leading members of the ANC, including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, were sentenced to long prison terms. The team is led by Bram Fischer was able to avert the death penalty for the accused. Besides this activity Chaskalson worked primarily in the area of business law. In 1978 he was one of the founders of the Legal Resources Centre, as its director, he campaigned from 1978 to 1993 against apartheid. He was also active in the Bar Association of Johannesburg, which he 1967-1971 and 1973-1982 belonged and whose chairman he was in 1976 and 1982. From 1982 to 1987 he was Deputy Chairman of the Bar of South Africa.

Even within the legal education he took over tasks. He belonged between 1979 and 1991 the National Bar Examination Board. His alma mater, he remained connected as a member of the Board of Directors, where he served from 1979 for twenty years. 1987, 1988 and 2004, he held a visiting professorship at Columbia University. From December 1989 to March 1990 he advised the Government of Namibia in the drafting of the Constitution of the country. 1994 Chaskalson was appointed by Nelson Mandela to the judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa, which he headed at the same time. He held until 2005 this post.

Others

Chaskalson was married to Lorraine Chaskalson, a postdoctoral philosopher, delivered the lectures at the University of Witwatersrand. The marriage produced two sons were born. On 1 December 2012 Chaskalson died of leukemia.

Memberships (Selection)

Awards (selection)

  • Honor Professor Witwatersrand University ( 1981)
  • Honorary Doctorate including the universities Natal (1986 ), Amsterdam ( 2002), Stellenbosch (2008)
  • Supreme Counsellor of the Order of the Baobab (2002)
  • Gruber Justice Prize (2004)

Publications (selection )

  • The legal system in South Africa from 1960 to 1994. In: South African Law Journal. 115 (1) / 1998. Juta and Company, pp. 21-36, ISSN 0038-2388.
  • From wickedness to equality: the moral transformation of South African law. In: International Journal of Constitutional Law. 1 ( 4) / 2003. Oxford University Press, pp. 590-609, ISSN 1474-2640.
  • Preserving civil liberties in at age of global terror: international perspectives. In: Cardozo Law Review. 29 (1) / 2007. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, pp. 11-19, ISSN 0270-5192.
  • The widening gyre: counter -terrorism, human rights and the rule of law. In: Cambridge Law Journal. 67 (1) / 2008. Cambridge University Press, pp. 69-91, ISSN 0008-1973.
  • What's happening to the right to a fair hearing? In: Israel Law Review. 41 ( 3) / 2008. Minerva Center for Human Rights, pp. 522-544, ISSN 0021-2237.
Gruber Prize for Justice
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