Ismail Mahomed
Ismail Mahomed, SCOB ( born July 5, 1931 in Pretoria, † June 17, 2000 in Johannesburg) was a South African lawyer and 1994-1998 Judge at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa from 1998 to 2000 as Chief Justice of South Africa.
Education and professional career
Born as the son of Indian -born shopkeeper visited Mahomed the Pretoria Indian Boys' High School. Once he had his degree there in 1950, he took up the study on at Witwatersrand University. The Bachelor of Arts, where he was twice awarded, once in 1953 and again in 1954 with a focus on political science. Addition, he graduated there in 1957 with a Bachelor of Laws.
After completing his studies, he wanted to first establish himself as a lawyer in his home town of Pretoria. The local Bar Association denied him because of his skin color, but the admission, so he was working as a lawyer in Johannesburg, since the approval was not there limited to whites. There, too, but he was subjected to severe reprisals because of his ethnic origin at the time of apartheid. He could, for example, no rent own office space to operate his office, but had to use the offices of colleagues or edit his cases in the library. Based on this experience Mahomed participated in number reaching political process and defended apartheid opponents. In addition to his admission to the bar in South Africa Mahomed was admitted in Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. In 1984 he was also admitted as a barrister in England. In 1974, he was the first non-white lawyer in the history of South Africa, who was appointed Attorney-General. In 1979 he was appointed to a position as a judge of the highest court of appeal in Swaziland. Three years later, he also acquired a judgeship in Lesotho. With Namibia's independence Mahomed was asked by the new government, to participate in the drafting of the Constitution. He was later appointed to the post of Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of Namibia. In addition, he was a judge of the Court of Appeal, the highest court of appeal of Lesotho, was appointed. With the end of apartheid Mahomed was the first non-white judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa. 1994 he was appointed Nelson Mandela as Judge at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa. From 1998, he stood before the court as Chief Justice. He held until his death in 2000 this position.
Others
Mahomed was married to Hawo Mahomed. He died as a result of a pancreatic tumor in a hospital in Johannesburg. He was buried in his hometown of Pretoria. At the memorial service on 19 June 2000 alongside the South African President Thabo Mbeki also took part in the state Namibian President Sam Nujoma. In memory of Mahomed was unveiled a sculpture of him in front of the building of the Supreme Court in Windhoek in 2003.
Awards (selection)
- Honorary Professor at the University of Witwatersrand
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Delhi
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania
- Order of the Baobab in Gold
Publications (selection )
- The judiciary and constitutionalism in a democratic society. In: CIJL Yearbook. Vol 7 (1998), ISSN 0252-0354, pp. 15-29.
- Constitutional Court of South Africa. In: Cheryl Saunders ( ed.) Courts of Final Jurisdiction: the Mason Court in Australia. Federal Press, Annandale, NSW 1998, ISBN 1-86287-206-6, pp. 167-173.