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5 unusual facts about Chief Justice of South Africa


Chief Justice of South Africa

In 2001, after Mohammed's death and, consequently, with the position of Chief Justice vacant, the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa fused the positions of Chief Justice and President of the Constitutional Court into one single job of Chief Justice.

The position of Chief Justice was created upon the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, with the Chief Justice of the Cape Colony Sir (John) Henry de Villiers (later, John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers) being appointed the first Chief Justice of the newly created Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa.

The position of Chief Justice as it stands today was created in 2001 by the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa, as an amalgamation of two previous high-ranking judicial positions of Chief Justice and President of the Constitutional Court.

Under South Africa's Interim Constitution of 1993 and later the Final Constitution, the importance of the position of Chief Justice as the position of final judicial authority was temporarily relegated beneath that of the President of the newly created Constitutional Court.

John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers

He was Attorney-General in the Molteno Government, Chief Justice for the Cape Colony, and later the first Chief Justice for the Union of South Africa.



see also

World Justice Forum

Justice Arthur Chaskalson, former Chief Justice of South Africa, and Aruna Roy, who spearheaded efforts to enact India’s ground-breaking Right to Information Act through her organization Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), were honored with the inaugural World Justice Project Rule of Law Award.