Subject: Re: South African Supreme Court

From: [email-masked] (Craig Lind)
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:20:53 +0100

>Does anyone have a short biography/bibliography on Edwin Cameron?

>I think it is FASCINATING that an openly gay man was appointed to the South
>African Supreme Court [is that lower/higher than the Constitutional Court?]

>---ron

South Africa has inferior courts (magistrate's courts) and superior courts
(collectively known as the Supreme Court). The South African Supreme Court
constists of (from the bottom up) Local Divisions, Provincial Divisions and
an Appellate Court. Since the advent of the interim constitution (1994)
there is now also a Constitutional Court which is separate from the Supreme
Court and has jurisdiction over constitutional matters (including the
enforcement of the Chapter on Fundamental Rights). While Local Divisions are
formally 'inferior' to Provincial Divisions judges of the Local Division are
automatically members of the bench of the Provincial Division in which their
Local Division falls. 

Edwin Cameron was appointed to the Witwatersrand Local Division
(Johannesburg). But then he is still quite young. He was a Professor of Law
at the University of the Witwatersrand and a practicing Advocate working
with the Centre for Advanced Legal Studies at the University of the
Witwatersrand before that (professor in South Africa is like professor in
the UK - it is a promotion, achieved by people who have reached the pinnacle
of their academic careers - usually they have a record of exceptional work
in academic institutions; and Advocate in South Africa is - in American
terms - an attorney who practices law in the courts). As has already been
pointed out Edwin was (and remains, insofar as he is able) very active in
gay politics in South Africa. He has represented various people in lesbian
and gay related cases in the courts (perhaps most notably in a case
concerning AIDS and doctor's confidentiality). Of course, his work is
broader than the lesbian and gay work he has undertaken. He is, obviously,
well respected in legal circles in South Africa (and, I would venture, his
being 'very out' is largely responsible for whatever tolerance the legal
profession has for lesbians and gay men). He has written (or been party to
the writing of) numerous legal texts and articles, usually on issues outside
of lesbian and gay rights (labour law, trusts, etc.): He has been known to
remind people that he is not just a lesbian and gay rights activist.
However, readers of this list might find his inaugural address as a
professor of law most interesting: 'Sexual Orientation and the Constitution:
A Test Case for Human Rights' 110 (1993) South African Law Journal 450 (in
which he argues for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the equality
clause of a future South African Constitution - which, in the end, happened
in section 8 if the 1993 Interim Constitution). 

Before his professional career had begun, Edwin had already demonstrated his
unusual talents. He has first class degrees from three instutitions: a BA
(hons) from the University of Stellenbosch, an LLB from the University of
South Africa, and a BCL and MA from the University of Oxford. He was a
Rhodes Scholar. Clearly his intellectual and legal creditials are
unassailable (hence his inevitable elevation to the bench - under the former
government he might not have made it because of the nature of his work
(although it is quite possible that he may have been offered the position,
which he would probably have turned down); under the present government it
was only a matter of time before the appointment). 

As someone on the list has already noted, his interests are not only legal.
He has edited a number of volumes on lesbian and gay life in South Africa.
And, as someone else has noted, he is a good man.

I hope this sketchy information is what you were after. I'm not sure how
much Edwin would mind this international revelation, and I hope he (and
others) will forgive any inaccuracies.

Craig