November 10, 2005
2005 Jefferson Lecture: Justice Richard Goldstone
In June 2004, President Nelson Mandela appointed Arthur Chaskalson, senior counsel and the national director of the Legal Resource Center, as President of the Constitutional Court. Then the process began to find the Court’s other ten members. Four judges were appointed from the Supreme Court, and included Justice Richard Goldstone.
President Nelson Mandela officially opened the court on February 14, 1995. Mandela told the Court, "The last time I appeared in court was to hear whether or not I was going to be sentenced to death. Fortunately for myself and my colleagues we were not. Today I rise not as an accused, but on behalf of the people of South Africa, to inaugurate a court South Africa has never had, a court on which hinges the future of our democracy."
The public is invited to hear Justice Goldstone speak. The 2005 Jefferson Lecture is titled, "The South African Constitutional Court: It's First Ten Years." He will speak on campus in the Courtyard Building from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Room 200. Following the lecture will be a reception in his honor. More details to follow soon. For more information, please contact the school at (619) 297-9700, ext. 1414. Or email us.
Justice Goldstone has held an illustrious career around the globe:
2005: Henry Shattuck Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Spring 2004: Visiting professor, NYU Law School
Fall 2003: Visiting professor, Fordham Law School
2001: Appointed Co-chairperson; International Bar Association's Task Force on International Terrorism
1999 --2001: Chairperson; International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo
1998: Chairperson of drafting a Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities for the Director General of UNESCO (the Valencia Declaration)
1996-present: Faculty member; Salzburg Seminar
1994: Awarded the International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association
July 1994 to October 2003: Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
1994 to 2003: Chairperson of the board; Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA). He remains a trustee of HURISA
August 1994 to September 1996: Chief Prosecutor; United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
1991-1994: Chairperson; Commission of Inquiry regarding Public Violence and Intimidation, also known as the Goldstone Commission
1989: Appointed Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
1985 to 2000: National President; National Institute of Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NICRO)
1984-2004: Chairperson; Standing Advisory Committee of Company Law
1980: Judge; Transvaal Supreme Court
1976: Appointed Senior Counsel
1962: Graduated; University of the Witwatersrand with a B.A. LL.B. cum laude