Chief Justice of South Africa

Chief Justice of South Africa List 10 other official names: Hoofregter van Suid-Afrika (Afrikaans) iJaji eliKhulu weSewula Afrika (Southern Ndebele) iJaji eyiNtloko waseMzantsi Afrika (Xhosa) iJaji Eliyinhloko waseNingizimu Afrika (Zulu) Lijaji Lelikhulu weleNingizimu Afrika (Swati) Moahlodimogolo wa Afrika Borwa (Northern Sotho) Moahlodi e Moholo wa Afrika Borwa (Sotho) Moatlhodimogolo wa Aforika Borwa (Tswana) Muavanyisinkulu wa Afrika-Dzonga (Tsonga) Muhaṱuli Muhulwane wa Afrika Tshipembe (Venda)
Incumbent Mogoeng Mogoeng since 8 September 2011
Style	The Honourable
Nominator	Judicial Service Commission
Appointer	President of South Africa
Term length	12 years
Inaugural holder	Lord de Villiers
Formation	1910
Deputy	Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa
Website	Office of the Chief Justice

The Chief Justice of South Africa^[1] is the most senior judge of the Constitutional Court and head of the judiciary of South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the courts.

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.

History and creation of the post

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. The Chief Justice therefore now presides over the Constitutional Court. The position of the presiding judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, the successor court to the Appellate Division, was as a consequence renamed President of the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Chief Justice in a new era

At the time of South Africa's democratization in the early 1990s, the position of Chief Justice was held by University of Cambridge graduate and World War II veteran Michael Corbett. Corbett took office in 1989, succeeding Chief Justice PJ Rabie, who had been scheduled to retire in 1986 at the statutory retirement age of 70, but had had his tenure in office extended ad hoc by President P.W. Botha. Leading South African jurisprudential author David Dyzenhaus regards this as one of the most significant examples of the way in which the National Party manipulated the country's judiciary to ensure that its decisions would be agreeable with the doctrine of Apartheid. According to Dyzenhaus, the only two natural successors to Rabie were both considered unfit for the job - one for being too "weak"; the other too "liberal".^[2]

However, with the fall of Apartheid imminent, the progressively-minded Corbett was eventually handed the job of Chief Justice in 1989. Although appointed by the National Party government, Corbett was generally well liked by those in South Africa's new African National Congress-led government, and upon his retirement in 1996 was given a formal state banquet where President Mandela paid tribute to the Chief Justice's "passion for justice", "sensitivity to racial discrimination", "intellectual rigour" and "clarity of thought".^[3]

The first Chief Justice to be appointed in post-apartheid South Africa was Ismail Mahomed, a leading South African jurist of Indian descent, who was selected to succeed Corbett in 1997 and eventually took office in 1998. Mahomed held the position until his death in 2000.

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. Ismail Mohammed had been tipped widely for the job of Constitutional Court President but in 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed leading human rights lawyer and director of the Legal Resources Centre Arthur Chaskalson to the position. 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. Chaskalson was subsequently appointed to the new post, although his tasks remained effectively the same.

Chief Justices of Cape Colony

Source:^[4]

1812– Sir Johannes Andries Truter (Vice-Admiralty Court)
1827–1855 Sir John Wylde

*1828 Supreme Court established

1855–1858 Sir Sidney Smith Bell (acting)
1858–1868 Sir William Hodges
1868–1874 Sir Sidney Smith Bell
1874–1910 John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers

Chief Justices of Natal (1856–1910)

1858–1874 Walter Harding
1874–1890 Sir Henry Connor ^[5]
1890–1901 Michael Henry Gallwey
1901–1910 Sir Henry Bale (died 1910)

Chief Justices of Orange Free State (1875–)

1874–1888 Francis William Reitz
1889–1900 Melius de Villiers
1902–1919 Sir Andries Maasdorp (Orange River Colony)

Chief Justices of Transvaal (1877-1910)

1881– John Gilbert Kotzé
1898– Reinhold Gregorowsky ^[6]
1902–1910 James Rose Innes ^[7] (Transvaal Colony)

Chief Justices of South Africa

1910–1914 John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers
1914–1927 Sir James Rose Innes
1927–1929 Sir William Henry Solomon
1929–1932 Sir Jacob de Villiers
1932–1936 Sir John Wessels
1936–1938 John Stephen Curlewis
1938–1939 James Stratford
1939–1943 Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet
1943–1950 Ernest Frederick Watermeyer
1950–1957 Albert van der Sandt Centlivres
1957–1959 Henry Allan Fagan
1959–1971 Lucas Cornelius Steyn
1971–1974 Newton Ogilvie Thompson
1974–1982 Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff
1982–1989 Pieter Jacobus Rabie
1989–1996 Michael Corbett
1998–2000 Ismail Mahomed
2001–2005 Arthur Chaskalson
2005–2009 Pius Langa
2009–2011 Sandile Ngcobo^[8]
2011– Mogoeng Mogoeng

References

↑ "Statement by President Zuma on the extension of Judge Ngcobo's Service". The Presidency. Government of South Africa. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-05-06. Retrieved 2005-06-26.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2004-12-15. Retrieved 2005-06-26.
↑ Zimmermann, Reinhart. Southern Cross: Civil Law and Common Law in South Africa.
↑ Zimmermann, Reinhart. Southern Cross: Civil Law and Common Law in South Africa. p. 110.
↑ Zimmermann, Reinhart. Southern Cross: Civil Law and Common Law in South Africa. p. 116.
↑ Zimmermann, Reinhart. Southern Cross: Civil Law and Common Law in South Africa. p. 116.
↑ http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-bids-farewell-to-ngcobo-1.1117175

External links

Office of the Chief Justice

Constitutional Court of South Africa

Constitution Hill, Johannesburg

Current Justices	Chief Justice: Mogoeng Mogoeng Acting Deputy Chief Justice: Bess Nkabinde Edwin Cameron Johan Froneman Chris Jafta Sisi Khampepe Mbuyiseli Madlanga Nonkosi Mhlantla Johann van der Westhuizen Raymond Zondo

Former Justices	Laurie Ackermann Arthur Chaskalson John Didcott Richard Goldstone Johann Kriegler Pius Langa Tholie Madala Ismail Mahomed Yvonne Mokgoro Dikgang Moseneke Sandile Ngcobo Kate O'Regan Albie Sachs Zak Yacoob Thembile Skweyiya

Lists of judgments	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Law of South Africa Constitution of South Africa Courts of South Africa Judiciary of South Africa

Chief Justices of the Territories of the British Empire and the United Kingdom

Legend: Current territory; Former territory; * Now a Commonwealth realm; Now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations

Europe

Since 1234 England and Wales Since c.1200 Scotland 1175-1921 Ireland 1708–1757 Minorca Since 1713 Gibraltar 1763–1782 Minorca 1798–1802 Minorca 1800–1813 Malta (Protectorate) 1813–1964 Malta (Colony) 1807–1890 Heligoland 1809–1864 Ionian Islands 1878–1960 Cyprus 1921–1937 Irish Free State Since 1922 Northern Ireland

North America

17th century and before		18th century	19th and 20th century

1579 New Albion 1583–1907 Newfoundland 1605–1979 *Saint Lucia 1607–1776 Virginia Since 1619 Bermuda 1620–1691 Plymouth Colony 1623–1883 Saint Kitts *(Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1624–1966 *Barbados 1625–1650 Saint Croix 1627–1979 *Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1628–1883 Nevis *(Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1629–1691 Massachusetts Bay Colony 1632–1776 Maryland since 1632 Montserrat 1632–1860 Antigua *(Antigua & Barbuda) 1636–1776 Connecticut 1636–1776 Rhode Island 1637–1662 New Haven Colony	1643–1860 Bay Islands Since 1650 Anguilla 1655–1850 Mosquito Coast (protectorate) 1655–1962 *Jamaica 1663–1712 Carolina 1664–1776 New York 1665–1674 and 1702–1776 New Jersey Since 1666 British Virgin Islands Since 1670 Cayman Islands 1670–1973 *Bahamas 1670–1870 Rupert's Land 1671–1816 Leeward Islands 1674–1702 East Jersey 1674–1702 West Jersey 1680–1776 New Hampshire 1681–1776 Pennsylvania 1686–1689 Dominion of New England 1691–1776 Massachusetts	1701–1776 Delaware 1712–1776 North Carolina 1712–1776 South Carolina 1713–1867 Nova Scotia 1733–1776 Georgia 1754–1820 Cape Breton Island 1762–1974 *Grenada 1763–1978 Dominica 1763–1873 Prince Edward Island 1763–1791 Quebec 1763–1783 East Florida 1763–1783 West Florida 1784–1867 New Brunswick 1791–1841 Lower Canada 1791–1841 Upper Canada Since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands	1818–1846 Columbia District/Oregon Country¹ 1833–1960 Windward Islands 1833–1960 Leeward Islands 1841–1867 Province of Canada 1849–1866 Vancouver Island 1853–1863 Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands 1858–1866 British Columbia 1859–1870 North-Western Territory 1860–1981 *British Antigua and Barbuda 1862–1863 Stikine Territory 1866–1871 Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1867–1931 *Dominion of Canada² 1871–1964 British Honduras (*Belize) 1882–1983 *Saint Kitts and Nevis 1889–1962 Trinidad and Tobago 1907–1949 Dominion of Newfoundland³ 1958–1962 West Indies Federation

1. Occupied jointly with the United States.
2. In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. See Canada's name.
3. Gave up self-rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949.

South America

1651–1667 Willoughbyland (Suriname) 1670–1688 Saint Andrew and Providence Islands⁴ 1831–1966 British Guiana (Guyana) Since 1833 Falkland Islands⁵ Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands⁵

4. Now the San Andrés y Providencia Department of Colombia. 5. Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982.

Africa

17th and 18th centuries	19th century		20th century

Since 1658 Saint Helena¹⁴ 1792–1961 Sierra Leone 1795–1803 Cape Colony	Since 1815 Ascension Island¹⁴ Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha¹⁴ 1806–1910 Cape Colony 1807–1808 Madeira 1810–1968 Mauritius 1816–1965 The Gambia 1856–1910 Natal 1868–1966 Basutoland (Lesotho) 1874–1957 Gold Coast (Ghana) 1882–1922 Egypt	1884–1966 Bechuanaland (Botswana) 1884–1960 British Somaliland 1887–1897 Zululand 1890–1962 Uganda 1890–1963 Zanzibar (Tanzania) 1891–1964 Nyasaland (Malawi) 1891–1907 British Central Africa Protectorate 1893–1968 Swaziland 1895–1920 East Africa Protectorate 1899–1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan	1900–1914 Northern Nigeria 1900–1914 Southern Nigeria 1900–1910 Orange River Colony 1900–1910 Transvaal Colony 1903–1976 Seychelles 1906–1954 Nigeria Colony 1910–1931 South Africa 1914–1954 Nigeria Colony and Protectorate 1915–1931 South West Africa (Namibia) 1919–1960 Cameroons (Cameroon)⁶ 1920–1963 Kenya 1922–1961 Tanganyika (Tanzania)⁶ 1923–1965 Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)⁷ 1924–1964 Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) 1953–1963 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1954–1960 Nigeria 1979–1980 Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)⁷

6. League of Nations mandate.
7. Self-governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 (as Rhodesia) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003.

Asia

17th and 18th century	19th century		20th century

1685–1824 Bencoolen (Sumatra) 1702–1705 Pulo Condore 1757-1862 Bengal (to 1862) 1862–1947 Bengal (from 1862) (West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh) 1762–1764 Manila and Cavite 1786–1946 Penang (Malaysia) 1795–1948 Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1796–1965 Maldives	1812–1824 Banka (Sumatra) and Billiton (Sumatra) 1819–1826 British Malaya (West Malaysia and Singapore) 1826–1946 Straits Settlements (Malaysia and Singapore) 1839–1967 Colony of Aden 1839–1842 Afghanistan 1841–1997 Hong Kong 1841–1946 Kingdom of Sarawak (Malaysia) 1848–1946 Labuan (Malaysia) 1858–1947 British India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma) • Bombay • Calcutta • Madras • North-Western Provinces/Allahabad) 1874–1963 British Borneo (East Malaysia and Brunei)	1879–1919 Afghanistan (protectorate) 1882–1963 British North Borneo (Malaysia) 1885–1946 Unfederated Malay States 1888–1984 Sultanate of Brunei 1891–1971 Muscat and Oman protectorate 1892–1971 Trucial States 1895–1946 Federated Malay States 1898–1930 Weihai Garrison	1907–1949 Bhutan (protectorate) 1918–1961 Kuwait protectorate 1920–1932 Iraq⁸ 1921–1946 Transjordan⁸ 1923–1948 Palestine⁸ 1945–1946 South Vietnam 1946–1963 North Borneo (Malaysia) 1946–1963 Sarawak (Malaysia) 1946–1963 Singapore 1946–1948 Malayan Union 1948–1957 Federation of Malaya (Malaysia) Since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia (before as part of Cyprus) Since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory (before as part of Mauritius and the Seychelles)

⁸ League of Nations mandate. Iraq's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty

Oceania

18th and 19th centuries		20th century

1788–1901 New South Wales 1803–1901 Tasmania 1807–1863 Auckland Islands⁹ 1824–1980 New Hebrides (Vanuatu) 1824–1901 Queensland 1829–1901 Western Australia 1836–1901 South Australia since 1838 Pitcairn Islands	1841–1907 Colony of New Zealand 1851–1901 Victoria 1874–1970 Fiji¹⁰ 1877–1976 British Western Pacific Territories 1884–1949 Territory of Papua 1888–1901 Cook Islands⁹ 1889–1948 Union Islands (Tokelau)⁹ 1892–1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands¹¹ 1893–1978 British Solomon Islands¹²	1900–1970 Tonga (protected state) 1900–1974 Niue⁹ 1901–1942 Commonwealth of AustraliaNorthern Territory 1907–1953 *Dominion of New Zealand 1919–1942 Nauru 1945–1968 Nauru 1919–1949 Territory of New Guinea 1949–1975 Territory of Papua and New Guinea¹³

9. Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand.
10. Suspended member.
11. Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu.
12. Now the *Solomon Islands.
13. Now *Papua New Guinea.

Antarctica and South Atlantic

Since 1658 Saint Helena¹⁴ Since 1815 Ascension Island¹⁴ Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha¹⁴ Since 1908 British Antarctic Territory¹⁵ 1841–1933 Australian Antarctic Territory (transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia) 1841–1947 Ross Dependency (transferred to the Realm of New Zealand)

14. Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island (1922–) and Tristan da Cunha (1938–) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena. 15. Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands).

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