Arthur Chaskalson
Chief Justice of South Africa
In office November 2001 – June 2005
President	Thabo Mbeki
Deputy	Pius Langa
Preceded by	Ismail Mahomed
Succeeded by	Pius Langa
President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
In office June 1994 – November 2001
President	Nelson Mandela
Deputy	Pius Langa
Preceded by	Office established
Personal details
Born	(1931-11-24)24 November 1931 Johannesburg,South Africa
Died	1 December 2012(2012-12-01) (aged 81) Johannesburg,South Africa
Resting place	Westpark Cemetery,Johannesburg[1]
Spouse	Lorraine Chaskalson
Children	Matthew and Jerome
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand

Arthur ChaskalsonSCOB, (24 November 1931 – 1 December 2012) was President of theConstitutional Court of South Africa from 1994 to 2001 andChief Justice of South Africa from 2001 to 2005. Chaskalson was a member of the defence team in theRivonia Trial of 1963.

Born inJohannesburg, Chaskalson was educated atHilton College and later graduated from theUniversity of the Witwatersrand with a BCom (1952) and LLB Cum Laude (1954).^[2]

In 1963, Chaskalson, along withBram Fischer,Joel Joffe,Harry Schwarz,George Bizos,Vernon Berrangé andHarold Hanson, was part of the former PresidentNelson Mandela's defence team in theRivonia Trial, which saw Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment.

Chaskalson left a very successful legal practice to become a human rights lawyer, helping to establish theLegal Resources Centre, a non-profit organisation modeled after theNAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in the United States seeking to use the law to pursue justice and human rights around South Africa. Chaskalson served as the centre's director from November 1978 until September 1993.^[2][3][4][5] In 1975 and 1983, he was leading counsel in the cases of Veli Komani and Mehlolo Tom Rikhotso, which successfully challenged the legality ofapartheid legislation seeking to establish influx control, crippling the government's ability to enforce influx control laws.^[6]

As the first president of South Africa's new Constitutional Court in 1994, and then later Chief Justice of the same court (following a Constitutional amendment act in 2001 which changed his title), Chaskalson gained a reputation as one of South Africa's leading jurists in constitutional and human rights issues. Chaskalson was a member of the technical committee on constitutional issues appointed by themulti-party negotiating forum in May 1993, acting as a key advisor on the adoption of theInterim Constitution of South Africa in 1993, and was regarded as one of the prime movers of a changing judiciary in South Africa during his time on the bench of the Constitutional Court.

The court's first major decision under Chaskalson's leadership abolished thedeath penalty inS v Makwanyane on 6 June 1995.^[7] He also wrote notable majority judgments inSoobramoney v Minister of Health, KwaZulu-Natal andMinister of Public Works v Kyalami Ridge Environmental Association, and he co-wroteFedsure Life Assurance v Greater Johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan Council with JusticesRichard Goldstone andKate O'Regan.

Chaskalson also became prominent internationally, becoming commissioner of theInternational Commission of Jurists in 1995 before being selected as one of South Africa's four members on theUnited NationsPermanent Court of Arbitration in 1999. In 1989, he consulted on the writing of theConstitution of Namibia. He became the President of the International Commission of Jurists then from 2002 until 2008.^[5]

On 31 May 2005, Chaskalson retired as Chief Justice and was replaced by his former deputyPius Langa. In his 2005 State of the Nation speech shortly before Chaskalson's retirement, South African PresidentThabo Mbeki praised the Chief Justice as a "great son of our people" and a "giant among the architects of our democracy".^[2] Mbeki paid tribute to Chaskalson for everything he had done "as a South African, a lawyer and a judge, to shepherd us towards the construction of a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it".

He died in Johannesburg on 1 December 2012 from leukemia and was buried inWestpark Cemetery.^[5]

Chaskalson was survived by his wife Lorraine, with whom he had two sons and five grandchildren.^[8] Chaskalson was Jewish^[5] and was associated withProgressive synagogues in Johannesburg.^[9]

In 2002 he was awarded theOrder of the Baobab (Gold) for "exceptional service in law, constitutional jurisprudence and human rights".^[10]

• Constitutional Court of South Africa
• Constitution of South Africa
• List of Constitutional Court opinions of Arthur Chaskalson

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Arthur Chaskalson

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