Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (born 30 January 1935) is a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first
Constitutional Court of South Africa
The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction.
The Court was first establ ...
by
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
.
Early life and education
Albie Sachs was born in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
at the Florence Nightingale Hospital to Emile Solomon "Solly" Sachs, General Secretary to the
Garment Workers' Union of South Africa, and Rachel "Ray" (née Ginsberg) Sachs (later Edwards). Both his mother and father fled to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
as children with parents who were escaping persecution against Jews in
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
. Sachs shared that at the time they left, the
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
had become so violent that "Every Easter, the
Cossacks
The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
would ride into the villages and say, 'The Jews killed Christ, we're going to kill the Jews.' And my grandparents and others were fleeing into the forests and basements of buildings... so they wanted to escape."
Both of his parents were politically active and his father expressed the desire that Sachs "grow up to be a soldier in the fight for liberation."
His mother was a member of the
South African Communist Party
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...
and worked as a typist for its general secretary
Moses Kotane. Sachs said that Kotane's presence in his family's life, in particular the way he was admired by Sachs' mother, made it clear to him that racism was absurd, inhuman, and unjust.
His parents separated when he was a toddler and he moved with his mother and younger brother Johnny to a modest beachside home in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
.
Sachs excelled in school and was moved forward two grades, in part due to a shortage of schoolteachers in South Africa during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He attended South African College Schools, where he edited the school magazine, for junior and high school before graduating. He started law school at the University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
at the age of 15, and won a prize for English in his first year. He was admitted to the bar in South Africa and began practicing law at 21, and became an advocate for those being prosecuted under racist and oppressive laws, including people who opposed apartheid.
Activism and exile
On 6 April 1952, white South Africans
White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...
commemorated 300 years since the arrival of Dutch colonisers, particularly Jan van Riebeeck
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company.
Life
Early life
Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...
, who rooted European civilization into the country. Many also celebrated the recent electoral victory of the National Party and the introduction of the word apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
to the English language. Sachs, then a second-year law student, joined two hundred Black South Africans at a meeting to support the African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
(ANC), the National Party's opposition, in a working-class area of Cape Town. The ANC launched their Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws the same day. Though Sachs was initially told that the Defiance Campaign was a Black campaign led by Black people, he later led a group of young white South Africans to sit in chairs reserved
Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the flagship brand of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 2,200 retail stores located in over 38 countries and also owns su ...
for Black South Africans at the post office. In 1955, Sachs attended the Congress of the People in Kliptown. More than 2,000 delegates supporting the ANC adopted the Freedom Charter
The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...
, which envisaged equal rights for all in a future South Africa that "belongs to all that live in it, black and white."
As part of the opposition, Sachs was subject to predawn raids by the security police and governmental restrictions on his activities, including meeting with more than one person at any given time. He was also banned from publishing. He was eventually arrested and detained in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...
under the 90-Day Detention Law. He was released after three months but was promptly rearrested and held for an additional seventy-eight days. He was arrested again in 1966, which he described as the "worst moment of islife." He was subjected to a spell of sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...
by a security team whose head had been trained in torture methods by the French Directorate-General for External Security
The Directorate-General for External Security (, , DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 27 November 1943. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intelli ...
in Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. Upon his release, he was given permission to leave South Africa under the condition that he never return.
England
Sachs left for England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
accompanied by Stephanie Kemp, a former client and later cellmate. They married, had children, and continued their anti-apartheid work in the London branch of the ANC. His ANC work brought him to different countries in Europe but he was denied entry to the United States, which regarded the ANC as a terrorist organisation.[ After policy changes, he was able to visit the US, where he attended the Trial of the Chicago 7 at the invitation of the lawyers defending the Black Panthers. Sachs supported Bobby Seale and later met Black Panther leader ]Huey P. Newton
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with ...
.
Sachs attended Sussex University with financial aid from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and completed his doctorate in 1970 under Norman Cohn
Norman Rufus Colin Cohn FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex.
Life
Cohn was born in London, ...
and G. I. A. D. Draper. His thesis, titled ''Justice in South Africa'', was published in both the UK and the USA but was banned in South Africa, with those in possession of it facing prison time. Between 1970 and 1977, Sachs was a lecturer in the law faculty at the University of Southampton
The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...
, where he wrote ''Sexism and the Law'' with historian Joan Hoff-Wilson. He also published ''The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs'', which illustrated his time in detainment, in 1966 and ''Stephanie on Trial'', which covered Kemp's imprisonment and his second arrest, in 1968.
Mozambique
Sachs moved to the newly independent Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
in 1977, where he worked as a law professor at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo
Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
and studied Portuguese to fluency. He was later the Ministry of Justice's Director of Research. While in Mozambique, Sachs visited the ANC headquarters in Lusaka
Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...
, Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
, at the invitation of Oliver Tambo
Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
Biography Childhood
Oliver Tambo was ...
, where Tambo asked him to draft a code of conduct for the ANC that forbade the use of torture and highlighted the party's democratic principles. The ANC adopted it as a binding policy after it was presented by Sachs at a conference in Kabwe
Kabwe is the capital of the Zambian Central Province and the Kabwe District, with a population estimated at 288,598 at the 2022 census. Named Broken Hill until 1966, it was founded when lead and zinc deposits were discovered in 1902. Kabwe also ...
in 1985.
Sachs helped lay the foundations for the future constitution of South Africa by serving as a scribe
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing.
The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...
and provided Tambo with legal support.[
]
Assassination attempt and aftermath
On 7 April 1988, Sachs opened the door to his car and it exploded. Sachs lost his right arm and vision in his left eye, and a passerby was killed. He was stabilized in Mozambique, then flown to London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...
to recover. There, he received a letter promising he would be avenged. Sachs decided to seek not revenge
Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...
, but "soft vengeance". This "soft vengeance" would take the form of getting freedom in a new non-racial and democratic South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
based on human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
and the rule of law.
After recovering from the attack, Sachs established and became the founding director of the South African Constitutional Studies Centre at the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. He then flew to Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
to work on the first draft of South Africa's Bill of Rights along with Kader Asmal under the direction of the ANC. In early 1989, Sachs went to the US to work with Jack Greenberg at the Columbia School of Law and Louis Henkin at the School of International and Public Affairs
The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League univers ...
.
He attended a Law and Justice Seminar in Aspen, Colorado
Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...
moderated by Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justice Harry Blackmun, whose personal physician spoke about the intersection of his Catholic identity and his opposition to abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
and his belief that his own beliefs should not be forced on others with different beliefs. Despite the physician's staunch objection to abortion, he supported the passing of '' Roe v Wade''. Sachs took from this the idea of the relationship between the sacred and the secular, which would later influence his own judgments.
While in the US, Sachs also learned to use a computer and wrote ''The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter'', where he reflected on his recovery.
Return to South Africa
Sachs returned to South Africa in 1990 after the unbanning of the ANC and other political organizations and the release of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
. There, he worked at the University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...
(UWC) in the law faculty with Dullah Omar
Abdullah Mohamed Omar OLS (26 May 1934 – 13 March 2004), better known as Dullah Omar, was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, lawyer, and a minister in the South African cabinet from 1994 until his death.
Early life and education
B ...
and was appointed honorary professor at the University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
after his lecture ''Perfectibility and Corruptibility''. He continued working with the ANC's Constitutional Committee and in 1990 published ''Protecting Human Rights in South Africa''. This book contained the controversial paper ''Preparing Ourselves for Freedom'', which proposed that the ANC stop saying that "culture is a weapon of struggle" by arguing that the sociopolitical impact of culture was too complex and full of ambiguity to be reduced to "a weapon that simply fired in one direction." Sachs was elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee in 1991 ahead of the ANC's first conference in South Africa.[ He worked with UWC to organized workshops on ]electoral system
An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...
s, land rights, regional government, and affirmative action
Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...
, among other topics. In December 1992, Sachs worked on ANC's team during negotiations for a new constitutional order.
Sachs also served on Working Group Two, which dealt with the nature of the South African State and the process for constitution-making. CODESA negotiations broke down but were later resumed as the Multi-Party Negotiation Process, which led to the drafting of the Interim Constitution. This provided for South Africa's first democratic elections, which would populate its Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. Parliamentary members formed the Constitutional Assembly and drafted the final version of the Constitution.
The interim Constitution also provided for the creation of an independent Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
, which would ensure that fundamental rights would be upheld during the Constitution-making period both to ensure and to certify that the text of the final text Constitution complied with the 34 Principles agreed to during negotiations.
Sachs has been widely credited as the "chief architect" of the post-apartheid 1996 Constitution, a label that he firmly rejects, insisting that the Constitution was the product of large groups of people working over many years and culminating in the intense work of the Constitutional Assembly, of which he was not even a member. He has said that, if one were to do a paternity test on South Africa's Constitution, that Oliver Tambo's DNA would be revealed.
Constitutional Court and judicial career
In 1994, following South Africa's first democratic elections, Sachs resigned from the ANC's National Executive Committee and pursued a position on the country's newly established Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
.[ He was selected later that year by Mandela as a founding member of the Court. In addition to his judicial duties, Sachs and Justice Yvonne Mokgoro put together the Court's art collection, which relayed its dedication to humanity and social interdependence in the newly democratic South Africa.] His appointment inspired initial controversy, primarily due to his interview with the Judicial Service Commission. Here, Sachs was asked about his role in a report downplaying the ANC's indefinite detention
Indefinite detention is the incarceration of an arrested person by a national government or law enforcement agency for an indefinite amount of time without a trial. The Human Rights Watch considers this practice as violating national and internatio ...
and solitary confinement
Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...
of Umkhonto we Sizwe
uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...
commander Thami Zulu. Thami Zulu was killed in Lusaka in 1989, and the ANC never carried out an investigation about who in the ANC had murdered. Sachs received criticism from other politicians and lawyers, which he felt was unfair given his central role in ending torture in ANC camps. Sachs worked on a number of landmark cases, including '' Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie'' and the Prisoners' Right to Vote.[
]
''August v Electoral Commission'' (1999)
After the Electoral Commission of South Africa
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (often referred to as the Independent Electoral Commission or IEC) is South Africa's election management body, an independent organisation established under chapter nine of the Constitution. It conducts ...
declared that prisoners would be barred from voting in the general elections, the Court considered whether they were denying a fundamental right. The Court unanimously agreed that withholding the right to vote from prisoners was unconstitutional and would be observed only under an Act of Parliament that was compatible with the Constitution. Sachs wrote: "The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and personhood."
''Christian Education South Africa v Minister of Education'' (2000)
'' Christian Education South Africa v Minister of Education'' questioned whether Parliament had unconstitutionally limited religious rights by prohibiting corporal punishment
A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...
in schools. Sachs argued that corporal punishment infringed on the rights of children, and pointed to Section 12 of the South African Constitution, which extends the rights to freedom, security, and protection from "all forms of violence whether from public or private sources." Sachs wrote that " lievers cannot claim an automatic right to be exempted by their beliefs from the laws of the land. At the same time, the state should, wherever reasonably possible, seek to avoid putting believers to extremely painful and intensely burdensome choices of either being true to their faith or else respectful of the law." Sachs felt that the case would have been enriched had by a children's advocate appointed by the State.
''Port Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers'' (2004)
In '' Port Elizabeth Municipality v Various Occupiers'', Port Elizabeth officials filed for the eviction of unhoused people living on unused, private land. The Court unanimously agreed that the group should not be evicted in support of the "right not to be arbitrarily deprived of a home." Sachs added, "Ubuntu
Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical (company), Canonical and a community of contributors under a Meritocracy, meritocratic gover ...
is a unifying motif of the Bill of Rights, which is nothing if not a structured, institutionalized and operational declaration in our evolving new society of the need for human interdependence, respect and concern."
''Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie'' (2005)
Sachs wrote the Court's majority judgement in '' Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie'' declaring that South Africa's statute defining marriage to be between one man and one woman was unconstitutional for not including same-sex couples. He stated that the Parliament was obligated to amend the Marriage Act to reflect the inclusion written into the Constitution and that the Court itself would make the changes if Parliament did not act within a year. He wrote that "the Constitution acknowledges the variability of human beings enetic and socio-cultural affirms the right to be different, and celebrates the diversity of the nation." The Civil Union Act came from this decision and relied more heavily on the gender-neutral "spouse." Justice Kate O'Regan criticised Sachs for not taking immediate action on the changes and assigning that responsibility to Parliament instead.
''Laugh It Off Promotions CC v South African Breweries International'' (2005)
In '' Laugh It Off Promotions v South African Breweries'', the Court held that the parodied use of a trademark on a t-shirt should not be interdicted, because the detriment to the owners intellectual property rights was small and far outweighed by free speech rights. In a separate concurring judgment Sachs wrote, "Does the law have a sense of humor?... A society that takes itself too seriously risks bottling up its tensions and treating every example of irreverence as a threat to its existence. Humor is one of the great solvents of democracy. It permits the ambiguities and contradictions of public life to be articulated in non-violent forms. It promotes diversity. It enables a multitude of discontents to be expressed in a myriad of spontaneous ways. It is an elixir of constitutional health."
''Volks v Robinson'' (2005) and ''Jane Bwanya v The Master of the High Court, Cape Town'' (2021)
'' Volks v Robinson'' looked at whether a law providing for surviving spouses to receive maintenance from a deceased person's estate was unconstitutional on the grounds that it did not include unmarried cohabitants. While the majority of the Court did not find this discriminatory, Sachs strongly disagreed: " ould a person who has shared her home and life with her deceased partner, borne and raised children with him, cared for him in health and in sickness, and dedicated her life to support the family they created together, be treated as a legal stranger to his estate, with no claim for subsistence because they were never married?" The Court's majority decision was overturned in 2021 in '' Bwanya v Master of the High Court'' in favour of Sachs' argument.
''S v M'' (2007)
'' S v M'' brought the Court a case wherein a woman, referred to as M, faced jail time for repeated credit fraud, even while out on bail. Sachs initially planned to dismiss the case but, in talking with his colleagues, he learned that M was a single parent of three teenagers living in an area with high levels of gang and drug activity and violence. She was also the owner and operator of two small businesses and was a member of the school governing board. Sachs accepted the case on the grounds of the children's right to parental care. He ruled in their interest, emphasizing that "foundational to the enjoyment of the right to childhood is the promotion of the right as far as possible to live in a secure and nurturing environment free from violence, fear, want and avoidable trauma."
Judicial Retirement
Sachs retired in October 2009 after fifteen years in the Court. Justices Pius Langa, Yvonne Mokgoro and Kate O'Regan also retired. In 2010, he described his judicial career as "joyous and exhilarating, but also exhausting, complicated and problematic." Sachs has stayed active and in the public eye since his retirement from the Court. ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' has described him as "arguably the world's most famous judge."
Lecturing and consultancy
Sachs has remained active in his retirement and travels around the world to lecture or act as a consultant. He works to promote restorative justice
Restorative justice is a community-based approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims, offenders and communities. In doing so, restorative justice practitioners work to ensure that offenders take responsibility for their ac ...
, gender equality, and constitutional democracy. He worked with Canadian Supreme Court Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé to encourage Supreme Court judges in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
to approach their roles with greater gender sensitivity. Sachs traveled in his early years as well, speaking to the Northern Irish
The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
during The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
ns during the Tiger Tamil Rebellion, and Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
ns and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...
in support of the Colombian peace process. In 1999, he visited Guyana
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
on behalf of the National Democratic Institute to meet with political and civil society leaders to discuss political accommodation and constitution-making.
In 1997, he was appointed by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
to the International Bioethics Committee to help with drafting the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights He also spent 15 months in Kenya as a commonwealth judge and served on the Kenya Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board
The Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board is a board established by the Government of Kenya as a result of the ''Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Act, 2011'', which was passed by parliament to create the necessary institutional framework and guide ...
. In 2021, he served as a judge at the World Human Rights Moot Court Competition as part of the University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...
's Mandela Day
Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual list of minor secular observances#July, international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the ...
celebration in Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
.
As of August 2022, Sachs is a trustee for the Constitutional Hill Trust, the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, and the Albie Sachs Trust for Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law. He also served on the International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
's Disciplinary Appeals Board for many years.[
]
Publications
Books
* ''The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs'' - 1966, Harvill Press -
* ''Stephanie on Trial'' - 1968, Harvill Press
* ''Justice in South Africa'' - 1973, University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
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* ''Protecting Human Rights in a New South Africa'' - 1990, Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
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* ''The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter'' - 1990, Grafton -
* ''Advancing Human Rights in South Africa'' - 1992, Oxford University Press -
* ''The Free Diary of Albie Sachs'' - 2004, Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
* ''The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law'' - 2009, Oxford University Press -
* ''We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge'' - 2016, University of the Witwatersrand Press -
* ''Oliver Tambo's Dream: Four Lectures'' - 2017, African Lives -
Essays
* ''Preparing Ourselves for Freedom: Culture and the ANC Constitutional Guidelines'' – 1991, '' TDR'' -
* ''Tales of Terrorism and Torture: The Soft Vengeance of Justice'' (in ''Confronting Torture'') - 2018, University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
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As a co-author
* ''Sexism and the Law: A Study of Male Beliefs and Legal Bias in Britain and the United States'' with Joan Hoff-Wilson - 1978, Free Press -
* ''Island in Chains: Prisoner 885/63: Ten Years on Robben Island'' with Indres Naidoo - 1982, Penguin Books
Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
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* ''Spring is Rebellious: Arguments about Cultural Freedom'' with Ingrid de Kok - 1990, Buchu Books -
* ''Liberating the Law: Creating Popular Justice in Mozambique'' with Gita Honwana-Welch - 1990, Zed Books
Zed Books is a non-fiction publishing company based in London, UK. It was founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press by Roger van Zwanenberg.
Zed publishes books for an international audience of both general and academic readers, covering areas ...
-
Honours and awards
Honorary degrees
Sachs holds honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
s from the following universities:
* York University
York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
(1994)
* University of Antwerp
The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...
(2000)
* University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
(2006)[
* ]University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
(2007)
* Ulster University (2008)
* University of York
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
(2010)
* Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
(2010)
* University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949.
The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
(2010)
* University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
(2011)
* Polytechnic University (Maputo, Mozambique) (2011)
* University of Dundee (2012)
* University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
(2013)
* University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...
(2013)
* University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
(2013)
* University of Witwatersrand (2014)[
* ]University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
(2014)
* Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
(2017)
* Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
(2018)
* NOVA University of Lisbon
* Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
(2019)
* University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
(2019)
* University of Roehampton (2022)
* University of the Free State
The University of the Free State (; Sotho language, Sesotho: ''Yunivesithi ya Freistata'') is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It wa ...
* University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
(2022)
* University of Southampton
The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...
(Unknown date)
* University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
(Unknown date)[
* William Mitchell College of Law (Unknown date)]
Cultural recognition
''The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs'' was dramatized by playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
David Edgar for the Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...
and was televised by the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in 1981. In Allan Hutchinson's 2012 book ''Laughing at the Gods: Great Judges and How They Made the Common law'', Sachs is listed as one of the greatest common law judges in history alongside Lord Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...
, John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...
, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., James Atkin, Tom Denning, Thurgood Marshall
Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme C ...
, and Bertha Wilson
Bertha Wernham Wilson (September 18, 1923April 28, 2007) was a Canadian jurist and the first female puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Before her ascension to Canada's highest court, she was the first female associate and partner ...
. Hutchinson believes that Sachs' "life and career redefine what it means to be a lawyer and judge in a society that is grappling with the injustices of its past and ameliorating opportunities of its future."[ Abby Ginzberg directed and produced the 2014 documentary ''Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa'' about Sachs' life. The film won a ]Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
. The Clooney Foundation for Justice established the Albie Awards to honour activists in different sectors all over the world. Maria Ressa
Maria Angelita Ressa (; born Maria Angelita Delfin Aycardo on October 2, 1963) is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in ...
, IACT
IACT (imaging atmospheric r airCherenkov telescope r technique is a device or method to detect very-high-energy gamma ray photons in the photon energy range of 50 GeV to 50 TeV.
As of 2017, there are four operating IACT systems: ...
, In 2022, Sachs was also featured the Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
documentary ''Live to Lead.''
Personal life
Sachs married his first wife, Stephanie Kemp, a member of the African Resistance Movement, ANC, and SACP, in 1966. They have two children, Alan and Michael, and divorced in 1980. She remained in London for another 10 years and worked as a physiotherapist
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...
specializing in the treatment of children with cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...
before returning to South Africa. Sachs married urban architect Vanessa September in 2006. Their marriage was officiated by Justice Pius Langa. They have one son, Oliver Lukho-u-Thando September Sachs. Sachs describes himself as "a very secular person" who is respectful of others' beliefs and is proud to identify as a Jew. The Jews he identifies most with are Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
and Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
.
See also
* List of Constitutional Court opinions of Albie Sachs
References
External links
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Albie Sachs in conversation
for the Guarini Institute launch
by the ''Conversations with History'' program of the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
''Voices on Antisemitism'' Interview with Albie Sachs
from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Interview with Justice Sachs
on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview
A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and Perspective (cognitive), point of view. However, whe ...
program
* Hear his tal
"The South African Court Looks At Same-Sex Marriages: The Fourie Case"
at the University of Chicago
"The Law Report" (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
On idealism, passion and reason in South Africa
Albie Sachs Speaks on The Forum
Albie Sachs
''Freedom Collection
Freedom Collection is a digital repository sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Southern Methodist University's campus in Dallas, Texas. The collection documents major players in human rights and ...
'' interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachs, Albie
Living people
Academics of the University of Southampton
Academic staff of the Eduardo Mondlane University
Writers from Johannesburg
Judges of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists
South African anti-apartheid activists
White South African anti-apartheid activists
South African secular Jews
South African people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
Recipients of the Order of Luthuli
Alumni of the University of Sussex
Alumni of South African College Schools
University of Cape Town alumni
20th-century South African lawyers
20th-century South African judges
21st-century South African judges
South African amputees
1935 births