Elizabeth Dorothy Baartman (born 3 December 1960) is a South African

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

Western Cape Division The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court, superior court of law with general juris ...

of the

High Court of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provinces of South Africa, provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction ov ...

. Before President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

appointed her to the bench in August 2009, she was an advocate and prosecutor for the

National Prosecuting Authority The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African Government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the South African Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which establi ...

. She also served a decade as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Born on 3 December 1960, Baartman grew up in

Hangberg Hangberg is a neighbourhood of Hout Bay in Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated on the mountain slopes between Hout Bay Harbour and The Sentinel peak, and many of the residents are employed in fishing and other industries related to the harbo ...

. Her father was a fisherman, and she was classified as

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

under

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 ...

. After attending grade school in

Hout Bay Hout Bay (, meaning "Wood Bay") is a seaside suburb of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of the Central business district of ...

, she matriculated in 1979 at Grassy Park High School on the

Cape Flats The Cape Flats () is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geo ...

. Thereafter she studied law 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 ...

, completing a BJuris in 1986 and an LLB in 1992.

Legal career

Baartman worked full-time throughout her LLB studies: she was a prosecutor from February 1986 to February 1991, working primarily in the district courts of

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

and Wynberg, and then she took up a position as a

. She continued her work as a magistrate after her graduation, handling

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...

and

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

matters. In addition, she was admitted as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

of the

on 3 September 1993. She left the magistracy at the end of July 2001. Thereafter, from December 2001 to June 2003, she was the director of the Peoples Family Law Centre, a non-profit organisation which provided family law services. In July 2003, she returned to the

(NPA) as a senior state advocate in the Asset Forfeiture Unit. She also deputised Willie Hofmeyr as the unit's deputy director, initially in an acting capacity from 2005 and then in a permanent capacity from 2008. However, in June 2007, Baartman entered the Office of the Chief Justice's Aspirant Women Judges training programme. However, the leadership of the NPA was concerned that it would create a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

for her to hold acting positions in the judiciary while employed as a prosecutor, an argument that she came to agree with. She therefore resigned from the NPA with effect from 30 September 2008. Thereafter she was an acting judge in the High Court's

from October 2008 until she was appointed to the bench permanently in August 2009.

Western Cape High Court: 2009–present

In July 2009, while serving as an acting judge, Baartman was one of five candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted and interviewed for possible permanent appointment to one of two judicial vacancies in the Western Cape High Court. The Judicial Service Commission recommended her for appointment, and President

confirmed her and

Ashley Binns-Ward Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

to the vacancies the following month. She joined the bench permanently with effect from 26 August 2009. In 2021, Baartman presided in

Busisiwe Mkhwebane Busisiwe Mkhwebane is a South African advocate and prosecutor served as the 4th Public Protector of South Africa from October 2016 until her impeachment in September 2023. Following her impeachment, she served as a Member of the National Assem ...

's challenge against the

constitutionality In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

of the parliamentary section 194 inquiry instituted to impeach her.

Appellate nominations

Baartman was an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal from June 2015 to May 2016 and later from December 2023 to March 2024. She was twice shortlisted and interviewed for possible permanent appointment to the Supreme Court, once in April 2016 and again (this time with the support of former

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 ...

justice

Kate O'Regan Catherine "Kate" O'Regan (born 17 September 1957) is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. From 2013 to 2014 she was a commissioner of the Khayelitsha Commission and is now the inaugural director of the Bonavero Institute ...

) in April 2018. On the first occasion, Supreme Court President

Lex Mpati Lex Mpati (born 5 September 1949) is a South African retired judge who was the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa from August 2008 to May 2016. He was appointed to the bench in February 1997 as a judge of the Eastern Cape ...

told her during her interview that the other judges of appeal believed that she "needed more honing with more acting stints" before she was ready to serve in the appellate court permanently; likewise, her lack of experience in complex constitutional adjudication was a matter of concern in the 2018 interview. The Judicial Service Commission did not recommend her for appointment on either occasion.

References

External links

Elizabeth Baartman
at Supreme Court of Appeal
E. D. Baartman
at Judges Matter
Review
by the General Council of the Bar {{DEFAULTSORT:Baartman, Elizabeth 1960 births 21st-century South African judges 20th-century South African lawyers 21st-century South African lawyers Living people 20th-century South African women lawyers 21st-century South African women judges Judges of the Western Cape High Court People from Cape Town Coloureds University of the Western Cape alumni