Gerald Friedman SC (13 September 1928 – 11 September 2023) was a South African judge who was Judge President of the

Cape Provincial 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 of law with general jurisdiction over the ...

of the Supreme Court.

Early life and education

Friedman studied 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 ...

and obtained the degrees of BA and

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Career

In 1950, Friedman was admitted to the Cape

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

and twenty year later, in 1970 he

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

. In 1977, he was appointed a judge at the

of the Supreme Court and in 1990, he was promoted to Judge of Appeal. In 1992 re-joined the Cape Division of the Supreme Court, becoming the Judge President of the Cape, a post he had held until 1998. From 1999 until 2010, Friedman acted as the chairperson of the Financial Services Appeal Board and from 1999 until 2007, also as chair of the Ombudsman's Council.

Notable cases

Friedman was the presiding judge in the murder trial of the accused for the murder of the American student,

Amy Biehl Amy Elizabeth Biehl (April 26, 1967 – August 25, 1993) was a Fulbright Scholar and American graduate of Stanford University and an anti-Apartheid activist in South Africa who was murdered by a black mob shouting anti-white slurs at her in ...

, during 1993. He convicted the accused and sentenced them to 18 years in prison.

Death

Friedman died on 11 September 2023, two days before his 95th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Gerald 1928 births 2023 deaths 20th-century South African judges South African judges University of Cape Town alumni White South African people