Ian Farlam SC is a retired South African judge, who chaired the commission of inquiry into the 2012 Marikana massacre.

Early life and education

Farlam was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

and obtained his LLB degree from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

in 1961. In that year he was also the clerk of Judge

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Career

He became a prosecutor and worked at the attorney general's office from 1964 until 1968, first in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana Loc ...

and then in Cape Town. He joined the Cape

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in 1968 and was awarded

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel ( post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

status at the end of 1981. During 1988, Farlam acted for the first time as a judge in the

Orange Free State Provincial Division The Free State Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Orange Free State Provincial Division and the Free State High Court, and commonly known as the Bloemfontein High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisd ...

of the High Court and on 1 October 1993, he was appointed judge 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 High Court. In 2000 he was appointed as a Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal, a position he held until his retirement in 2009.

Post-retirement

From late 2012, Farlam chaired the commission of inquiry into the Marikana massacre.

References

1939 births Living people South African judges People from Cape Town South African Senior Counsel {{SouthAfrica-law-bio-stub