Pieter Jacobus "Pierre" Rabie (1917–1997) was a senior

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 ...

n judge during the

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 ...

era and served as Chief Justice from 1982 to 1989.

Early life and education

Born in the Free State in 1917, Rabie matriculated at

Koffiefontein Koffiefontein is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. The name means ''coffee fountain'' in Afrikaans. History In the 1800s, Koffiefontein was a stopover spot for transport riders traveling between the coast and the di ...

in 1934. He then enrolled at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

where he obtained a BA degree, followed by a MA in Latin and a MA in Greek, all three degrees

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. After receiving a scholarship, he began his classical studies at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and was awarded the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in 1943. After returning to South Africa, he taught in classical languages at the University of Stellenbosch and also began studying law and obtained his

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 ...

(cum laude) at the end of 1948.

Career

Shortly after graduating, Rabie started practicing 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 ...

at the Pretoria

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and in 1962 he became a senior advocate. In 1966 he was appointed as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court. In 1970 he acted for the first time as a judge of the appellate division of the South African Supreme Court and 1971 he was permanently appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeal. In 1982 he was appointed as Chief Justice of South Africa.

Personal life

In 1947, he married Annalie le Roux, with whom he had two daughters and a son. His son, also called Pierre, became a judge of the

Gauteng High Court The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...

References

1917 births 1997 deaths South African judges Chief justices of South Africa University of Michigan alumni {{SouthAfrica-law-bio-stub