Yasmin Shehnaz Meer (born 28 June 1955) 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 ...

who has been acting Judge President of the

Land Claims Court Land court or land claims court is a type of court which is charged with dealings over cases involving land titles and for disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies. The exact field of jurisdiction varies by country ...

since 2012. She was appointed as a

puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

in that court in 1996, and she has additionally been a judge of the

Western Cape High Court 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 ...

since 2003. Before she joined the bench, she was an attorney at the

Legal Resources Centre The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) is a human rights organisation based in South Africa with offices in Johannesburg (including a Constitutional Litigation Unit), Cape Town, Durban and Grahamstown. It was founded in 1979 by a group of prominent South ...

Early life and career

Meer was born on 28 June 1955. Her mother was political activist

Fatima Meer Fatima Meer (12 August 1928 – 12 March 2010) was a South African writer, academic, screenwriter, and prominent anti-apartheid activist. Early life Fatima Meer was born in the Grey Streets of Durban, South Africa, into a middle-class family ...

. After matriculating at the Durban Indian Girls' High School in 1972, she attended the

University of Durban-Westville The University of Durban-Westville (UDW) was a university situated in Westville, a town situated near Durban, South Africa, which opened in 1972. It is now one of the campuses of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was initially established for ...

, where she completed a BA in 1975. Thereafter she completed an LLB 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 ...

in 1979 and an LLM at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

in 1982. After serving her articles of clerkship at

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 ...

's law firm, Meer was admitted as an attorney in 1983. She entered legal practice at the

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 ...

, where she worked as an attorney on

public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). It refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability ...

matters for the next 13 years. She was the centre's deputy national director from 1994 to 1996 and then its acting national director in 1996.

Judicial career

Later in 1996, Meer was appointed as a judge in the newly established

, and she was among the five judges who sat in the first session of the court when it opened in June 1997. In November 2002, President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

announced that he would additionally appoint Meer as a judge 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 ...

. She joined the High Court on 27 January 2003, and thereafter she divided her time between the High Court in Cape Town and the Land Claims Court 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 ...

. One of her judgments in the High Court, on transparency in

political party funding Political party funding is a method used by a political party to raise money for campaigns and routine activities. The funding of political parties is an aspect of campaign finance. Political parties are funded by contributions from multiple sou ...

, was upheld by the

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 ...

in '' My Vote Counts v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services''. In 2012, after Land Claims Court Judge President

Fikile Bam Fikile is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Fikile Khosa, Zambian footballer * Fikile Magadlela (1952–2003), South African painter *Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 8 April 1971) is a South African politician and ...

died, Meer was installed as the court's acting Judge President. She continued to hold that position in an acting capacity as of the end of 2023.

Appellate courts

Meer was an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2011, and she has been nominated for elevation to the Constitutional Court on several occasions. She was shortlisted for elevation in 2003, and interviewed again in 2008. On two later occasions, in 2009 and 2021, she was nominated but withdrew from contention before the Judicial Service Commission held its hearings.

Personal life

Meer is divorced and has three children.

References

External links

Y. S. Meer
at Judges Matter
Review
by the Bar Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Meer, Shehnaz Living people 1955 births 20th-century South African lawyers 20th-century South African women lawyers 21st-century South African judges 21st-century South African women judges South African people of Indian descent Judges of the Western Cape High Court University of Cape Town alumni Alumni of the University of Warwick University of Durban-Westville alumni Place of birth missing (living people)