Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Holding onto Hope: Gina Rinehart's Bleak House ... Seeking chunks of the huge iron ore pit, Hope Downs ... Tracing the tangled Wright, Hancock, Rinehart litigation ... Allegations of fraud against the family trust ... Manouvering ... Tax "advice" ... Shifting vesting date ... Money, the root of unhappiness ... Anthony-James Kanaan reports ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


Rupert World ... Lord Moloch’s pal Doug the Diva – driving Washington spare … News UK’s model for unionism … What next for the Washington Post? … Concealed coal lobbyists running an anti-Teal campaign … More corruption busting for Stinging Nettle … The litigation industry spawned by Lehrmann ... Read on >> 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Party time for Dicey ... Heydon's book - a pathway to rehabilitation ... The predatory man and the clever intellect - all wrapped up in the one person ... Academic tome and cancel agenda ... Despite the plaudits the record of abuse doesn't vanish ... Book launch with young associates at a safe distance ... Procrustes thinks out loud ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


Former senator can't get enough litigation ... Linda Reynolds suing the Commonwealth and lawyers HWL Ebsworth over the Brittany Higgins settlement ... Claim that $2.4 million payment to former staffer affirmed Higgins' allegation ... Statement of claim ... Commonwealth Courts Portal >> 

 

Justinian's Bloggers

Conclave Part 2: Return of the Prodigal ... Vatican fraudster returns ... Fly in the Conclave ointment ... Claims to have been forgiven by Pope Francis ... Doubts about his entitlement to vote ... What can go wrong? ... Silvana Olivetti reports from Rome ... Read more >> 

"We're in unchartered territory here. A Pope hasn't died before during an Australian election campaign."  

Jane Norman, National Affairs Correspondent, ABC News ... April 21, 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Letter from Rome ... Judges on strike ... Too much "reform" ... Berlusconi legacy ... Referendum on the way ... Constitutional court inflames the Meloni regime with decision on boat people ... Insults galore ... Silvana Olivetti reports ... Read more >> 


Justinian's archive

Tea is for Tippy ... Life of a tiffstaff ... Bright, ambitious and, when it comes to the crucial things, hopeless ... Milking the glory of the gig ...  Introducing Tippy, our new blogger filing from within the concrete cage at Queens Square ... From Justinian's Archive, March 15, 2010 ...  Read more >> 


 

 

« MyJudge | Main | A Journey »
Tuesday
Sep282010

Albie Sachs

This month Albie Sachs has been singing for his supper ... The former constitutional judge from South Africa has been on a lecture tour of Australia ... Law firm boardrooms and village halls have been packed with enthusiastic admirers ... Meet the lawyer that prison and a crippling bomb attack couldn't silence  

Sachs: a talent for empathisingAlbie Sachs retired a year ago as a judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. 

He was appointed to the court by President Nelson Mandela in 1994. 

He started as a barrister at the Cape Town bar when he was 21, but ultimately his anti-apartheid activities landed him in prison.

After he was released he lived in England and Mozambique, where he lost an arm and the sight of one eye after his car was bombed by South African security agents. 

He returned to South Africa where he worked on the preparation of the new Constitution as a member of the constitutional committee and national executive of the African National Congress.

He wrote the Constitutional Court's famous 2005 decision in Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie, which declared a constitutional right to same sex marriage. 

His most recent book, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law, was published last year. 

This month he has been on an extensive tour of Australia, talking about constitutional developments in post-apartheid South Africa, human rights and history. 

Into his on-the-run speaking schedule he squeezed in a reflective session on Justinian's couch.  

Describe yourself in three words.
A nice guy.

What are you currently reading?
"The Whisperer" by Donato Caprisi.

What's your favourite film?
"The Wizard of Oz."

Who has been the most influential person in your life?
Oliver Tambo, ANC leader, a soft person in a hard struggle.

What occupation would you like to have, if you hadn't become a lawyer and a judge?
Film maker.

What is your favourite piece of music?
Schubert's Great String Quintet, slow movement.
 
What is your most recognised talent?
Empathising.
 
What is your greatest fear?
Letting go and falling into a void.

What words or phrases do you overuse?
"I" and "My".

What is your greatest regret?
I have been unkind to women.

Whom do you envy and why?
My wife Vanessa, for her instant warmth, spontaneous intelligence and unbidden courage.

What has been your most significant judicial achievement?
Finding the poetry that illuminates intelligence at the heart of the judicial function.
 
What would you change about South Africa?
I would move Johannesburg to the sea.
 
What's your most glamorous feature?
My vaulting humility.

If you were a foodstuff, what would you be?
Intensely flavoured marzipan wrapped in a thin layer of dark chocolate.

What human traits do you most distrust?
Vaulting ambition.

Whom or what do you consider overrated?
Florence.
 
On what occasions do you use a breath-freshener?
When sitting close to a typist or dinner companion and even when standing far from someone special.

What would your epitaph say?
He was a good guy.

What comes into your mind when you shut your eyes and think of the word "law"?
A spiderweb. Add the word "justice" and the web becomes a flower.

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Editor Permission Required
You must have editing permission for this entry in order to post comments.