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Judge Pius Langa
E-mail: langap@law.co.za |
The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Ombud is Former Chief Justice Pius Langa. After qualifying as an advocate, Pius Langa joined the Natal Bar in 1977 and practiced from chambers in Durban. He attained Senior Counsel status in January 1994. Against the background of apartheid oppression and resistance against it, his work consisted largely of political trials and working with poor communities and organizations committed to the struggle for justice and democracy. He was founder member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL), and served as its President for 6 years. NADEL is an organization of progressive lawyers and was an affiliate of the UDF. In October 1994, he was appointed as a Judge of the then newly established Constitutional Court of South Africa. He became Deputy President of that Court in 2001 and in 2003, his designation changed to that of Deputy Chief Justice. He became Chief Justice of South Africa (2005 – 2009) and served in that capacity until his retirement in October 2009. During his long career in law, Justice Langa has held many positions, such as Chancellor of the University of Natal (1998 – 2003); Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (2003 – 2006); honorary Professor in the Department of Procedural and Clinical Law at the University of Natal; honorary Professor, Law Faculty, University of the Western Cape; Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Southern Methodist Church University, Dallas, Texas in the United States of America. He has served in various commissions; served as the Commonwealth's special envoy to the Fiji Islands; has received numerous awards in recognition of his work and achievements in human rights and pursuit of justice and furtherance of democracy and the Rule of Law in South Africa and abroad. Langa holds the B.Iuris and LLB degrees (SA), is widely-travelled, having participated in conferences, colloquia and symposia in a significant number of countries. Langa has been awarded Doctor of Laws degrees, honoris causa, by the Universities of Zululand, Western Cape, Cape Town, Unisa, Rhodes, North West University, Yale (USA) and the National University of Ireland and the degree Doctor of the Public Service, honoris causa, by the North Eastern University, Boston, Massachussets, USA.
He is a member of the Judicial Integrity Group which is responsible for the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct and Ethics and is the recipient of many awards in recognition of his work. These include: the Justice Prize from the Gruber Foundation, Human Rights Awards from the Black Lawyers’ Asssociation, NADEL and the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, and the Sydney and Felicia Kentridge Prize. In April 2008, President T M Mbeki conferred on Langa the National Order of the Supreme Counsellor of the Baobab in Gold “for his exceptional service in law, constitutional jurisprudence and human rights.” Since his retirement from the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Langa acts as a Judge of Appeal on the Bench of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Namibia.
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Advocate Busisiwe Mngoma Office Manager Email: mngomab@ukzn.ac.za |
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