The Order of the Baobab in Gold

Arthur Chaskalson Awarded for:

Exceptional service in law, constitutional jurisprudence and human rights.

Profile of Arthur Chaskalson

History and the people of South Africa remember Justice Arthur Chaskalson as one of the defence lawyers in the Rivonia trial, which saw former President Nelson Mandela being sentenced to life imprisonment. Since then he served South Africa as a human rights lawyer who was ready to be part of the new justice system.

As chief Justice of South Africa, first president of South Africa’s new Constitutional Court and key advisor on the adoption of the transitional Constitution of South Africa in 1993, he is one of the prime movers of a changing judiciary in South Africa.

In June 1994, he was appointed the first president of South Africa’s new Constitutional Court. He currently served as Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa.