Edwin Cameron
Witwatersrand Local Division | |
---|---|
In office 1 January 1995 – July 2000 | |
Appointed by | President Nelson Mandela |
Chancellor of Stellenbosch University | |
In office 1 January 2020 – Current | |
Personal details | |
Born | Pretoria, South Africa | 15 February 1953
Alma mater | Stellenbosch University Keble College, Oxford University of South Africa |
Edwin Cameron SCOB (born 15 February 1953 in Pretoria) is a retired judge who served as a Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.[1] He is well known for his HIV/AIDS and gay-rights activism and was hailed by Nelson Mandela as "one of South Africa's new heroes".[2] President Ramaphosa appointed him as Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services from 1 January 2020[3] and in October 2019 he was elected Chancellor of Stellenbosch University.[4]
Early life
Cameron was born in
Cameron won a scholarship to attend
Cameron's early career combined academia and legal practice.
Judicial career
High Court
In October 1994,
Cameron was appointed permanently to the
Supreme Court of Appeal
In 1999, Cameron was given an acting stint on the
Cameron was instead appointed to the
Constitutional Court
On 31 December 2008 President Kgalema Motlanthe appointed Cameron to the Constitutional Court, taking effect from 1 January 2009. He was considered a crucial member of the Court's progressive wing.[29] He has been described as a "jurist of the highest order",[29] "the greatest legal mind of his generation"[21] and "in a league of his own".[30]
Cameron's judgment in Glenister v President, co-authored with Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, struck down amendments to the National Prosecuting Act and South African Police Service Act on the basis that they failed to create an "adequately independent" anti-corruption unit.[31] This was praised as an "imaginative"[citation needed] and "brilliant"[32] judgment by commentators and means South Africa must have an independent corruption-fighting agency notwithstanding the ruling ANC's controversial disbanding of the Scorpions.
Also well-known are Cameron's judgments on
- In The Citizen v McBride, Cameron's majority judgment enlarged the scope of the The Citizen from liability to Robert McBride for calling him a "murderer" unsuited for public office, even though McBride had received amnesty for the murders in question.[33]
- Le Roux v Dey, handed down in 2012, concerned three schoolboys who had superimposed an image of their deputy principal's face on the naked body of one man masturbating alongside another. The Constitutional Court's majority judgment held the image was defamatory of the deputy principal.[34] Cameron, however, in a judgment co-authored with Justice Froneman, dissented on this point, saying it could not be actionable to imply someone is gay. Leading commentators praised this conclusion.[35] Others, however, criticised Cameron's "schizophrenic" judgment for holding that the picture had nevertheless actionably harmed the plaintiff's dignity by suggesting he engaged in "sexually promiscuous or exhibitionist" conduct.[36]
- In Democratic Alliance v African National Congress, handed down in 2015, Cameron's majority judgment, co-authored with Justices Froneman and
Cameron retired on 20 August 2019, the 25th anniversary of his appointment to the bench.[40][41]
Activism
LGBTIQ+ rights
Cameron has been openly gay since the early 1980s.
1995 saw the publication of Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa, "a celebration of the lives of gay men and lesbians in South Africa" which Cameron co-edited with Mark Gevisser.[46]
HIV/AIDS
From 1988 Cameron advised the National Union of Mineworkers on HIV/AIDS, and helped draft and negotiate the industry's first comprehensive AIDS agreement with the Chamber of Mines. While at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, he co-drafted the Charter of Rights on AIDS and HIV, co-founded the AIDS Consortium (a national affiliation of non-governmental organizations working in AIDS), which he chaired for its first three years, and founded and was the first director of the AIDS Law Project.[1]
Cameron had himself contracted
His prize-winning first memoir, Witness to AIDS, is about his struggle with the illness. It has been published in South Africa, the UK, the US and in translation in Germany and in China.[47] His second memoir, Justice: A Personal Account, urges that the best path forward to a more just society in South Africa is through the Constitution and the rule of law. Justice has been translated into Chinese, and has been published in translation in Korean and Italian.
Decriminalization of sex work
Cameron has been a staunch supporter of the full decriminalization of sex work. His advocacy and activism has sought to link criminalization, discrimination and stigma, and more recently how these link to Sustainable Development Goal 16.[51] In 2008, at the 17th International AIDS Conference held in Mexico, Cameron called for a sustained and vocal campaign against HIV criminalization.[52] At the 21st International Aids Conference, held in 2016 in Durban, South Africa, Cameron expanded on the call for decriminalization of HIV, stating "[t]he biggest problem is stigma. Stigma, stigma, stigma, stigma. Stigma remains a barrier to prevention, it remains a barrier to behavior change, it remains a barrier to people accessing treatment."[53][54] During the same speech, Cameron invited any sex workers present to join him on stage and indicated that sex work is "one of the most dangerous and despised occupations, and one that deserves our support and our respect and our love."[55] He further stated "Sex workers are perhaps the most reviled group in human history - indispensable to a portion of mostly heterosexual males in society, but despised, marginalized, persecuted, beaten up and imprisoned. Sex workers work. Their work is work with dignity."[56]
In July 2019, at a UNAIDS Press Conference, Cameron linked activism against criminalization, discrimination and stigma, to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16 where he stated "Almost all countries have some form of criminal prohibition on sex work. [...] criminalization has severe consequences taking people outside of areas of protection. It declares [the criminalized group's] actions or identity illegitimate, and increases stigma. It excludes them from protections that our judicial, social and economic systems may provide. UNAIDS data indicates that criminalized groups often experience high rates of violence. If you suffer criminal violence and you yourself are criminalized, in most cases you simply cannot go to the police."[57]
Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services
After he retired from the Constitutional Court, President Ramaphosa appointed him as Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services.[58] The Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) is an watchdog body created during the Mandela Presidency to inspect and report on conditions in prisons, with a view to safeguarding inmates' dignity.[59][60] Cameron has been active in advocating for reform of South Africa's penal and carceral system, as well as for greater independence of JICS.[61][62][63][64][65]
Dealing with litigants' "Stalingrad" tactics
Cameron has been a vocal critic of the use of "Stalingrad" tactics in litigation. Stalingrad tactics involve "a well-resourced accused, over a protracted period, postponing or frustrating the trial process... by deploying every possible legal argument and stratagem to thwart the prosecution."[66] Cameron has argued that these tactics harm the administration of justice and exacerbate overcrowding in the prison system.[66] Cameron has proposed a range of solutions, including firmer institutional discipline and, in exceptional cases, the imposition of time limits on the start and finalisation of criminal trials.[67][68]
Awards
Cameron's awards include the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights (2000);
In 2002 the Bar of England and Wales honoured him with a Special Award for his contribution to international jurisprudence and
Cameron was, until 2015, the general secretary of the Rhodes Scholarships in Southern Africa and is a patron of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal.[73] Between 1998 and 2008, Cameron chaired the Council of the University of the Witwatersrand. He has been an active and involved patron of the Guild Cottage Children's Home since 1997, and is also patron of the Soweto HIV/AIDS Counselors' Association and Community AIDS Response.[1] In January 2020 he became the Chancellor of Stellenbosch University.[74]
In 2021 he was awarded the Order of the Baobab (Gold), South Africa's highest civilian honour, for his contribution to the judicial system, as well as his "tireless campaigning against the stigma of HIV and AIDS, and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities".[75]
- Order of the Baobab (Supreme Counsellor (Gold)) (SCOB) (South Africa)
Media
Cameron's critical role in the battle for access to antiretroviral treatment in Africa and other parts of the global south is portrayed in the award-winning documentary Fire in the Blood.[76]
Controversies
Cameron was the subject of a complaint to the Judicial Service Commission, alleging that he had failed to declare a potential conflict of interest in relation to a case before the Constitutional Court. Cameron was approached in 2019 by the vice chancellor of Stellenbosch University to offer him the position of university chancellor while a case was pending before the Court on the university's language policy. Cameron declined the offer and offered the parties full disclosure of all pertinent correspondence and contacts. The offer of disclosure was not taken up by either party until after the ruling on the matter, when the losing party belatedly sought and was granted access. The Court ruled unanimously in favour of Stellenbosch University in a judgment written by Cameron.[77] The Judicial Service Commission dismissed the complaint against Cameron in 2020, finding that the complaint lacked substance.[78] Cameron subsequently accepted and took up the post of Chancellor.[79][80]
In 2023, Cameron appeared before Parliament during enquiries into the May 2022 escape of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester. When DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach asked Cameron why JICS had not informed the public of Bester's escape, Cameron revealed that he had provided publicly available information relating to the matter to GroundUp, a public interest, not-for-profit news agency.[81] Cameron indicated that he approached GroundUp after becoming frustrated with the slow pace of the investigations and lack of urgency to apprehend Bester.[82] He provided GroundUp with a High Court interdict launched by Bester's alleged accomplice, Nandipha Magudumana, and a High Court judges' report which mentioned the results of the post-mortem of the body found in Bester's cell.[83][84] This was confirmed by GroundUp editor, Nathan Geffen, in an editorial for News24.[85] GroundUp later obtained post mortem results from public court documents. Cameron was a board member of GroundUp at the time, which is an unpaid position with no role in editorial decisions, and the editor Nathan Geffen was one of his close friends.[86]
See also
Publications
- Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa (ed), Routledge, London: 1993 (with Mark Gevisser).
- Witness to AIDS, Tafelberg, Cape Town: 2005 (with two chapters co-written by Nathan Geffen).
- Justice: A Personal Account Archived 5 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Tafelberg, Cape Town: 2014.
- Honore's South African Law of Trusts: 2018 (sixth edition).
Cameron, E (2020). Comment and analysis: The crisis of criminal justice in South Africa. South African Crime Quarterly, 69: 1–15.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Justice Edwin Cameron profile", Constitutional Court of South Africa.
- ^ Mafika (12 January 2009). "Cameron in Constitutional Court". Brand South Africa. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ "Edwin Cameron appointed Inspecting Judge". SAnews. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "News - Edwin Cameron new Stellenbosch University..." www.sun.ac.za. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (2014). Justice: A Personal Account. Tafelberg.
- ^ Steyn, Richard (5 March 2014). "Justice Edwin Cameron, an activist". Financial Mail.
- ^ "University of Oxford honours Justice Edwin Cameron". The Rhodes Trust. 3 March 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014.
- ^ www.lesideesnet.com, Les Idées Net -. "African Success : Biography of Edwin CAMERON". www.africansuccess.org. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ "JSC interview: Edwin Cameron", Constitutional Court website.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (1982). "Legal Chauvinism, Executive-Mindedness and Justice—L C Steyn's Impact on South African Law". South African Law Journal.
- ^ Rickard, Carmel (6 August 1987). "Legal academic calls on judges to resign". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ISBN 9780702126413.
- ^ "Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Arms Transactions Between Armscor and One Eli Wazan and Other Related Matters". 1995. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014..
- ^ Brummer, Stefaans (2 June 1995). "SA's arms dealing underworld". Mail & Guardian.
- ^ Holomisa v Argus Newspapers Ltd 1996 (2) SA 588 (W).
- ^ "In the year of the Constitution, SA begins moulding a Rechtstaat". Mail & Guardian. 24 December 1996.
- ^ Serjeant at the Bar. "Publish and be damned". Mail & Guardian.
- ^ National Media Ltd and Others v Bogoshi (1998) ZASCA 94; 1998 (4) SA 1196 (SCA).
- ^ Ex Parte President of the Republic of South Africa: In re Constitutionality of the Liquor Bill (1999) ZACC 15.
- ^ Bishop, Michael; Raboshakga, Ngwako. "Chapter 17: National legislative authority". In Bishop, Michael; Woolman, Stu (eds.). Constitutional Law of South Africa. Juta & Co Ltd. p. 31.
- ^ a b McGreal, Chris (2 June 1999). "Mbeki under fire for veto of judge". The Guardian.
- ^ "Zuma looks to Ngcobo as new chief justice". Mail & Guardian. 6 August 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Constitutional Court Oral History Project: Edwin Cameron" (PDF). 16 January 2012.
- ^ S v Tembani (2006) ZASCA 123.
- ^ S v Ndhlovu and Others (2002) ZASCA 70.
- ^ Logbro Properties v Bedderson NO and Others (2002) ZASCA 135.
- ^ Fakie NO v CCII Systems (Pty) Ltd (2006) ZASCA 52.
- ^ Minister of Finance and Others v Gore NO (2006) ZASCA 98.
- ^ a b Calland, Richard (2013). "The Zuma Years (extract)". TheConMag.
- ^ Myburgh, James (29 August 2008). "The great Constitutional Court mystery". Politicsweb.
- ^ Glenister v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others (2011) ZACC 6
- ^ De Vos, Pierre (18 March 2011). "Glenister: A monumental judgment in defence of the poor". Retrieved 18 May 2015.
- ^ The Citizen 1978 (Pty) Ltd and Others v McBride (2011) ZACC 11.
- ^ Le Roux and Others v Dey (2011) ZACC 4.
- ^ Milo, Dario; Palmer, Greg (17 March 2011). "Analysis: Schoolboy scandals and defamation in SA. Quo vadis?". DailyMaverick.
- ^ MacKaiser, Eusebius (17 April 2011). "ConCourt loves gays but hates sex". Politicweb.
- ^ Democratic Alliance v African National Congress (2015) ZACC 1.
- ^ de Vos, Pierre (21 January 2015). "The DA's SMSes: Judgment day and its likely impact". DailyMaverick.
- ^ Milo, Dario; Winks, Ben (23 January 2015). "SMS ruling muddies the waters". Mail & Guardian.
- ^ "Justice Edwin Cameron to step down in August after 25 years as a judge". News24. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ Cosser, Narnia Bohler-Muller, Gary Pienaar and Michael (21 August 2019). "OP-ED: Edwin Cameron: From an orphanage in Queenstown to Constitution Hill". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ISBN 9781770092617. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ^ Blignaut, Charl (13 October 2012). "Some of us are freer than others". City Press. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
- ^ "Signatories to the Yogyakarta Principles". p. 35.
- ^ "Activate WITS Archives". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ISBN 9781136656026.
- ^ a b Cameron, Edwin (2005). Witness to Aids. Tafelberg.
- S2CID 34549709.
- ^ "Bearing Witness, A&U Mag" http://www.aumag.org/features/CameronDec05.html Archived 12 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Key People: Edwin Cameron",JournAIDS.
- ^ South African Judge Speaks on Stigma, Discrimination & Decriminalization - Press Conference, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 27 December 2019
- ^ "Justice Edwin Cameron calls for a campaign against 'misguided criminal laws and prosecutions'". aidsmap.com. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "Edwin Cameron: 'The biggest problem is stigma. Stigma, stigma, stigma, stigma!'21st Annual AIDS Conference - 2016". Speakola. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "Frontrunners Edwin Cameron – Atlas 2018". Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "Edwin Cameron: 'The biggest problem is stigma. Stigma, stigma, stigma, stigma!'21st Annual AIDS Conference - 2016". Speakola. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (19 July 2016). "I owe my life to you, says judge". GroundUp News. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "Press Conference: UNAIDS. Justice Edwin Cameron, Judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa will speak on Stigma, Discrimination and Decriminalization and its link to SDG 16". United Nations Web TV. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "President Cyril Ramaphosa appoints Justice Edwin Cameron as Inspecting Judge of Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services | South African Government". www.gov.za. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Chapter 9 of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a111-98.pdf
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (28 November 2022). "Prisons watchdog needs sharper teeth". GroundUp News. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (19 October 2017). "Imprisoning the nation: Minimum sentences in South Africa" (PDF). UWC Dean's Distinguished Lecture. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (11 September 2019). "The Crisis of Criminal Justice in South Africa". The Bennie Rabinowitz Lecture. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (3 March 2020). "Our prisons are failing. They need to become correctional facilities". GroundUp News. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (10 November 2021). "Our faulty approach to life sentences is catching up with us". GroundUp News. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Edwin (23 February 2022). "Solitary confinement is illegal. So why is it happening in South African prisons?". GroundUp News. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Justice postponed: What causes unreasonable delays in criminal trials?". De Rebus. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "Completing the puzzle – Is there a solution to the delay in criminal trials?". De Rebus. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ Cited in Boehler-Muller 'South Africa’s court system has been abused by powerful people: five ways to stop it', available at South Africa's court system has been abused by powerful people: five ways to stop it (theconversation.com); and in S v Zulu [2022] ZAMPMBHC 90; 2023 (1) SACR 343 (MM) (26 October 2022) at para 51 (available at S v Zulu (CC41/2019) [2022] ZAMPMBHC 90; 2023 (1) SACR 343 (MM) (26 October 2022) (saflii.org)).
- ^ "Asijiki Awards". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "HOME -". asijiki.org.za. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "News – More than 5 000 Maties to be rewarded for..." www.sun.ac.za. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ Today, Stetson (19 April 2021). "South African human rights lawyer to deliver Stetson Law's Commencement address". Stetson Today. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ "Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal – Board of Patrons". Archived from the original on 6 February 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
- ^ "Justice Cameron elected Stellenbosch University's new chancellor". News24. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Justice Edwin Cameron, gospel star Rebecca Malope and boxer Arthur Mayisela among National Order recipients". Daily Maverick. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "THE CONTRIBUTORS | Fire in the Blood". Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ Constitutional Court (10 October 2019). "Gelyke Kanse and Others v Chairperson of the Senate of the University of Stellenbosch and Others". Constitutional Court of South Africa. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ Ngqakamba, Sesona (10 October 2020). "JSC dismisses complaint against Justice Cameron, rules that it is 'lacking in substance'". News24. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Jacobs, Tarien. "Chancellor". Stellenbosch University. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020.
- ^ Corporate Communication Division (25 September 2019). "Edwin Cameron new Stellenbosch University Chancellor". Stellenbosch University. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, 13 April 2023, retrieved 9 June 2023
- ^ Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, 13 April 2023, retrieved 9 June 2023
- ^ Kgosana, Rorisang (13 April 2023). "Judge admits he's behind leak of Thabo Bester's escape to the media". The Sowetan. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ "About GroundUp | GroundUp". GroundUp News. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Geffen, Nathan (14 April 2023). "A Bonnie and Clyde tale: Why GroundUp investigated Thabo Bester story". News24. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ GroundUp (13 April 2023). "Who we are". GroundUp. Retrieved 13 April 2023.