Arthur Chaskalson: leading the way

The first chief justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa (2001-2005), Arthur Chaskalson acted as defence counsel in numerous important political trials during the apartheid era, including the Rivonia Trial of 1963-1964 in which former president Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment. As a founding member of the Legal Resources Centre " an organisation that sought to pursue justice and human rights in South Africa " he challenged the implementation of apartheid laws. Justice Chaskalson was director from its inception in 1978 until 1993.