The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in South
Africa after the collapse of apartheid, was the bold creation of a
people committed to the task of rebuilding of a nation and
establishing a society founded upon justice, equality and respect
for the rule of law. As part of its historic, cathartic mission,
the TRC held a special hearing, calling to account the lawyers --
judges, academics and members of the bar -- who had been crucial
participants in the apartheid legal order. This book is an account
of those hearings, and an attempt to evaluate, in the light of
theories of adjudication, the historical role of the judiciary and
bar in the apartheid years.
Written by a well-known commentator on the South African legal
system who became, by chance, the first witness to give testimony
at these hearings, this book reveals, often in the words of those
who testified, how the judges failed in their duty to uphold the
rule of law. For the most part, the lawyers of apartheid deserted
its victims. The few notable exceptions both illustrate the
potential for lawyers to have done more and laid the basis for the
respect the rule of law still enjoys in South Africa despite
apartheid.
Yet, as the author shows, many continue to commit a more serious
'crime'. Failing to confront the past, and in many cases refusing
even to attend TRC hearings, the lawyers who could have helped to
resist the worst excesses of apartheid remain accomplices to its
evil deeds.
This book offers us the spectacle of an entire legal system on
trial. The echoes from this process are captured here in a way
which will appeal to all readers -- lawyers and non-lawyers alike
-- interested in the relationshipbetween law and justice, as it is
exposed during a period of transition to democracy.
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