'The Constitution always found an answer': Celebrating 30 years of the Constitutional Court with Albie Sachs
Sachs is a former judge who was appointed as a founding member of the court by Nelson Mandela in 1994.
The Constitutional Court. Picture: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
702's John Perlman speaks to former Constitutional Court judge, lawyer and activist Albie Sachs.
Listen below:
Friday 20 June was a day of celebrating the history of South Africa's Constitutional Court - and Sachs was one of its first judges from 1994 to 2009.
Reflecting on when the court's judges were first appointed, Sachs recalls how the many different legal minds worked together.
"We were very dissimilar people, we weren't people alike... very motley in terms of background, culture, language, religious beliefs - but all of us were driven by a complete love for the idea of a constitution, fundamental rights for people, doing things decently and fairly... and the whole value system."
- Albie Sachs, Former Constitutional Court Judge
On the question of whether he ever had to deal with conflicting decisions, Sachs says that while there many heated debates and arguments, there was never any tension between what the Constitution said, and their deep beliefs.
"The Constitution always found an answer to problems that I thought other parts of the Constitution raised..."
- Albie Sachs, Former Constitutional Court Judge
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Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion.