A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialize in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giving legal opinions.
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, in Scottish, Manx, South African, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Polish, Israeli, South Asian and South American jurisdictions, "advocate" indicates a lawyer of superior classification.
A King's Counsel is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's Counsel (QC).
A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separate the area in which court business is done from the viewing area for the general public.
LourensWepener Hugo "Laurie" Ackermann was a South African judge who served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1994 to 2004. Appointed to the inaugural court by Nelson Mandela, he is best known for his jurisprudence on dignity. He was formerly an academic, a practising advocate, and a judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa.
Judge Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe SC is a South African Judge serving as Tax Ombudsman of South Africa since 2013. He was the Chancellor of the University of South Africa from 2011 to 2016.
Johann Vincent van der Westhuizen is a South African who served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from February 2004 to January 2016. He was a professor of law at the University of Pretoria from 1980 to 1999, when he joined the bench as a judge of the High Court of South Africa.
Dikgang Ernest Moseneke OLG is a South African jurist and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.
Du Toit and Another v Minister for Welfare and Population Development and Others is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which granted same-sex couples the ability to jointly adopt children. LGBT people had already been able to adopt children individually, but only married couples could adopt jointly; the decision was handed down in September 2002, four years before same-sex marriage became legal in South Africa. The court ruled unanimously that the statutory provisions limiting joint adoption to married couples were unconstitutional, and the resulting order amended the law to treat same-sex partners in the same way as married couples.
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, while a local seat at Johannesburg has concurrent jurisdiction over the southern parts of Gauteng. Dunstan Mlambo has been the Judge President of the division since 1 November 2012.
Oliver Deneys Schreiner MC KC, was a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. One of the most renowned South African judges, he was passed over twice for the position of Chief Justice of South Africa for political reasons. He was later described as "the greatest Chief Justice South Africa never had".
Pieter Jacobus "Pierre" Rabie (1917–1997) was a senior South African judge during the apartheid era and served as Chief Justice from 1982 to 1989.
Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff, was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1974 to 1982.
Pieter Emilius Streicher is a South African lawyer and retired Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal. He graduated with an LL.B. from the University of Pretoria in 1969 and was appointed a judge in the Transvaal Provincial Division in 1989.
Carole Hélène Lewis is a South African retired judge and legal academic. She served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2003 until her retirement in 2019. Before that, she was a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division. Until her appointment to the bench in November 1999, she was a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she was dean of the School of Law from 1993 to 1998.
George Glaeser Anderson Munnik QC was a South African judge, Chief Justice of the Transkei High Court and Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division of the Supreme Court from 1981 until 1991.
Petrus Malan Cillié QC was a South African jurist, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa and Judge of Appeal.
Christoffel Frederik "Frikkie" Eloff SC was a South African judge who served as Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa from 1991 until 1998.
Suretta Snyders was a South African judge who served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from December 2008 until her death in August 2014. Formerly an advocate and Senior Counsel in Johannesburg, she was appointed to the bench in February 1997 as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court.
Jonathan Arthur Heher is a South African retired judge who served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2003 to 2013. Formerly an advocate and Senior Counsel in Johannesburg, he joined the bench in 1993 as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division.
