Interview with Albie Sachs on The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law
ConCourt justice Albie Sachs’ new book, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law, will be published by OUP in the UK this month, and appear in SA a bit later this year. For the uninitiated, Sachs’ writing – which the world first had proper sight of with The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs – is light but strong, intellectually invigorating and at times quite moving. Strange Alchemy is sure to be a real treat. Here’s an interview with the author, conducted by Louise Tudor Jones:
In 1994, Justice Albie Sachs was one of 11 judges appointed by Nelson Mandela to serve in South Africa’s newly formed Constitutional Court. Having practised as an advocate in Cape Town in the 50s and 60s, Sachs eventually left South Africa after experiencing imprisonment, solitary confinement and torture under the apartheid government.
During more than two decades of exile, he lived and lectured as professor of law in the UK, Mozambique and the US. In 1989, he survived a car-bomb planted by the SA Security Police, suffering the loss of his right arm and damage to his sight and hearing. From 1990, as preparation for the approaching transition in government, Sachs was pivotal in the initial research, drafting and negotiations of the post-apartheid South African constitution.
In his final year of judicial office, this respected judge and author talks about his latest book, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law.
“Constitution-making was actually very healing for me, because it knitted together two sides of Albie the lawyer, which had been at war with each other for decades.
“As a lawyer, I’ve had an extremely ambiguous relationship with the law from early on. Studying at the University of Cape Town and learning these beautiful phrases about rule of law, independence, fairness and justice. It was so easy, something learnt and repeated, which rolled off the tongues of the professors, with the sun streaming into these beautiful classrooms on the mountainside.
Book details
- The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law by Albie Sachs
Book homepage
EAN: 9780199571796
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Apr
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