Albie Sachs is an activist, writer and former judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa (1994–2009). He completed his BA LLB at the University of Cape Town in 1956 and began practising as an advocate at the Cape Bar at the age of 21. Much of his work involved defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. Sachs was raided by the security police, subjected to banning orders, and placed in solitary confinement without trial for two spells of detention.
In 1966, Sachs went into exile in England and completed his PhD at the University of Sussex in 1971. He moved to Maputo in 1977 to take up a position as a law professor at Eduardo Mondlane University. In 1988, a bomb placed in his car by South African security agents caused him to lose an arm and sight in his right eye.
During the 1980s, while working closely with Oliver Tambo, President of the African National Congress (ANC) in exile, Sachs helped to draft the organisation’s Code of Conduct and statutes. After recovering from the bomb, he devoted himself full-time to preparations for a democratic Constitution.
In 1990, he returned to South Africa and continued his work on the ANC’s Constitutional Committee and National Executive Committee. After the first democratic election in 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed him to the Constitutional Court. Sachs was noted for his judgments and for shaping the character of the Court building and its artworks collection.
He has published 10 books, including The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs; The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter and The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law (both Alan Paton Award winners); Justice in South Africa; Sexism and the Law; We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge; and Oliver Tambo’s Dream.
In January 2025, to mark his 90th birthday, an online resource entitled The Albie Collection: A curated conspectus of the Life, Love, Law, Literature and Laughter of Albie Sachs was launched (www.thealbiecollection.org).