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A Notre Dame Law School delegation’s 10-day visit to South Africa will include a Nov. 13 visit to the country’s Constitutional Court and a panel discussion honoring Justice Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist involved in the fight against the country’s apartheid system.
The trip, which started Monday, is also a celebration of the law school’s 50 years of human rights advocacy, according to a Notre Dame Law news release.
The delegation is being led by G. Marcus Cole, dean of Notre Dame Law School.
The Nov. 13 panel will include Goldstone, Cole, U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben E. Brigety and Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
According to the news, the trip is designed to strengthen and enhance relationships between Notre Dame Law School, the University of Cape Town Faculty of Law and the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and aims to establish a formal faculty and student exchange program and other partnerships in the near future.
This initiative aligns with the 50th anniversary of the creation of Notre Dame’s international program in human rights law.
According to the university, more than 500 lawyers from more than 100 countries have graduated from the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law, a joint program of Notre Dame Law School and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights.
The roots for the Master of Laws program in international human rights law can be traced back to the 1980s, when Gladstone was serving on the South African Transvaal Supreme Court.
Goldstone met with then-University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, according to the law school. When Hesburgh asked how Notre Dame could assist in promoting justice in South Africa, Goldstone responded, “Educate our lawyers.”
Then in 1996, Goldstone — who later served for nine years as a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa — received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Accompanying the delegation from the law school are Paul Miller, professor of law and associate dean for International and Graduate Programs; Diane Desierto, professor of law and faculty director of the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law; Michael Addo, professor of law and director of the London Law Programme; and Christine Venter, teaching professor and director of the Legal Writing Program.
The delegation also includes Tladi Marumo, research affiliate and adviser for the Global Lawyering Initiative; Monica Caro, program director for International and Graduate Programs; and Jean Marc Brissau, graduate programs manager.
The trip includes a visit to the University of Cape Town, where discussions will revolve around internationalization programs, judicial training, future collaborations with faculty and students, and research opportunities for both law schools.
The delegation will also spend four days in Johannesburg meeting members of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, exploring clerkship and fellowship opportunities, and visiting landmarks such as Constitution Hill, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Apartheid Museum.
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