Pius Nkonzo Langa SCOB (25 March 1939 – 24 July 2013) was

Chief Justice of South Africa The Chief Justice of South Africa is the most senior judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Constitutional Court and head of the judiciary of South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the c ...

, serving on the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

. He was appointed to the bench in 1994 by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, he became Deputy Chief Justice in 2001 and was elevated as Chief Justice in 2005 by

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

. He retired in October 2009. He died in 2013, aged 74, following a long illness.

Legal career

Pius Langa was born on 25 March 1939 in Bushbuckridge, in the then

Transvaal Province The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...

. He obtained his B. Iuris law degree from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

in 1973 and his

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1976. He worked in a shirt factory from 1957 to 1960 but then found employment as an interpreter and messenger for the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

. He worked his way up to serving as a prosecutor and a magistrate. He was admitted as an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' 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, ...

of the Supreme Court of South Africa in June 1977, practised at the Natal Bar and attained the rank of

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

in January 1994. He was a founding member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers and a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

Constitutional Committee, where he worked on its draft bill of rights, which later formed part of

Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa contains the Bill of Rights, a human rights charter that protects the civil, political and socio-economic rights of all people in South Africa. The rights in the Bill apply to all law, includin ...

. When the Constitutional Court was established in 1994 after the end of apartheid, Justice Langa was appointed together with ten others as the first Judges of the new Court. He became its Deputy President in August 1997 and, in November 2001, assumed the position of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa. He was appointed as the country’s Chief Justice and head of the Constitutional Court with effect from June 2005 until his retirement in October 2009. Justice Langa died on 24 July 2013 (age 74) at the

Milpark Hospital The Milpark Hospital is a private hospital in western Parktown, Johannesburg, in the area known as Milpark, and owned by Netcare Limited. It has a level 1 accredited trauma unit, and cardiology and cardio-thoracic services. It has 346 beds, of ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, following a long illness.

Honours and awards

In April 2008 Justice Langa was awarded the

Order of the Baobab The Order of the Baobab is a South African civilian national honour, awarded to those for service in business and the economy; science, medicine, and for technological innovation; and community service. It was instituted on 6 December 2002, and i ...

in Gold for "his exceptional service in law, constitutional jurisprudence and human rights."

References

External links

Transformative Constitutionalism and Socio-Economic Rights
Video of lecture by Chief Justice Pius Langa for the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, Oxford
Article about Langa"A Man Who Would Not Bend"
timeslive.co.za. Accessed 17 May 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Langa, Pius 1939 births 2013 deaths 20th-century South African judges 20th-century South African lawyers 21st-century South African judges Chief justices of South Africa Judges of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Order of the Baobab People from Johannesburg South African Senior Counsel University of South Africa alumni