Yasmin Shehnaz Meer (born 28 June 1955) is a South African

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who has been acting Judge President of the Land Claims Court since 2012. She was appointed as a puisne judge in that court in 1996, and she has additionally been a judge of the

Western Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

since 2003. Before she joined the bench, she was an attorney at the Legal Resources Centre.

Early life and career

Meer was born on 28 June 1955. Her mother was political activist

Fatima Meer Fatima Meer (12 August 1928 – 12 March 2010) was a South African writer, academic, screenwriter, and prominent anti-apartheid activist. Early life Fatima Meer was born in the Grey Streets of Durban, South Africa, into a middle-class family ...

. After matriculating at the Durban Indian Girls' High School in 1972, she attended the University of Durban-Westville, where she completed a BA in 1975. Thereafter she completed an LLB at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

in 1979 and an LLM at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

in 1982. After serving her articles of clerkship at Dullah Omar's law firm, Meer was admitted as an

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

in 1983. She entered legal practice at the Legal Resources Centre in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, where she worked as an attorney on public interest litigation matters for the next 13 years. She was the centre's deputy national director from 1994 to 1996 and then its acting national director in 1996.

Judicial career

Later in 1996, Meer was appointed as a judge in the newly established Land Claims Court, and she was among the five judges who sat in the first session of the court when it opened in June 1997. In November 2002, President Thabo Mbeki announced that he would additionally appoint Meer as a judge of the

Western Cape Division The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the ...

of the

High Court of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical ...

. She joined the High Court on 27 January 2003, and thereafter she divided her time between the High Court in Cape Town and the Land Claims Court in

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 ...

. One of her judgments in the High Court, on transparency in political party funding, was upheld by the

Constitutional Court of South Africa The Constitutional Court of South Africa is a supreme court, supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was fi ...

in ''

My Vote Counts v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services ''My Vote Counts NPC v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Another'' is a decision in the Constitutional Court of South Africa which established a constitutional right of access to information about the sources of political par ...

''. In 2012, after Land Claims Court Judge President

Fikile Bam Fikile is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Fikile Khosa, Zambian footballer * Fikile Magadlela (1952–2003), South African painter *Fikile Mbalula (born 1971), South African politician *Fikile Mthwalo Fikile Mthwalo (born ...

died, Meer was installed as the court's acting Judge President. She continued to hold that position in an acting capacity as of the end of 2023.

Appellate courts

Meer was an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2011, and she has been nominated for elevation to the Constitutional Court on several occasions. She was shortlisted for elevation in 2003, and interviewed again in 2008. On two later occasions, in 2009 and 2021, she was nominated but withdrew from contention before the Judicial Service Commission held its hearings.

Personal life

Meer is divorced and has three children.

References

External links

Y. S. Meer
at Judges Matter
Review
by the Bar Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Meer, Shehnaz Living people 1955 births 20th-century South African lawyers 20th-century South African women lawyers 21st-century South African judges 21st-century women judges South African women judges South African people of Indian descent Judges of the Western Cape High Court University of Cape Town alumni Alumni of the University of Warwick University of Durban-Westville alumni Place of birth missing (living people)