Yvonne Mokgoro (born 19 October 1950) is a former justice of 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and wife to

Job Mokgoro Tebogo Job Mokgoro (born 15 May 1948) is a South African politician and academic who served as the 6th Premier of North West from June 2018 until his resignation in August 2021. He was a Member of the North West Provincial Legislature during that ...

Career

Mokgoro was appointed to the bench in 1994 by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

. Mokgoro is a board member of the Centre for Human Rights at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 190 ...

and is the current Chairperson of the South African Law Reform Commission. She was educated at North-West University from which she graduated with a B.luris degree in 1982, an LLB degree two years later, and an LLM in 1987. She also studied at the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and ...

in the US, where she was awarded another LLM degree. In December 2021, Mokgoro was appointed by the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis ...

as a chairperson of Racial Justice Body, a new mechanism to examine systemic racism and the excessive use of force against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement worldwide. She will be one of three members along with Juan E. Méndez of Argentina and Tracie L. Keesee of the United States.

Other activities

* Open Society Justice Initiative, Member of the BoardBoard of the Open Society Justice Initiative

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a s ...

Recognition

Among the numerous awards she was given are the Human Rights Award by the Black Lawyers Association, (1995) the Oude Molen Reserve Order of Merit (1995/1996), the Legal Profession's Woman Achiever Award by the Centre for Human Rights, the

(2001), University of the North School of Law Excellence Award (2003), the Kate Stoneman Democracy Award (2003), the Tshwane Outstanding Service Award (TOSA) in 2006 and the James Wilson Award by the University of Pennsylvania Law School (2008).

References

1950 births Living people South African women judges Academic staff of the University of Pretoria Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape Judges of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Constitutional court women judges South African women in politics University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni {{SouthAfrica-law-bio-stub