Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, an LL.M. graduate of Duke Law School and member of the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Leadership Council and Judicature’s editorial board, was profiled in a special edition of the South Africa Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges’ newsletter. The article is a tribute to Justice Maya’s historic appointment in July as the first woman Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, South Africa’s highest court.
“[Deputy Chief Justice] Maya’s commitment to advancing women in the judiciary has been unwavering,” the article says. “She has argued that women are not a special group that needs favours in order to advance. What is particularly telling are her answers to male members of the [Judicial Selection Committee] during the interview process for Chief Justice. When asked whether South Africa was ready for a female Chief Justice, Justice Maya had this to say: ‘I don’t think it’s a proper question to ask because it implies a lot of negative things. South Africa has always been ready to have a female Chief Justice.'”
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