# Matthew Chaskalson

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**Matthew Chaskalson** [SC](/source/Senior_counsel) (born 12 August 1963) is a South African lawyer and jurist who is best known for his work in [constitutional litigation](/source/South_African_constitutional_litigation). He has frequently appeared in the [Constitutional Court of South Africa](/source/Constitutional_Court_of_South_Africa) and led evidence at both the [Marikana Commission](/source/Marikana_massacre#Official_commission_of_inquiry) and the [State Capture Commission](/source/Zondo_Commission). The son of Chief Justice [Arthur Chaskalson](/source/Arthur_Chaskalson), he was an acting judge in the Constitutional Court for two terms in 2023 and 2024.

## Early life and education

Chaskalson was born on 12 August 1963.[1] He was the eldest of two sons born to [Arthur Chaskalson](/source/Arthur_Chaskalson), who was a prominent anti-apartheid lawyer and who later served as [Chief Justice of South Africa](/source/Chief_Justice_of_South_Africa) from 2001 to 2005.[2] He attended [King David School](/source/King_David_Schools,_Johannesburg) in [Linksfield, Johannesburg](/source/Linksfield,_Johannesburg), where he matriculated in 1980.[3] Thereafter he attended the [University of the Witwatersrand](/source/University_of_the_Witwatersrand), completing a BA in 1984, [Honours](/source/Honours_degree#South_Africa) in 1985, and an LLB in 1990, all *cum laude*.[1]

## Legal career

After his graduation, Chaskalson was a candidate [attorney](/source/Attorneys_in_South_Africa) from 1990 to 1991, working in [Johannesburg](/source/Johannesburg) at the [mining law](/source/Mining_law) firm of [Bell Dewar Hall](/source/Bell_Dewar).**[4]** In 1992, he returned to his alma mater, initially as a lecturer in [delict](/source/South_African_law_of_delict) and [constitutional law](/source/South_African_constitutional_law) and then, from 1995 to 2000, as head of the constitutional law project at the university's Centre for Applied Legal Studies.[1]

Although he was admitted to the bar in 1994, he did not practise as an [advocate](/source/Advocates_in_South_Africa) full-time until 2001, when he joined the Johannesburg Bar as junior counsel.**[1]**[4] He was awarded [silk](/source/Senior_counsel) in 2009, and as senior counsel he was a founding member of the Victoria Mxenge Group in 2011 and the Pan African Bar Association of South Africa in 2018.**[1]** Judges Matter described the Mxenge Group as "a nascent project to effect racial, gender and diversity transformation in the advocates’ profession",[4] and the Pan African Bar Association was founded as an explicitly "black and women-oriented" organisation.[5]

Chaskalson was prolific in litigation in the [Supreme Court of Appeal](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Appeal_(South_Africa)) and [Constitutional Court of South Africa](/source/Constitutional_Court_of_South_Africa); indeed, for several years, he frequently argued cases in front of his father's bench.[6] He attained additional public prominence as a member of the staffs of two high-profile commissions of inquiry: he led evidence at the [Marikana Commission](/source/Marikana_massacre#Official_commission_of_inquiry) from 2012 to 2014, where he worked alongside [Mbuyiseli Madlanga](/source/Mbuyiseli_Madlanga) and [Geoff Budlender](/source/Geoff_Budlender),[7][8] and later at the [State Capture Commission](/source/Zondo_Commission) from 2019 to 2021, where he led the questioning of Deputy Minister [Zizi Kodwa](/source/Zizi_Kodwa).[9][1] His work at the State Capture Commission focused on [illicit financial flows](/source/Illicit_financial_flows) and he later assisted the [National Prosecuting Authority](/source/National_Prosecuting_Authority)'s [Asset Forfeiture Unit](/source/National_Prosecuting_Authority#Asset_Forfeiture) in related [civil recovery](/source/Civil_recovery) efforts.**[4]**

### Notable briefs

Chaskalson has appeared in important cases in a broad variety of areas of constitutional law. In 1996, at the outset of the constitutional era, he argued in cases pertaining to the certification both of the [Constitution of South Africa](/source/Constitution_of_South_Africa) and of the provincial constitution of [KwaZulu-Natal](/source/KwaZulu-Natal).**[1]** In other notable [administrative law](/source/South_African_administrative_law) matters, he represented the state in [*Fedsure Life Assurance v Johannesburg*](/source/Fedsure_Life_Assurance_v_Greater_Johannesburg_Transitional_Metropolitan_Council),[1] [Billy Masetlha](/source/Billy_Masetlha) in *[Masetlha v President](/source/Masetlha_v_President)*,[10] and (as senior counsel) [Corruption Watch](/source/Corruption_Watch_(South_Africa)) in *[Corruption Watch v President](/source/Corruption_Watch_v_President).*[11] Conversely, he appeared in an important series of cases on [discrimination](/source/Section_Nine_of_the_Constitution_of_South_Africa) in [family law](/source/South_African_family_law), both relating to gender discrimination (as in *[Bhe v Magistrate, Khayelitsha](/source/Bhe_v_Magistrate,_Khayelitsha)*, *[Daniels v Campbell](/source/Daniels_v_Campbell)*, and [*Fraser v Children's Court*](/source/Fraser_v_Children's_Court,_Pretoria_North)) and to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (as in *[Du Toit v Minister of Welfare and Population Development](/source/Du_Toit_v_Minister_of_Welfare_and_Population_Development)*, [*Gory v Kolver*](/source/Gory_v_Kolver_NO), and *[National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Justice](/source/National_Coalition_for_Gay_and_Lesbian_Equality_v_Minister_of_Justice)*).[1]**[4]** A final major strand of litigation concerned [freedom of expression](/source/Freedom_of_expression_in_South_Africa) (including in *[Islamic Unity Convention v Independent Broadcasting Authority](/source/Islamic_Unity_Convention_v_Independent_Broadcasting_Authority)*, *[Khumalo v Holomisa](/source/Khumalo_v_Holomisa)*, [*Phillips v DPP*](/source/Phillips_v_Director_of_Public_Prosecutions), and *[S v Mamabolo](/source/S_v_Mamabolo)*).[1]

### Constitutional Court

In October 2023, President [Cyril Ramaphosa](/source/Cyril_Ramaphosa) announced that he would appoint Chaskalson as an acting judge of the Constitutional Court for two consecutive terms, first from 1 November to 15 December 2023 and then from 1 February to 31 March 2024.[12]

During this acting service, but before he had issued any judgment from the bench,**[4]** Chaskalson became one of five candidates whom the [Judicial Service Commission](/source/Judicial_Service_Commission_(South_Africa)) shortlisted for possible permanent appointment to the Constitutional Court.[13] The other candidates were [Tati Makgoka](/source/Tati_Makgoka), [Ashton Schippers](/source/Ashton_Schippers), [Alan Dodson](/source/Alan_Dodson), and [David Bilchitz](/source/David_Bilchitz).[14] However, shortly before the candidates were interviewed in April 2024, Chaskalson withdrew from the contest due to injuries he had sustained in a cycling accident.[15]

## Scholarship

Chaskalson edited the first and second editions of *Constitutional Law of South Africa*, a constitutional law textbook which the *[Mail & Guardian](/source/Mail_%26_Guardian)* called the field's "bible",[14] and co-authored the first edition of *South African Mineral and Petroleum Law*, which Judges Matter called the "leading publication" in South African mining law.[4] In addition, with Richard Spitz, he co-authored *The Politics of Transition: The Hidden History of South Africa's Negotiated Settlement*, a political history of the [negotiations to end apartheid](/source/Negotiations_to_end_apartheid_in_South_Africa).[16] He has also written several influential articles in constitutional law; among other things, his work on [property rights](/source/Property_rights) was cited by the Constitutional Court in *[FNB v Commissioner for SARS](/source/FNB_v_Commissioner_for_the_South_African_Revenue_Services)*, the *locus classicus* on the [South African property clause](/source/Chapter_Two_of_the_Constitution_of_South_Africa#Property).**[4]**

## Personal life

Chaskalson is [Jewish](/source/Jews).[17] He is married and has three children.[1]

## References

1. ["Acting Justice Matthew Chaskalson"](https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judges/acting-judges/12-acting-judges/547-acting-justice-matthwe-chaskalson). *Constitutional Court of South Africa*. Retrieved 5 June 2024.

1. ["Justice Arthur Chaskalson (1931 – 2012)"](https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judges/former-judges/11-former-judges/60-justice-arthur-chaskalson-1931-2012). *Constitutional Court of South Africa*. Retrieved 5 June 2024.

1. ["Alum News"](https://kdsf.org/content/uploads/2023/11/KDSF-November-Newsletter-2023-11-30.pdf). *Davidian Update*. 30 November 2023. p. 13. Retrieved 5 June 2024.

1. ["Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC"](https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/advocate-matthew-chaskalson-sc/) (in en-ZA). *Judges Matter*. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. ["New Act, new council, new Bar"](https://mg.co.za/article/2018-10-18-new-act-new-council-new-bar/) (in en-ZA). *The Mail & Guardian*. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. Wallis, Malcolm (December 2010). ["The family business curtailed?"](https://www.gcbsa.co.za/law-journals/2010/december/2010-december-vol023-no3-pp70-74.pdf). *Advocate*. **23** (3): 70.

1. ["Marikana: We must not avoid asking the hard questions"](https://mg.co.za/article/2012-09-21-00-marikana-we-must-not-avoid-asking-the-hard-questions/) (in en-ZA). *The Mail & Guardian*. 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. ["Farlam commission is a sham, claim Marikana mineworkers"](https://mg.co.za/article/2013-07-11-farlam-commission-is-a-sham-claim-marikana-mineworkers/) (in en-ZA). *The Mail & Guardian*. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. ["Kodwa admits he owes businessman R1-million"](https://mg.co.za/news/2021-06-28-kodwa-admits-he-owes-businessman-r1-million/) (in en-ZA). *The Mail & Guardian*. 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. ["Spy boss accuses Mbeki of ignoring the law"](https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/spy-boss-accuses-mbeki-of-ignoring-the-law-352550). *IOL*. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2024.

1. Khoza, Amanda (28 February 2018). ["NPA boss must vacate office – ConCourt hears"](https://www.news24.com/news24/npa-boss-must-vacate-office-concourt-hears-20180228). *News24*. Retrieved 2024-01-19.

1. ["Two silks and a professor to act as ConCourt judges"](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/883537-2/). *SABC News*. 2023-10-10. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. Pheto, Belinda (26 January 2024). ["Matthew Chaskalson makes shortlist for ConCourt vacancy"](https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/matthew-chaskalson-makes-shortlist-for-concourt-vacancy-20240126). *News24*. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. ["Preview: JSC to hold hearings with candidates for key judicial posts"](https://mg.co.za/news/2024-04-08-preview-jsc-to-hold-hearings-with-candidates-for-key-judicial-posts/) (in en-ZA). *The Mail & Guardian*. 2024-04-08. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. ["Preview of the JSC April 2024: The JSC must again focus on criteria and more"](https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/opinions/preview-of-the-jsc-april-2024-the-jsc-must-again-focus-on-criteria-and-more/) (in en-ZA). *Judges Matter*. 2024-04-08. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

1. Stultz, Newell M. (2001). ["Review of The Politics of Transition: A Hidden History of South Africa's Negotiated Settlement"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097330). *The International Journal of African Historical Studies*. **34** (1): 208–210. [doi:10.2307/3097330](https://doi.org/10.2307/3097330). [ISSN 0361-7882](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0361-7882)

1. Tankle, Lee (2023-10-19). ["Jewish jurists appointed acting judges of Constitutional Court"](https://www.sajr.co.za/jewish-jurists-appointed-acting-judges-of-constitutional-court/) (in en-ZA). *Jewish Report*. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

## External links

- [Matthew Chaskalson](https://vmxengegroup.co.za/team-member/matthew-chaskalson-sc/) at Victoria Mxenge Group
- [Matthew Chaskalson](https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/advocate-matthew-chaskalson-sc/) at Judges Matter
- [Review](https://gcbsa.co.za/jscdocs/2024%20April/ADVOCATE%20MATTHEW%20CHASKALSON%20SC.pdf) by the General Council of the Bar

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Matthew Chaskalson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Chaskalson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Chaskalson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.