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Quinnipiac holds free "Mandela: From Law-Breaker to Law-Maker,” talk October 1

Albie Sachs, a retired justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, will present the talk, "Mandela: From Law-Breaker to Law-Maker,” from noon-1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1, in the Multipurpose Room of the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University’s North Haven Campus.

This event, part of the School of Law faculty’s speaker series, is free and open to the public.

Sachs’ career in human rights activism started at age 17, when as a second-year law student at the University of Cape Town, he took part in the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign. Three years later, he attended the Congress of the People at Kliptown, where the Freedom Charter was adopted.

At 21, Sachs started practicing law as an advocate at the Cape Bar. The bulk of his work involved defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. Many faced the death sentence. He was raided by the security police and subjected to orders restricting his movement and eventually placed in solitary confinement without trial for two prolonged spells of detention.

In 1966, Sachs went into exile. After spending 11 years studying and teaching law in England, he worked for another 11 years in Mozambique as a law professor and legal researcher. In 1988, he was seriously injured by a bomb placed in his car in Maputo by South African security agents, losing an arm and the sight in one eye.

During the 1980s, he helped draft the African National Conference’s Code of Conduct and statutes while in exile with its leader Oliver Tambo. After the bombing, he devoted himself to preparations for a new democratic Constitution for South Africa. In 1990, he returned home and as a member of the Constitutional Committee and the national executive of the ANC took an active part in the negotiations, which led to South Africa becoming a constitutional democracy. After the first democratic election in 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed him to serve on the newly established Constitutional Court.

In addition to his work on the court, he has traveled to many countries sharing South African experience in healing divided societies. He has also been engaged in the sphere of art and architecture, and played an active role in the development of the Constitutional Court building and its art collection on the site of the Old Fort Prison in Johannesburg.

To register for this event, please contact Nellie Scoble at nellie.scoble@quinnipiac.edu before Sept. 24. Lunch will be provided. For more information, please visit www.quinnipiac.edu.