Freedom Under Law (FUL) on Monday paid tribute to founding Constitutional Court Justice Laurie Ackermann who passed on, saying commitment to the rule of law remained an enduring example for practitioners and judges who follow.

FUL saluted the contribution Ackermann made to the building of constitutionalism in the country, and in asserting the primacy of the rule of law.

“Justice Ackermann’s focus on human dignity as a constitutional value was central to his life’s work as a judge. His judicial conscience, as his colleague Justice Kate O’Regan has written, was always one that ‘was not too sure that it is right’. He would, in her words, ‘listen closely to his colleagues and gnaw at legal problems incessantly till he felt he had found the right way forward.’ Once however he had set a course, he was ‘implacable in pursuing it,” highlighted FUL.

Ackermann practised at the Pretoria Bar from 1958, taking silk in 1975 and was appointed to the High Court in 1980.

In 1987 he resigned from the Bench to take up a chair in human rights law at Stellenbosch created by the Oppenheimer Foundation.

He returned to the High Court Bench in January 1993, and in August 1994 he was appointed to the newly formed Constitutional Court.

Following his time on the bench, Justice Ackermann went on to found the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law. An institution which has made substantial impacts on legal academia.

Ackermann wrote 23 judgments in his ten years on the Constitutional Court.

“…of these, 19 were majority judgments (12 unanimous) and four were dissents. Several were foundational to the new era of constitutionalism in which it was given to him to play a distinctive role,” said FUL.

Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela noted Ackermann‘s empathy and unwavering commitment to social justice reverberated throughout his jurisprudence in cases such as National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality & Others v Minister of Home  Affairs (1999) and the FNB case (2002).

“Another great retired Constitutional Court Justice, Laurie Ackermann, has sadly passed. For me it is his transformative constitutionalism lens that did not treat the common law as a holy cow, that I will always cherish. Heartfelt condolences to loved ones,” Madonsela said.

Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said Ackermann’s passing was a loss for South Africa, as he left behind a legacy of legal wisdom and important contributions to South Africa’s legal landscape.

“We mourn the loss of Justice Ackermann and join the countless others in celebrating his remarkable legacy and contribution to South Africa. He will be profoundly missed,” said Breytenbach.