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South African Justice Sachs Speaks on Rights of Children

April 23, 2002

The Honorable Albert (Albie) Louis Sachs, a former freedom fighter who now serves as a Constitutional Court of South Africa justice, delivered a lecture on "The Rights of the Child — A View from the Constitutional Court of South Africa" at the Law School on April 23, 2002.

Sachs, whose extraordinary journey has taken him to the highest court of the land, spoke as part of the ongoing commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Children and Family Justice Center, which is part of the Bluhm Legal Clinic.

An exiled freedom fighter who lost an arm and sight in one eye during a car bomb attack in 1988, Sachs is now interpreting the constitution he helped to develop for his country.

His recovery from the car bomb greatly shaped his journey to the Constitutional Court of South Africa and is captured in an autobiographical book "The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter," which was dramatized and performed by the BBC.

He is the author of many books on human rights and has written extensively on culture, gender rights and the environment. His book "The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs" also was dramatized and performed by the BBC.

Neil Bluhm (left), after whom the legal clinic is named, introduced Justice Sachs (right).

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