I read this book in 2017 – interesting account of a constitutional court judge in post Apartheid South Africa.
Sachs, Albie. 2009. The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law. Oxford University Press.
Quotes:
- “[E]very revolution was impossible until it happened, then it became inevitable[.]” (p.166)
- “In a country where a great section of the people lived in desperate poverty, affirmative action would not be enough; some form of broad social advancement was required.” Talking about debates surrounding bill of Rights in the constitution of the post-Apartheid South Africa (p.170)
- “[J]udges were institutionally completely (p.171) unsuited to take decision on houses, hospitals, schools, and electricity. They just did not have the know-how and the capacity to handle those questions. But judges did know about human dignity, about oppression and about things that reduced a human being to a status below that which a democratic society would regard as tolerable.” (p.170-1).
- “[I]nstead of undermining each other, freedom and bread were interrelated and interdependent.” (p.172)
- “[I]nstead of undermining each other, freedom and bread were interrelated and interdependent.” (p.172)
