Blog Series: Interview with Judge Margie Victor
Editor’s note: This video is part of a series of interviews that we conducted with members of the South African Judiciary to commemorate 30 years of democracy in South Africa. The purpose of these interviews was to reflect on and discuss the development of South Africa’s constitutional democracy since its first democratic election in 1994.
Judge Margie Victor was appointed as a judge in 2008 and an Acting Justice of the Constitutional Court in 2019. She was the first woman to be elected to the Johannesburg Bar Council in 1996 and has been a vocal advocate for women’s rights and, more broadly, the rights of previously disadvantaged groups. She has frequently called for transformation and, outside her judicial work, has committed to furthering these causes through mentorship of young legal practitioners, as the Vice-President of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges and through her involvement in the WOZA Women’s Academy of Learning Project – “Women Judges making a difference”.
In this interview, Judge Margie Victor reflected on the successes and challenges of the Constitution in protecting human rights and the impact of landmark cases on the country’s democratic development. The conversation also explored the progress made toward gender equality, the role of the judiciary in politically sensitive cases, and whether access to justice has truly been realised for previously disadvantaged communities.
