Bram Fischer reinstated on Roll
2003-10-15 13:32
Cape Town - Bram Fischer, political activist and former chairman of the Bar Council, will be posthumously reinstated to the Roll of Advocates on Thursday by the Johannesburg division of the High Court.
He was struck off the roll in 1966 for absconding while on bail during the course of his trial on charges of contravening the Suppression of Communism Act.
Fischer's explanation was that it was not intended to be disrespectful to the court, but was necessary for the continuation of his political work "to oppose (the) monstrous policy of apartheid".
Errol Knowles, director of Knowles Husain Lindsay, who is acting for the Bar Council in its support of the application by Fischer's daughters, Ruth Rice and Ilse Wilson, said: "This represents a milestone in the maturity of a just legal democracy."
The Reinstatement of Enrolment of Deceased Legal Practitioners Act - dubbed the Bram Fischer Bill - allows for the posthumous reinstatement of practitioners affected by their fight against apartheid.
'An extraordinary person'
"It is fitting that Knowles Husain Lindsay are acting for the Bar in this application, given that we are the ultimate successors to the legal practice of Edward Nathan, Friedland Mansell and Lewis, who originally represented the Bar Council in striking Bram Fischer off the Roll of Advocates.
Knowles Husain Lindsay was established in December 1999 from the property and litigation departments of law firm Edward Nathan Friedland, which had its origins in Edward Nathan, Friedland, Mansell and Lewis.
"Braam Fischer was an extraordinary person whose strength of justice and integrity enabled him to see beyond an unjust law in favour of the law of moral conviction and we feel very privileged to be involved in this application".
Braam Fischer was admitted as an advocate of the Supreme Court to South Africa in 1935 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1951.
Fischer headed the defence team in the 1964 Rivonia trial of former president Nelson Mandela and he was a practising member and leader of the South African Communist Party. Fischer died in 1975.