Judge Dennis Davis
Are Judges Enemies of the People?
Summary
In many democracies across the world there seems to be an evolving turf war between judges and politicians. In this conversation Judge Dennis Davis and Sir Jeffrey Jowell discuss many aspects of this phenomenon.
Judge Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and judge president of the Competition Appeals Court of South Africa. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, as well as numerous visiting appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, New York University, and others. He has authored eleven books, including Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa.
Sir Jeffrey Jowell
Jeffrey Jowell QC is a practicing barrister at Blackstone Chambers in London and an emeritus professor of public Llaw at University College London. From 2010–15 he was the founder-director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and from 2000–2011 the UK’s member on the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law (known as “The Venice Commission”). Educated at the Universities of Cape Town, Oxford, and Harvard, he is the author of leading publications in the area of public law and has assisted in the drafting of several national constitutions. He has received many honorary degrees and awards and was knighted in 2011 for his contribution to “democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”