Dhaya Pillay

Dhayanithie "Dhaya" Pillay (born 5 January 1958 in Durban) is a South African judge of the Labour Court and KwaZulu-Natal High Court.[1][2]


Dhaya Pillay
Judge of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court
Assumed office
2010
Nominated byJudicial Service Commission
Appointed byPresident Jacob Zuma
Judge of the Labour Court of South Africa
Assumed office
2000
Nominated byJudicial Service Commission
Appointed byPresident Thabo Mbeki
Personal details
Born (1958-01-05) 5 January 1958
Durban, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of South Africa
University of Natal

Early life

Pillay was born in Durban in 1958 and completed her B.Proc at UNISA in 1982.[1] Early in her career as an attorney, she joined the firm of noted activist lawyer Yunus Mohamed, a founding member of the UDF and the instructing attorney in the Delmas Treason Trial.[2] Pillay became heavily involved in important political cases and effectively led the firm when Mohamed was in detention.[2][3]

In the late 1980s, Pillay's practice moved towards labour law, in which she later became an expert, acquiring an LLM in the subject from the University of Natal in 1993.[2] Pillay was a drafter of the Labour Relations Act and later became a senior CCMA commissioner. She also served as an advisor to the drafters of the South African Constitution.[1]

Judicial career

Pillay was made a judge of the Labour Court in 2000 and of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in 2010.[1] She supported Judge President Chiman Patel – now ousted amid suspicions that he fell out with the KwaZulu-Natal political establishment[4] – in the racial spat over his appointment.[2][5]

In July 2015 she was interviewed and shortlisted by the Judicial Service Commission for appointment to the Constitutional Court of South Africa.[1] She was nominated by rights groups and former Constitutional Court judge Zak Yacoob[1] and was praised by commentators.[2]

Other positions and awards

Pillay is an extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria and has been a visiting academic at the University of Seattle, New York University, the University of Oxford and the Open University.[1] She was recognised as a human rights defender by the Durban branch of Amnesty International in 2005.[2]

References

  1. "Application materials: D. Pillay" (PDF). judiciary.gov.za. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. Editorial (8 July 2015). "Approaching the bench: The four candidates for the vacant Constitutional Court seat". African Legal Centre.
  3. Claiborne, William (1989-03-28). "S. AFRICAN POLITICAL DETAINEE ENDS 38-DAY HUNGER STRIKE". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  4. Tolsi, Niren. "Top judge resigns over 'politics'". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  5. "KZN Judge President Patel honoured - Daily News | News". Independent Online. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
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