Thokozile Masipa, a judge at the Johannesburg Division for the Gauteng High Court in South Africa, will deliver the 2015 William P. Murphy Distinguished Lecture at UNC School of Law on Monday, April 6. The lecture will take place at noon in the rotunda at the law school.
Masipa was the second black woman admitted to the Bench in South Africa and was the presiding judge in the high-profile trial of Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. Among other topics, Masipa will speak about her experience being a black female lawyer in South Africa.
"Our students and faculty will be interested to hear Masipa speak about her experience under apartheid and then as a lawyer and judge in South Africa," says UNC School of Law Dean John Charles "Jack" Boger '74.
Prior to attending law school at the University of South Africa, Masipa was a crime reporter whose stories often told of the indignities of life under apartheid, and she went on to become an advocate in her late forties. In 1977 she was arrested and imprisoned for her advocacy against apartheid.
After practicing law for seven years in Johannesburg, in 1998 Masipa was appointed as a judge in the Transvaal Provincial Division (as it was then known) of the High Court of South Africa, becoming the second black woman to be appointed as a judge in the High Court. Masipa has also served in Gauteng's consumer court tribunal, the Estate Agents Board and the Electoral Court of South Africa. She is one of the seven female South African judges featured in Courting Justice, a 2008 documentary film directed by Jane Lipman.
The Murphy Lecture Series was established by the UNC School of Law Class of 1990 to celebrate former faculty member Professor William P. Murphy's teaching and his work in constitutional law, labor law and civil rights. This lecture series is responsible for bringing noted lawyers, political figures and public advocates to the campus. The event is free and open to the public.
-March 26, 2015