Richard Goldstone Biography Quotes 1 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Richard Joseph Goldstone was born in 1938 in Boksburg, on South Africa's industrial East Rand. He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he completed his law degrees and began to distinguish himself for intellectual rigor and a pragmatic sense of justice. After university he was admitted to the Johannesburg Bar, practicing as an advocate and building a reputation for meticulous preparation and a measured courtroom style. He took silk as Senior Counsel during the 1970s, a recognition of professional standing that placed him among the leaders of the South African bar during a period of intense political and legal strain.

From the Bar to the Bench
Goldstone's judicial career began in the early 1980s when he was appointed a judge of what was then the Supreme Court of South Africa, in the Witwatersrand Local Division. He later rose to the Appellate Division, the country's highest court under the apartheid-era judicial structure. Even within an imperfect legal order, his judgments were noted for careful fact-finding and an insistence that state power be exercised within the law. Colleagues and contemporaries recall a jurist who preferred evidence over ideology and who often asked the most precise questions in court, seeking clarity and legality amidst political upheaval.

The Goldstone Commission and the Democratic Transition
In 1991, as South Africa entered its volatile transition from apartheid to democracy, President F. W. de Klerk appointed Goldstone to lead the Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, soon known simply as the Goldstone Commission. Operating in an environment marked by escalating township violence and political mistrust, the commission investigated the sources of unrest, including allegations that elements within the security forces were fomenting conflict. Its work was methodical and, at times, controversial, but the commission's reports significantly shaped public understanding of the so-called third force. The findings supported efforts to stabilize the political process and helped clear the ground for negotiations in which figures such as Nelson Mandela and Cyril Ramaphosa on one side, and de Klerk and his ministers on the other, were seeking a peaceful constitutional settlement.

Founding Justice of the Constitutional Court
With the advent of democracy, Goldstone was appointed in 1994 by President Nelson Mandela as a founding justice of the new Constitutional Court of South Africa, led by Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson. That first bench, which included Albie Sachs, Pius Langa, Kate O'Regan, Yvonne Mokgoro, and Johann Kriegler, undertook the formidable task of transforming South African jurisprudence in line with a progressive Bill of Rights. In its early terms the court struck a new tone of constitutional supremacy, reason-giving, and rights protection. Goldstone's contributions reflected his long-standing focus on procedural fairness and on the rule of law as a daily practice rather than a slogan, and he was part of the court's landmark abolition of the death penalty in 1995. He served until 2003, helping to lay foundations that would guide South African constitutionalism into the new century.

Chief Prosecutor for the ICTY and ICTR
Also in 1994, United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appointed Goldstone as the first chief prosecutor of the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and, later that year, for the companion International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He moved between The Hague and Arusha, building prosecutorial teams, drafting indictments, and shaping procedures for institutions that had no historical blueprint at that scale since Nuremberg and Tokyo. Working alongside senior UN officials, including Kofi Annan, he advocated forcefully for state cooperation, access to evidence, and the arrest of suspects.

Under his leadership, the ICTY issued early indictments that signaled a new era of individual accountability for grave crimes. The prosecution of Dusko Tadic broke ground on procedural and substantive questions, and the office obtained landmark indictments against figures such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. At the ICTR, the mandate was equally formidable, addressing the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Although he served only through the tribunal's formative years, Goldstone established practices and expectations that his successors, including Louise Arbour and later Carla Del Ponte, would expand upon. The early insistence that there would be no impunity for senior leaders influenced the trajectory of international criminal justice thereafter.

Independent International Inquiries
After returning from his prosecutorial post, Goldstone continued to serve on high-profile international panels. He co-chaired the Independent International Commission on Kosovo with Carl Tham, which produced a widely discussed 2000 report assessing NATO's intervention and the conduct of parties to the conflict. He later served on the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme, chaired by Paul Volcker with Mark Pieth also a member, which investigated abuses and corruption related to sanctions-era Iraq. These roles reinforced his reputation as an investigator who combined legal skill with an ability to manage complex, politically sensitive fact-finding.

The Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
In 2009, the UN Human Rights Council appointed Goldstone to head the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, alongside Christine Chinkin, Hina Jilani, and Desmond Travers. The mission examined serious violations of international law during the 2008, 2009 hostilities, concluding that there was evidence of wrongdoing by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. The report generated intense international debate and criticism, particularly regarding findings on intent. In 2011, Goldstone wrote that new information available to him might have affected some conclusions about whether Israeli policy had intentionally targeted civilians, while he reaffirmed the imperative of accountability for violations by all sides. The episode exemplified the complexity of applying legal standards to modern conflict and the weight he placed on revisiting conclusions in light of additional facts.

Teaching, Professional Service, and Public Voice
Beyond the bench and international inquiries, Goldstone devoted significant time to teaching and public engagement. He held visiting positions at universities in South Africa, the United States, and Europe, using the classroom and public lectures to explain the practical realities of international criminal law and transitional justice. He worked with professional bodies to strengthen legal institutions, including leadership roles within the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute, where he appeared alongside figures such as Baroness Helena Kennedy in promoting judicial independence and the protection of advocates at risk.

He has been associated with civil society organizations that emphasize the rule of law, human rights monitoring, and judicial ethics. His writing, including a memoir reflecting on the creation of international tribunals and the dilemmas of post-conflict justice, helped demystify how prosecutors build cases, how courts evaluate evidence, and why independence matters when public passions are high. Across these efforts he often invoked lessons drawn from South Africa's transformation, crediting mentors and colleagues such as Arthur Chaskalson for modeling a principled, institution-building approach.

Judicial Method and Ethics
Goldstone's career illustrates a consistent method: protect facts from political distortion, insist on due process, and build institutions that outlast individuals. Those who worked with him describe a preference for collegial problem-solving and for written records that can withstand scrutiny. Whether chairing the Goldstone Commission, drafting indictments at the ICTY and ICTR, or conducting fact-finding in Kosovo and Gaza, he sought to separate what could be proved from what was merely asserted. He accepted that such work would draw criticism from many quarters, but he argued that durability in the law requires even-handedness, the willingness to correct errors, and the humility to acknowledge the limits of available evidence.

Legacy
Richard Goldstone's legacy lies in bridging domestic constitutionalism and international criminal justice at a moment when both were being reimagined. In South Africa, he helped steady a fragile transition under leaders like Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk by exposing violence and insisting on legal accountability. On the world stage, he transformed the idea of accountability for mass atrocities from aspiration into practice, laying early bricks for institutions that would later include the permanent International Criminal Court. The colleagues who intersected with his path, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan at the UN; Louise Arbour and Carla Del Ponte as successors; Carl Tham, Paul Volcker, Mark Pieth, Christine Chinkin, Hina Jilani, and Desmond Travers on commissions, reflect the breadth of his collaborations.

Across decades, Goldstone maintained that law's force rests on credibility: the hard work of investigation, the discipline of fair procedure, and the independence of judges and prosecutors. From Boksburg to Johannesburg to The Hague and beyond, his trajectory charts how a jurist can shape institutions in times of turbulence while remaining anchored to principles that make the rule of law possible.

Our collection contains 1 quotes who is written by Richard, under the main topics: Justice.