Richard J. Goldstone, LLB Biography
- Title:
- First Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
- Position:
- Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Is a Two-State Solution (Israel and Palestine) an Acceptable Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?"
- Reasoning:
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“Insofar as movement and access restrictions, the settlements and their infrastructure, demographic policies vis-a-vis Jerusalem and ‘Area C’ of the West Bank, as well as the separation of Gaza from the West Bank, prevent a viable, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State from arising, they are in violation of the jus cogens [fundamental overriding principle of international law, exemption from which is never permitted] right to self determination.”
Cowritten with Christine Chinkin, PhD, Hina Jilani, and Desmond Travers, “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict [‘Goldstone Report’],” www2.ohchr.org, Sep. 25, 2009
- Involvement and Affiliations:
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- Chair, Advisory Committee on the Archiving of Documents and Records of the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Oct. 2007
- Faculty Member, Salzburg Seminar, 1996-2006
- Member, Independent Committee Investigating the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program [‘Volcker Committee’], Apr. 2004
- President, World ORT, 1997-2004
- Chair, Standing Advisory Committee on Company Law (South Africa), 1984-2004
- Member, International Group of Advisers, International Committee of the Red Cross, 1999-2003
- Chair of the Board, Human Rights Institute of South Africa, 1994-2003
- Justice, Constitutional Court (South Africa), July 1994-Oct. 2003
- Joint Chair, International Task Force on Terrorism, Dec. 2001
- Chair, International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo, Aug. 1999-Dec. 2001
- National President, National Institute of Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of Offenders, 1985-2000
- Chair, International Panel of Experts in charge of drafting the Declaration of Human Rights and Responsibilities (the Valencia Declaration), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1998
- Member, Panel to Monitor the Inquiry into Nazi Activities in Argentina Since 1938, Aug. 1997
- First Chief Prosecutor, United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Aug, 15, 1994-Sep. 1996
- Chair, Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation [‘Goldstone Commission’], 1991-1994
- Judge, Transvaal Supreme Court (South Africa), 1980
- Senior Counsel, Corporate and Intellectual Property Law, Johannesburg (South Africa), 1976-1980
- Barrister, Corporate and Intellectual Property Law, Johannesburg (South Africa), 1963-1976
- Education:
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- BA LLB, cum laude, University of the Witwatersrand, 1962
- Other:
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- Born on Oct. 26, 1938
- Full name is Richard Joseph Goldstone
- Has undertaken the role of Visiting Professor at a number of US law schools since 2004, including, Georgetown, NYU, and Harvard
- Served as Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand between 1995 and Mar. 2007
- Serves as a member of the board of Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and the Center for Economic and Social Rights
- Serves as Governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Serves as Chair of the advisory board of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
- Serves as a member of the advisory board of the Brandeis University Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life
- Serves as Chair of the Bradlow Foundation
- Serves as an honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple in London (UK)
- Serves as an honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge (UK)
- Serves as an honorary member of the Association of the Bar of New York
- Was awarded the International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association in 1994, and the 2008 World Peace Through Law Award from Washington University in St. Louis
- Has received honorary doctorates from 21 universities
- Quoted in: