About the Author

Nicholas (Fink) Haysom was a partner at Cheadle Thompson and Haysom Attorneys, and an Associate Professor of Law at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University until May 1994 when he was appointed Legal Advisor to the President in the President’s Office. He served as chief legal advisor throughout Mr. Mandela’s presidency and continues to work with Mr. Mandela on his private initiatives.

Haysom has written on constitutional and related matters in various academic publications and is the co-author of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution: Commentary and Cases (see below). He has also litigated in human rights trials and has acted as an IMSSA registered mediator in labour and community conflicts.

Haysom was closely involved in constitutional negotiations leading up to the interim and final constitutions. He was a member of the African National Congress’s constitutional commission and participated in CODESA, the Multi-Party Negotiations Process and the Constitutional Assembly deliberations as a technical expert, legal advisor and negotiator. At the Transitional Executive Council (TEC), he participated in the activities of the committees of the Defence and Intelligence sub-councils. Haysom was also involved in the negotiation of the National Peace Accord and participated in its initiatives, notably as a member of the National Police Board between 1992 and 1994.

In the President’s Office, Haysom participated in various legislative drafting or policy task teams, especially in the areas of defence and security, finance, and executive ethics. He also chaired the panel to short-list the commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Since leaving the office of the President upon Mr. Mandela’s retirement in 1999, Haysom has been involved in the Burundi Peace Talks as chairman of the committee negotiating constitutional issues. He currently serves, or has served, as a consultant on projects on constitutional reform, electoral reform, conflict resolution, good governance, federalism and democracy strengthening in Lebanon, Nigeria, Burundi, Indonesia, East Timor, Sudan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Burma, Lesotho, Colombia and Congo.

In South Africa, Haysom is advisor to the Speaker of Parliament. He is also an advisor on litigation strategies to the Commissioner of Revenue Services and on tender processes to the Ministers of Trade and Industry and Home Affairs. He is a member of various panels of experts in international conflict resolution including the UN Panel of Experts on Conflict Resolution. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of the Wiwatersrand.

Publications by the Author

Haysom, N. 1983. Ruling with the Whip: A Report on The Violation of Human Rights in the Ciskei. Johannesburg: Centre for Applied Legal Studies.

_________. 1994. “South African prison law and practice, by Van Zyl Smit, D.: book review,” South African Law Journal, Vol. 111, No. 3.

_________. 1994. “The bill of fundamental rights: Implications for legal practice,” De rebus, No. 314.

_________. 1992. “Constitutionalism, majoritarian democracy and socio-economic rights,” South African Journal On Human Rights, Vol. 8, No. 4.

_________. 1991. “Greeks bearing gifts,” South African Journal On Human Rights, Vol. 7, No. 3.

_________. 1991. “Policing,” South African Human Rights and Labour Law Yearbook, No. 2.

_________. 1991. “Democracy, constitutionalism and the ANC’s Bill of Rights for a new South Africa,” South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 7, No. 1.

_________. 1990. “The mad Mrs. Rochester revisited: The involuntary confinement of the mentally ill in South Africa,” South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 6, No. 3.

_________. 1990. “Policing,” South African Human Rights and Labour Law Yearbook, No. 1.

_________. 1989. “Policing the police: A comparative survey of police control mechanisms in the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom,” Acta Juridica.

_________. 1998. “The war against law: Judicial activism and the appellate division,” South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 4, No. 3.

_________. 1987. “Class, community and conflict: South African perspectives”, Bozzoli, B. (ed.): book review”, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 3, No. 2.

_________. 1987. “Working life: Factories, townships and popular culture on the Rand 1886 —1940: A people’s history of South Africa, Volume 2, Callinicos, L.: book review”, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 3, No. 2.

_________. 1987. “Professional confidentiality under threat,” De Rebus, No. 240.

_________. 1987. “License to kill, part 1: The SA police force and the use of deadly force”, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 3, No. 1.

_________. 1987. “Licence to kill, part 2: A comparative survey of the law in the United Kingdom, USA and South Africa”, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 3, No. 2.

_________. 1991. “Democracy, constitutionalism and the ANC’s Bill of Rights for a new South Africa,” South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 7, No. 1.

Haysom, N., et al. 1993. “Transitional Executive Council (Draft) Bill: Final, as adopted by the Negotiating Council and subsequently corrected”, prepared by the Technical Committee on the Transitional Executive Council in the Multi-Party Negotiating Process, 9 September 1993. (S.l.: Transitional Executive Council).

_________. 1989. Uniform Policing in South Africa, Cape Town: Juta.

_________. 1993. “The police in a new South Africa: Accountability and control.” In Mathews, M.L., Heymann, P.B. and Mathews, A.S. (eds.), Policing the Conflict in South Africa. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Haysom, N., Corder, H. and Malherbe, P. (eds.). 1979. Focus on the History of Labour Legislation. Cape Town: National Union of South African Students.

Haysom, N., Cachalia, A, et al. 1994. Fundamental rights in the new constitution. Kenwyn: Juta.

Haysom, N. and Plasket, C. (eds.). 1989. Developments in Emergency Law, Johannesburg: Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand.

_________. 1991. A Constitutional Court for South Africa, Johannesburg: Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand.

Haysom, N., Davis, D.M. and Halton, C. (eds.) 1997. Fundamental Rights in the Constitution: Commentary and Cases, Kenwyn: Juta.

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