Glenn Goosen (judge)

Goosen was born on 12 April 1962 in Port Elizabeth (later renamed Gqeberha) in the Eastern Cape.{{Cite web |title=Goosen, Glenn |url=https://www.supremecourtofappeal.org.za/index.php/judges/judges-of-the-supreme-court-of-appeal/8-judges/73-goosen |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Supreme Court of Appeal |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002003053/https://www.supremecourtofappeal.org.za/index.php/judges/judges-of-the-supreme-court-of-appeal/8-judges/73-goosen |url-status=live }} He matriculated at St Patrick's Marist Brothers College in Port Elizabeth and went on to the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he completed a BA in 1984 and an LLB in 1988.{{Cite web |title=Judge Glenn Graham Goosen |url=https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/g-g-goosen/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Judges Matter |language=en-ZA |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204120313/https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/g-g-goosen/ |url-status=live }} He was a researcher at UCT's Centre for African Studies in 1987.

While at UCT, he became involved in the student anti-apartheid movement, gaining election as the president of the UCT student representative council in 1985 and serving on the national executive of the National Union of South African Students. He also joined the End Conscription Campaign in 1986.

In 1989, Goosen served his articles of clerkship at Brereton & Co, a firm focused on human rights law and public interest law. The head of the firm, Vanessa Brereton, later confessed to having spied on anti-apartheid activists, including Goosen, on behalf of the South African Police.{{Cite news |date=23 October 2003 |title='I worked for agent RS452' |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/i-worked-for-agent-rs452-115130 |access-date=29 November 2023}}{{Cite web |date=2003-10-23 |title=Former activists testify before Hefer |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-10-23-former-activists-testify-before-hefer/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} At the time, Goosen remained active in the anti-apartheid movement, sitting on the executive of the United Democratic Front from 1989 and becoming active in the African National Congress when it was unbanned by the apartheid government in 1990.

Goosen was admitted as an advocate in 1990 and he practised at the Port Elizabeth Bar for the next two decades. During that time, he took a brief hiatus from practice between 1996 and 1997 while he served as national director of the investigations unit of the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He had originally interviewed, unsuccessfully, for the more junior post of national legal officer for the TRC, which was ultimately filled by Hanif Vally.{{Cite book |last1=Bell |first1=Terry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALA8SgeiA_wC&q=glenn+goosen |title=Unfinished Business: South Africa, Apartheid, and Truth |last2=Ntsebeza |first2=Dumisa Buhle |date=2003 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-85984-545-5 |pages=297–8 |language=en}} He resigned from the TRC in 1997 amid rumours of "personal differences" between him and TRC commissioner Dumisa Ntsebeza.

Upon returning to the bar in 1998, Goosen became active in the governance and mentorship programmes of the Port Elizabeth Bar, Eastern Cape Bar, and General Council of the Bar. He was awarded silk status in 2004, and he served as an acting judge on several occasions between 2005 and 2011, sitting in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa. In April 2010, he was one of nine candidates shortlisted and interviewed for permanent appointment to one of five vacancies in the Eastern Cape High Court. However, during Goosen's interview, Dumisa Ntsebeza – who by then was a member of the Judicial Service Commission – repeatedly pointed to the existing preponderance of white males in the court, and the Judicial Service Commission did not recommend Goosen for appointment.{{Cite web |last=Maclennan |first=Ben |date=2010-04-13 |title=Transformation on the agenda at JSC sitting |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-04-13-transformation-on-the-agenda-at-jsc-sitting/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706142236/https://mg.co.za/article/2010-04-13-transformation-on-the-agenda-at-jsc-sitting/ |url-status=live }}

In October 2011, the Judicial Service Commission interviewed Goosen for a new vacancy in the Eastern Cape High Court, and on that occasion it recommended him for appointment.{{Cite web |date=2011-10-25 |title=Lack of female judges worries JSC |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-25-lack-of-female-judges-worries-jsc/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |archive-date=3 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203100509/https://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-25-lack-of-female-judges-worries-jsc/ |url-status=live }} President Jacob Zuma confirmed his appointment with effect from 1 January 2012.{{Cite web |date=22 November 2011 |title=President Zuma appoints judges to the Supreme Court of Appeal, Labour Court, High Courts and Electoral Commission |url=https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/president-zuma-appoints-judges-supreme-court-appeal-labour-court-high-courts |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=South African Government}}{{Cite web |date=22 October 2011 |title=Patel appointed judge president |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/patel-appointed-judge-president-20111122 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} In the High Court, his best-known judgement was Madzodzo v Minister of Basic Education, sometimes known as "the furniture case", which was handed down in February 2014 and which concerned the content of the right to basic education as enshrined in Section 29(1) of the Constitution.{{Cite web |date=24 February 2014 |title=Ground-breaking South African Judgment on the Right to a Basic Education |url=https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-02-24-ground-breaking-south-african-judgment-right-basic-education |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=University of Oxford Faculty of Law}}{{Cite web |last=Veriava |first=Faranaaz |date=2014-03-14 |title=Our courts are schooling the state |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-03-14-our-courts-are-schooling-the-state/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707043355/https://mg.co.za/article/2014-03-14-our-courts-are-schooling-the-state/ |url-status=live }} Goosen ruled that the Department of Basic Education had violated the right to basic education by failing to provide furniture to rural schools in the former Transkei. He agreed with the Legal Resources Centre that the right to education required the provision of "a range of educational resources", including school furniture, and that the government's budgetary constraints did not nullify learners' entitlement to effective relief.{{Cite web |last=John |first=Victoria |date=2014-03-07 |title=Eastern Cape education department being taught a lesson |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-03-07-eastern-cape-education-department-being-taught-a-lesson/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |archive-date=18 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518094842/https://mg.co.za/article/2014-03-07-eastern-cape-education-department-being-taught-a-lesson/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=McConnachie |first=Chris |date=25 February 2014 |title=South African Judge Lays Down the Law on the Right to a Basic Education |url=https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/south-african-judge-lays-down-the-law-on-the-right-to-a-basic-education/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=OHRH |language=en-US |archive-date=1 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201161714/https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/south-african-judge-lays-down-the-law-on-the-right-to-a-basic-education/ |url-status=live }}

Goosen later served lengthy stints as an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal, first for a year between June 2020 and May 2021 and then for one term between June and September 2022. In addition to dissenting judgements, he wrote the court's majority judgements in Martrade Shipping v United Enterprises, a shipping law matter, and in National Union of Metalworkers v Dunlop, in which the court ruled in favour of the National Union of Metalworkers in finding that the Labour Relations Act protected unions from civil liability for damages incurred in the course of industrial action.{{Cite web |date=10 December 2020 |title='Dereliction of duty': Supreme Court tears into KZN judge for judgment that took four years |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-12-10-dereliction-of-duty-supreme-court-tears-into-kzn-judge-for-judgment-that-took-four-years/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523175539/https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-12-10-dereliction-of-duty-supreme-court-tears-into-kzn-judge-for-judgment-that-took-four-years/ |url-status=live }}

In October 2022, Goosen was one of 11 candidates interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission for possible appointment to one of five permanent vacancies at the Supreme Court of Appeal. Although the National Association of Democratic Lawyers suggested that his elevation would result in an "over-representation of white men" on the Supreme Court,{{Cite web |last=Maughan |first=Karyn |date=6 October 2022 |title=Judge presiding over Zuma corruption case misses out on appointment to Supreme Court of Appeal |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/judge-presiding-over-zuma-corruption-case-misses-out-on-appointment-to-supreme-court-of-appeal-20221006 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104171906/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/judge-presiding-over-zuma-corruption-case-misses-out-on-appointment-to-supreme-court-of-appeal-20221006 |url-status=live }} the Eastern Cape branch of Lawyers for Transformation pointed to his "impeccable credentials" in the anti-apartheid movement, as did former Supreme Court President Lex Mpati, who supported his nomination.{{Cite web |date=5 October 2022 |title=Five candidates get the JSC nod for Supreme Court of Appeal |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-10-05-five-candidates-get-the-jsc-nod-for-supreme-court-of-appeal/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702070342/https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-10-05-five-candidates-get-the-jsc-nod-for-supreme-court-of-appeal/ |url-status=live }} In addition, both Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya and Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo praised Goosen for having assisted the judiciary in transitioning to virtual hearings, of which Goosen had been an early adopter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his interview, when asked about his Madzodzo judgement, Goosen expressed his belief that transformative justice was a constitutional imperative and must inform all judicial interpretation, including interpretation of the Bill of Rights.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-03 |title=South Africa needs a constitution that focuses on transformative justice: Judge Goosen |url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/south-africa-needs-a-constitution-that-focuses-on-transformative-justice-judge-goosen/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=SABC News |language=en-US |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202230657/https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/south-africa-needs-a-constitution-that-focuses-on-transformative-justice-judge-goosen/ |url-status=live }} The Judicial Service Commission selected him as one of five candidates suitable for appointment,{{Cite web |last=Bhengu |first=Cebelihle |date=5 October 2022 |title=Judicial Service Commission recommends five candidates for SCA Bench |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/judicial-service-commission-recommends-five-candidates-for-sca-bench-20221005 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=5 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105000727/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/judicial-service-commission-recommends-five-candidates-for-sca-bench-20221005 |url-status=live }} and he joined the bench on 1 December 2022.{{Cite web |date=20 October 2022 |title=Nelson Mandela Bay's Goosen gets nod as Supreme Court of Appeal judge |url=https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2022-10-20-nelson-mandela-bays-goosen-gets-nod-as-supreme-court-of-appeal-judge/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Herald |language=en-ZA |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020103831/https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2022-10-20-nelson-mandela-bays-goosen-gets-nod-as-supreme-court-of-appeal-judge/ |url-status=live }}

Goosen has several academic publications and since 2008 has been an adjunct professor in public law at the Nelson Mandela University.

He is married to Therese Boulle and has three children.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.supremecourtofappeal.org.za/index.php/judges/judges-of-the-supreme-court-of-appeal/8-judges/73-goosen Glenn Goosen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002003053/https://www.supremecourtofappeal.org.za/index.php/judges/judges-of-the-supreme-court-of-appeal/8-judges/73-goosen |date=2 October 2023 }} at Supreme Court of Appeal
• [https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/g-g-goosen/ Glenn Graham Goosen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204120313/https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/g-g-goosen/ |date=4 December 2023 }} at Judges Matter
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV42-byaYvg Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708190655/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV42-byaYvg |date=8 July 2023 }} by the Judicial Service Commission
• [https://gcbsa.co.za/jscdocs/2022%20September/Goosen.pdf Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206044341/https://gcbsa.co.za/jscdocs/2022%20September/Goosen.pdf |date=6 December 2023 }} by the General Council of the Bar

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Category:Living people

Category:21st-century South African judges

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Category:21st-century South African lawyers

Category:1962 births

Category:University of Cape Town alumni

Category:Academic staff of Nelson Mandela University

Category:People from Gqeberha

Category:South African Senior Counsel

Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa)

Category:Judges of the Eastern Cape High Court