Chief Justice of the Cape Colony explained

The chief justice of the Cape Colony was the most senior judge in the British Cape colony and the head of its Supreme Court. The office was created by the 1827 Charter of Justice, by which the colonial government overhauled the administration of justice at the Cape, and ceased to exist in 1910 upon the creation of the Union of South Africa.^{[1] [2]}

List of chief justices

Before 1827, the senior judicial figure at the Cape was Johannes Andreas Truter, who presided in the Raad van Justitie.^[3] After the creation of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices were:^[4]

• Sir John Wylde (1827-1858)
• Sir William Hodges (1858-1868)
• Sir Sydney Smith Bell (1868-1873)
• Sir John Henry de Villers (1873-1910)

In 1910, the Union of South Africa was created, and De Villiers became its chief justice.^[5]

References

1. Book: Sachs, Albie. Justice in South Africa. University of California Press. 1973. Berkeley.
2. Girvin. Stephen D.. 1992. The Establishment of the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope and Its History under the Chief Justiceship of Sir John Wylde: I. South African Law Journal. 109. 291.
3. Botha. C. Graham. 1932. The Cape Supreme Court. South African Law Journal. 49. 453.
4. Book: Zimmermann. Reinhard. Southern Cross: Civil Law and Common Law in South Africa. Visser. Daniel. 1996. Juta. Cape Town.
5. Book: Walker, Eric A.. Lord De Villiers and His Times: South Africa 1842-1914. Constable & Co. 1925.