Background
Selikowitz was born on 11 April 1942 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Selikowitz was born on 11 April 1942 in Cape Town, South Africa.
He attended the Hertzlia primary and high schools, graduating from high school in 1959. He then graduated from a Bachelor of Arts in 1963 and received his Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) in 1965.
He is currently a lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Selikowitz was admitted as an advocate in 1966 and took silk in 1983. He was appointed to the Cape Bench in 1987.
He also served on the Bar Council from 1974-1987.
Judge Selikowitz (with whom Judge Foxcroft, concurred) upheld Botha"s appeal on technical grounds and set aside his sentence of a 10,000 rand (pounds 1,000) fine or 12 months in jail for defying a truth commission subpoena. After a trial lasting months, a regional court convicted the former president of contempt for ignoring summonses to testify in person before the commission, which was trying to uncover the chain of command behind murders, bombings and the torture of anti-apartheid activists during his rule.
Botha was sentenced by a Black Regional Court President and when Selikowitz overturned the conviction on a technicality some South Africans were outraged. Some saw the decision as a catalyst to ignite racial tensions in South Africa as it was made on the eve of Nelson Mandela"s departure from the Presidency.
In his judgment, reported as South v BOTHA 1999 (2) SACR 261 (C), Selikowitz stated at p.
Indeed, Mr Morrison submitted that this Court should not permit the appellant to take what he called "technical points" because of the intransigent and obdurate attitude which the appellant had demonstrated towards the Teaching Resource Center. The Teaching Resource Center was established to perform a noble and invaluable task for our country. lieutenant remains, however, a statutory body clothed only with the powers that the Legislature has given lieutenant This Court is duty-bound to uphold and protect the Constitution and to administer justice to all persons alike without fear, favour or prejudice, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
Suffice it to say that the same law, the same Constitution which obliges the appellant to obey the law of the land like every other citizen, also affords him the same protections that it affords every other citizen."
Selikowitz is currently a visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Hobbies and pastimes
Selikowitz"s hobbies include wine collecting (and tasting). The outdoors (wildlife - animals and birds) and walking on the slopes of Table Mountain.
Selikowitz became a member of the Cape Bar in 1966.