View source for Adila Hassim

{{Short description|South African barrister}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[Advocate|Adv.]]
| name               = Adila Hassim
| honorific_suffix   = [[Senior Counsel|SC]]
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| birth_date         = {{bya|1972}}
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| alma_mater         = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Natal]]
* [[Saint Louis University]]
* [[Notre Dame Law School]]
}}
| occupation         =
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}}
'''Adila Hassim''' {{post-nominals|list=[[Senior counsel|SC]]}} (born 1972) is a South African advocate. She rose to international prominence as a member of the legal team in the [[South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention)|South Africa vs. Israel]] case at the [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ) in January 2024.
==Early life and education==
Hassim was born in 1972.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 January 2024 |title=Qui est l'avocate sud-africaine Adila Hassim ? |url=https://www.businessnews.com.tn/qui-est-lavocate-sud-africaine-adila-hassim,545,134799,3 |work=Business News |language=fr}}</ref> She graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] (BA) and [[Bachelor of Laws]] (LLB) from the [[University of Natal]]. She was awarded the Franklin Thomas Fellowship to pursue a [[Master of Laws]] (LLM) at the [[Saint Louis University School of Law]] of [[St. Louis|Saint Louis]], [[Missouri]], graduating in 1999, and the Rev Lewers–Bradlow Foundation Fellowship to become a [[Doctor of the Science of Law]] (JSD) at [[Notre Dame Law School]] of [[Notre Dame, Indiana]], which she completed in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://soph.uwc.ac.za/news/2019-david-sanders-lecture-advocate-adila-hassim/|title=2019 David Sanders Lecture – Advocate Adila Hassim|website=University of the Western Cape School of Public Health|date=9 July 2019|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref><ref name="wits mar 17">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/graduations/2017/wits-awards-gold-medal-to-section27-.html|title=Wits awards Gold Medal to SECTION27|website=University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg|date=27 March 2017|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=nd_lawyer|title=NDLS Welcomes New and Returning L.L.M. and J.S.D. Students|work=Notre Dame Lawyer - Fall/Winter 2000|date=1 October 2000|accessdate=11 January 2024|page=42}}</ref>
==Career==
Hassim was a Constitutional Court law clerk to [[Pius Langa]] and [[Edwin Cameron]],<ref name="wits mar 17"/> participating in the 1997 Soobramoney v Minister of Health case. Hassim was admitted to the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, South Africa's largest Bar, in 2003.<ref name="tc bio">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thulamela.com/thulamela-members/adila-hassim|title=Adila Hassim SC|website=Thulamela Chambers|date=2 October 2020 |accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref> In the 2000s, Hassim worked for the AIDS Law Project. In 2007, she sat on a [[Treatment Action Campaign]] (TAC) committee alongside the likes of [[Andrew Feinstein]] and [[Cheryl Gillwald]] to support [[Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge]] in the wake of her dismissal as Deputy Minister of Health.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-08-27-tac-starts-support-fund-for-madlalaroutledge/|title=TAC starts support fund for Madlala-Routledge|journal=Mail & Guardian|date=27 August 2007|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref> Hassim co-edited ''Health & Democracy: A Guide to Human Rights and Health Law and Policy in Post-apartheid South Africa'' (2007) and ''The National Health Act: A Guide'' (2008).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterstones.com/author/adila-hassim/496863|title=Adila Hassim books and biography|website=Waterstones|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref> She also wrote a number of articles for the ''[[Mail & Guardian]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://mg.co.za/author/adila-hassim/|title=Adila Hassim|journal=Mail & Guardian|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref>
In 2010, Hassim helped to found the public-interest organisation Section27, where she would serve as Director of Litigation. She is also a founding member of [[Corruption Watch (South Africa)|Corruption Watch]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/targeting-the-corrupt-untouchables/|title=Targeting the corrupt 'untouchables'|website=Corruption Watch|date=25 May 2012|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref> Hassim is currently Senior Counsel at Thulamela Chambers.<ref name="tc bio"/>
==Notable cases==
Hassim worked on the Limpopo Textbooks Case, which went to the Supreme Court in 2015.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/court-hears-limpopo-textbook-case-1678705|title=Court hears Limpopo textbook case|journal=IOL|date=22 April 2014|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref> She represented Sonke Gender Justice and the Treatment Action Campaign in the 2015 [[Silicosis]] class action lawsuit against 32 mining companies in court.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2015-08-25-tac-and-sonke-want-to-join-mineworkers-class-action/|title=TAC and Sonke want to join mineworkers' class action|website=Sowetan Live|date=25 August 2015|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref> In 2017, Hassim became Lead Counsel in the [[Life Esidimeni scandal|Life Esidimeni Arbitration]], representing Section27 and the mental healthcare patients who died in the scandal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uwc.ac.za/news-and-announcements/news/instructions-from-above-advocate-adila-hassim-on-the-ethical-and-systemic-ramifications-of-the-life-esidimeni-disaster-317|title="Instructions From Above": Advocate Adila Hassim On The Ethical and Systemic Ramifications Of The Life Esidimeni Disaster|website=University of the Western Cape|first=Nicklaus|last=Kruger|date=15 July 2019|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/advocate-adila-hassim-weighs-in-on-life-esidimeni-the-rule-of-law-and-gbv-20200824|title=Advocate Adila Hassim weighs in on Life Esidimeni, the rule of law and GBV|website=News24|first=Jeanette|last=Chabalala|accessdate=11 January 2024}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-19-life-esidimeni-inquest-advocate-adila-hassim-delivers-moving-opening-statement/|title=Life Esidimeni inquest: Advocate Adila Hassim delivers moving opening statement|journal=Daily Maverick|first=Zukiswa|last=Pikoli|date=19 July 2021|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref>
In January 2024, Hassim appeared in [[The Hague]] as a member of the legal team representing South Africa's [[South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention)|proceedings accusing Israel of genocide]] at the [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://muslimmirror.com/eng/who-is-adila-hassim-the-lawyer-fighting-genocide-case-against-israel-at-icj/|title=Who is Adila Hassim, the lawyer fighting 'genocide' case against Israel at ICJ?|website=Muslim Mirror|date=11 January 2024|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2024-01-05-the-a-team-lawyers-representing-south-africa-at-the-world-court-against-israel/|title=The 'A-team' lawyers representing South Africa at the world court against Israel|journal=Times Live|first=Rorisang|last=Kgosana|date=5 January 2024|accessdate=11 January 2024}}</ref>
==Bibliography==
* ''Health & Democracy: A Guide to Human Rights and Health Law and Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa'' (2007), editor
* ''The National Health Act: A Guide'' (2008), editor
* ''South African Constitutional Law'' (2023)
==References==
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:21st-century South African women lawyers]]
[[Category:Advocates]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Johannesburg]]
[[Category:Legal writers]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Saint Louis University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:University of Natal alumni]]