Scarman Lecture: 31 Years of Law Reform in South Africa
We were honoured to welcome Chief Justice Maya of South Africa to deliver our 8th Scarman Lecture on 28 November 2025 at the Ashworth Centre, Lincoln’s Inn.
Chief Justice Mandisa Maya is the first female Chief Justice of South Africa. In her speech she reflected on three decades of democratic legal transformation whilst addressing emerging challenges including artificial intelligence and climate change.
She traced South Africa’s journey from its complex legal heritage – blending Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and indigenous customary traditions – through the constitutional reforms of 1994.
She also discussed emerging risks, particularly the misuse of artificial intelligence in legal proceedings. She cited recent South African cases where lawyers submitted fabricated, AI-generated legal authorities to courts, describing such incidents as “a serious breach of ethical duties” that “undermines the integrity of the judicial process.”
On climate change, the Chief Justice noted that environmental harm disproportionately affects poor and marginalised communities, pointing to landmark cases affirming constitutional rights to clean air and community consultation on mining projects.
Chief Justice Maya concluded by emphasising that law reform bodies remain “indispensable in building legal frameworks that support justice, equity, and sustainable development” as societies navigate rapid technological and environmental change.
Chief Justice Maya is the third woman to deliver the lecture following former Supreme Court President Lady Hale in 2019 and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2010.
The video of the speech is below and the full transcript is also available.