Retired judge writes play about justice

WHETHER it’s the victim, the accused or the legal defenders, the role of women in the law courts of South Africa forms the body of retired Judge Chris Nicholson’s first play, Justice is a Woman.

The subtle layers in the production speak to issues of morality and integrity, as well as facing reality and highlighting current South African issues such as the #MeToo campaign. Nicholson explains that Justice is a

Woman is a story of a female Master’s student who lays a case of molestation against her male university professor.

The lead character, a female attorney representing the professor, is faced with a moral dilemma which questions her values and threatens to tear her life apart.

“There is a surprising denouement at the end,” explains Nicholson, adding that the idea for the play was born from both the historical and present-day world of law.

Twenty years ago he was asked whether women had a role to play in law, or was it a male-only profession? This led him to delve into the history of women in law.

He points out that, somewhat ironically, the symbol for justice is Justicia, the Roman goddess of law, a woman, sometimes known as Lady Justice.

Nicholson says he was fascinated by the story of a female pleader at a Roman court, known as Carfinia, about 2000 years ago.

She famously represented a prostitute and after she had annoyed the judge by showing him her derrière in a cheeky gesture, he prohibited women from acting as pleaders from that day onward.

“That prohibition went unchallenged for 2000 years,” says Nicholson.

“We are hoping it will raise a whole lot of questions. Women are making their way now in our courts and are just as good in any part of the law as men,” he says.

Justice is a Woman will launch at Michaelhouse school, Balgowan, on May 23 and run until May 25 in KwaZulu-Natal.