The Ben Beinart Memorial Lecture

Inaugurated in 2003, the annual Ben Beinart Memorial Lecture has provided the Faculty with fantastic opportunities to bring excellent legal minds to UCT Law to share their thoughts and insights on a topic of their choice. 

This lecture recognises the life work and contribution to the Faculty of Law by Professor Ben Beinart, who held the WP Schreiner Professor of Law Chair at UCT from 1950-1974, and was known for his deep appreciation of Roman and Roman-Dutch law and principles. Prof Beinart was active in community organisations and played a leading role in the administration of the Law Faculty and of the University of Cape Town. Prof Beinart apparently did everything with gusto - and was a lover of good wine, good food and cigars as well as robust intellectual activity. He was known as a great who was "quick to see the humour which is present in most human predicaments and yet totally without malice".  Extracts from Professor Barry Dean, 1976 Acta Juridicta XV.

The lecture is hosted each year, on rotation, by one of the Faculty's three departments - Private Law, Public Law and Commercial Law, and is generously sponsored by Webber Wentzel.

2024: Professor Mindy Chen-Wishart | Provost’s Professor, National University of Singapore

2023: No lecture held.

2022: Professor Reingard Nethersole | Professor Emeritus, Comparative Literature, Wits University

2021: Dr Rachel Adams | Research ICT Africa

The Ben Beinart Memorial Lecture 2021

2020: Professor Ambreena Manji | School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

The Ben Beinart Memorial Lecture 2020

2019: Professor Laura McGregor | Chair of Commercial Contract Law, University of Edinburgh

2018: Justice Malcolm Wallis |  Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeal, South Africa

2017: Professor Anthony Anghie |  Professor of Law, National University of Singapore

2016: Justice Dikgang Moseneke | Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Justice Dennis Davis | Justice of the High Court of South Africa.

2015: Professor William Beinart | Professor Emeritus, St Anthony's College

2014: Professor Larry Hamermesh | Widener Law School, Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law

2013: Professor Hector MacQueen | Professor Emeritus, Edinburgh Law School

2011: Professor John McMillan | Inaugural Privacy Commissioner of Australia

2008: Professor Fred Schauer | (then) Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard University

2007: Professor Jeremy Waldron | University Professor, New York University School of Law

2006: Professor Hudson Janisch | TransCanada Chair in Administrative and Regulatory Law, University of Alberta

2004: Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson | then Chief Justice of the South African Constitutional Court