Louis Harms (judge)
Louis Harms is a South African former deputy president of the Supreme Court of Appeal and Professor Extraordinary for Intellectual Property Law at the University of Pretoria.
Louis Harms | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 11, 1941 |
| Nationality | South African |
| Alma mater | University of Pretoria |
| Occupation | former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal |
| Spouse(s) | Advocate Irene Harms - daughter of former Chief Justice Frans Rumpff, children 3 |
Biography
An advocate at the Pretoria Bar from 1966 to 1986, Harms was awarded senior advocate status in 1981 and appointed as a judge in 1986. He served as a Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 1993 to his appointment as Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2008, a position he held until his retirement in 2011. He is the author of three legal books, including The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: A Case Book, which has been translated into Arabic, Chinese and Russian.
Education
Harms graduated from the University of Pretoria with a B.A. LL.B. (cum laude) in 1965 and the Hugo Grotius medal for best final year student. He was awarded a LL.D. (hon causa) from the University of the Free State and the University of Pretoria Alumni Laureate Award in 2013.
Memberships and service
Harms served as vice chairman of the Council of the University of Pretoria from 1994 to 1996. Among his other Board roles was serving as a board member on the University of Western Australia Law Journal and for the Intellectual Property Journal, Osgood Hall Law School in Toronto. Harms was project leader on six criminal procedure issues from 1999 to 2003, and the chairman and sole member of four judicial commissions of inquiry in South Africa (1988 to 1990) – three dealing with corruption and related matters, and the other with political murders and other violent acts.
An Honorary Fellow of the Arbitration Association (Southern Africa) Harms is also an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, UK and a member of the 4-5 Gray's Inn Square barristers’ chambers in London.