John Didcott

John Mowbray Didcott (14 August 1931 – 20 October 1998) was a South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa from February 1995 until his death in October 1998. He joined the bench in 1975 as a judge of the Natal Provincial Division, where he was known for defending human rights during the apartheid era.

Born in Durban, Didcott became active in anti-apartheid politics at the University of Cape Town, where he was president of the National Union of South African Students. He entered legal practice in 1956 as an advocate, leading a successful commercial law practice in Durban and taking silk in 1967. He was also chairperson of the Natal Bar from 1973 to 1975.

Between June 1975 and October 1994, Didcott served as a judge of the Natal Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa, where he was particularly reputed for his progressive judgments in public and administrative law. Eschewing textualist interpretation of apartheid legislation, he handed down various judgments in favour of individual rights and the political freedoms of the anti-apartheid movement. He was a vocal opponent of capital punishment and famously never handed down a death sentence.

After the first post-apartheid elections of 1994, and on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, newly elected President Nelson Mandela appointed Didcott to the inaugural bench of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He served there for less than four years before his death from leukaemia in 1998.