Admission Date

  • Attorney in South Africa, 1996
  • Advocate in South Africa, 1996
  • Senior Counsel in South Africa, 2006
  • Lawyer and barrister in NSW, and in the Federal and High Courts of Australia, 2011
  • Ad hoc admissions in Swaziland

Awards

  • Rhodes Scholar, Natal and Corpus Christi, 1992

Qualifications

  • BA, University of Natal (1988)
  • LLB (cum laude), University of Natal (1992)
  • BCL (first class), University of Oxford (1994)

Specific Areas of Practice

  • Shipping, transport and international trade
  • Private international law
  • Insurance, particularly marine, property and liability
  • Constitutional and administrative law
  • Land rights
  • Human rights and public interest law

Cases

Recent notable cases in South Africa and Australia include:

  • Haskins v The Commonwealth [2011] HCA 28; 85 ALJR 836; 279 ALR 434
  • Birdon Pty Ltd v Houben Marine Pty Ltd [2011] FCAFC 126; 197 FCR 25
  • Navios International Inc v The Ship HUANG SHAN HAI [2011] FCA 895; 194 FCR 468
  • BBS Empangeni CC v Phoenix Industrial Park (Pty) Ltd [2012] ZASCA 33
  • Democratic Alliance v eThekwini Municipality [2011] ZASCA 221
  • MV Alina II (No. 2): Transnet Ltd v Owner of the mv Alina II [2011] (6) SA 206 (SCA)
  • Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services v NWK Ltd [2011] (2) SA 67 (SCA)

Angus has appeared in more than 70 reported cases in South Africa, including nine before the Constitutional Court, more than 20 before the Supreme Court of Appeal and several before the Labour Appeal Court and other appellate courts.

In shipping his cases have included: cargo claims (for plaintiffs and defendants), charterparty disputes, ship collisions (including Platon / Trust 38, Maritime Master / Monie Marine, Paragon / Annapurna, Fotiy Krylov / Ruby Deliverer), salvage (e.g. The ‘Mbashi’ [2002] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 602 (S.A. Ct.)), Courts of Marine Enquiry (Lindsay / Ouro de Brasil), casualties (e.g. Alina II, Nino), mortgage foreclosures (e.g. Olympic Countess, Guzin S) and marine insurance cover disputes.

Previous Positions

  • Garlicke & Bousfield Attorneys, Durban, 1994-1996 (shipping and commercial litigation)
  • Advocate for 16 years in South Africa, including five as Senior Counsel
  • Acting Judge in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, Pietermaritzburg (Nov/Dec 2009)
  • Ministerial appointee to the Council of the University of Zululand (2004-2007)
  • Formerly Secretary-General of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS)

Professional Memberships

  • Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand
  • Australian Association of Constitutional Law
  • Australian Insurance Law Association
  • Sydney Marine Discussion Group
  • Maritime Law Association of South Africa (executive committee member for nine years)
  • Formerly member of the Bar Council in Durban, and sub-committees of the General Council of the Bar of South Africa.

Other Interests

  • Family, canoeing and surfskiing.

Academic Positions

  • 2009 to date, Honorary Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
  • 2003 to 2010, co-convenor of the Durban Constitutional Law Interest Group, a joint Bar and academic constitutional law study group.
  • 1996 to 2010, part-time lecturer, guest lecturer and external examiner from time to time in the law faculties of the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal (Durban), and, since 2004, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and in 2007, external examiner for the University of Cape Town Shipping Law Unit, LLM.

Publications

  • ‘Characteristics of the Admiralty Action in rem: The Alina II’ in (2011) 25 Australian & New Zealand Maritime Law Journal 237
  • ‘The characteristics of the state as employer: implications for labour law’ [1995] 16 ILJ 15, cited in Transnet Ltd and Others v Chirwa 2007 (2) SA 198 (SCA) per Cameron JA at paras [54] and [56]
  • ‘Some problems in the law of contract and the Constitution’ in Constitutional Democracy in South Africa 1994-2004, edited by Max du Plessis and Stephen Pete (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2004)
  • ‘Focus on: the judiciary’ in Focus, issue 45, 1st quarter 2007 (The Helen Suzman Foundation)
  • ‘Admiralty Law’ in Annual Survey of South African Law 2007 (Juta & Co, 2009)
  • ‘An opinion carries a high price’ in Higher Learning March 2009
  • Occasional book reviews and comments, including: (1995) 11 SAJHR 645 and (2007) 124 SALJ 896.

Contact Details