Adila Hassim

Adila Hassim SC (born 1972) is a South African advocate. She rose to international prominence as a member of the legal team in the South Africa vs. Israel case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January 2024.

Hassim was born in 1972.^[1] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Natal. She was awarded the Franklin Thomas Fellowship to pursue a Master of Laws (LLM) at the Saint Louis University School of Law of Saint Louis, Missouri, graduating in 1999, and the Rev Lewers–Bradlow Foundation Fellowship to become a Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD) at Notre Dame Law School of Notre Dame, Indiana, which she completed in 2006.^[2][3][4]

Hassim was a Constitutional Court law clerk to Pius Langa and Edwin Cameron,^[3] participating in the 1997 Soobramoney v Minister of Health case. Hassim was admitted to the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, South Africa's largest Bar, in 2003.^[5] In the 2000s, Hassim worked for the AIDS Law Project. In 2007, she sat on a Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) committee alongside the likes of Andrew Feinstein and Cheryl Gillwald to support Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge in the wake of her dismissal as Deputy Minister of Health.^[6] Hassim co-edited Health & Democracy: A Guide to Human Rights and Health Law and Policy in Post-apartheid South Africa (2007) and The National Health Act: A Guide (2008).^[7] She also wrote a number of articles for the Mail & Guardian.^[8]

In 2010, Hassim helped to found the public-interest organisation Section27, where she would serve as Director of Litigation. She is also a founding member of Corruption Watch.^[9] Hassim is currently Senior Counsel at Thulamela Chambers.^[5]

Hassim worked on the Limpopo Textbooks Case, which went to the Supreme Court in 2015.^[10] She represented Sonke Gender Justice and the Treatment Action Campaign in the 2015 Silicosis class action lawsuit against 32 mining companies in court.^[11] In 2017, Hassim became Lead Counsel in the Life Esidimeni Arbitration, representing Section27 and the mental healthcare patients who died in the scandal.^[12][13][14]

In January 2024, Hassim appeared in The Hague as a member of the legal team representing South Africa's proceedings accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).^[15][16]

• Health & Democracy: A Guide to Human Rights and Health Law and Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa (2007), editor
• The National Health Act: A Guide (2008), editor
• South African Constitutional Law (2023)