It is a deeply political judgment, likely to have implications for the National Prosecuting Authority and, to some degree, the judiciary. Nicholson is regarded with deep affection and respect by legal professionals and anti-apartheid activists in KwaZulu Natal, where he founded the Legal Resource Centre (LRC) in Durban in 1979.  It was as director of LRC`s constitutional litigation unit that Nicholson earned a reputation as a defender of victims of apartheid. He was born on a farm in Richmond, outside Pietermaritzburg, and is an-old-boy of Michaelhouse. Nicholson is said to adore classical music and opera, a passion matched by his love of golf and cricket. Among the first books he wrote is Richard & Adolf, which explores the influence the composer Wagner had on Adolf Hitler.

He founded Pietermaritz-burg`s first nonracial cricket club, Aurora, and wrote a biography of the celebrated golfer, Papwa Scwgolum who, in 1965, was forced to accept his Natal Open trophy in the rain since he was not allowed into the whites-only clubhouse. He also wrote a book on the murder of the Cradock Four — Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, Sicelo Mhlauli and Fort Calata — by the security police in 1985 and, in an interview after it was published, told a newspaper he had become conscious of the injustices under apartheid and saw the law as a way of addressing it. After completing his law degree at the University of Natal, he practised as an advocate in Durban and Windhoek and was appointed to the bench in 1996, first on the labour appeal court.

Nicholson is regarded as a no-nonsense judge whose rulings are grounded in sound legal principles. In 1998, he was one of four judges on the Kwa-Zulu Natal bench who refused to sign a petition against the present judge president, Vuka Tshabalala. At the time, Tshabalala was vying for the top position on the KZN bench against judge Willem Booysen who, despite being a former Broederbonder, was supported by 14 judges. They argued that Tshabalala would not command the respect of the other judges.

Prakash Naidoo