An alumnus of Stellenbosch University (SU) and respected law expert was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law by the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald in Germany.

Prof Dirk van Zyl Smit (59), Professor in Comparative and International Penal Law at the University of Nottingham in England, obtained both his BA (Law) in 1970, followed by his LLB in 1972, at SU.

Until the end of 2005 Prof Van Zyl Smit was Professor of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. He is also an advocate of the High Court of South Africa. In recent years he has been a visiting professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin and the Paul Cézanne University in Aix-en-Provence. He was also a Senior Fulbright Research Fellow at the New York University School of Law. Prof Van Zyl Smit is also the co-editor of Punishment and Society and has written many articles on criminological theory, and on sentencing and imprisonment.

He has written several books – which includes Taking Life Imprisonment Seriously in National and International Law (2002), South African Prison Law and Practice (1992) and Prison Labour: Salvation or Slavery International Perspectives (1999).

Here in South Africa he was actively involved in law reform as primary consultant for the Correctional Services Act of 1998. He was also a member of the National Council on Correctional Services from 1995 to 2004. Prof Van Zyl Smit was also the project leader of the committee of the South African Law Commission investigating sentencing and the author of its report and draft legislation titled A New Sentencing Framework (2000).

Prof Van Zyl Smit also acted as advisor to the Malawian government on new prison legislation and was the expert advisor to the Council of Europe on the new European Prison Rules. He was also an adviser to the United Nations (UN) Office for Drugs and Crime on its handbook on alternatives to imprisonment.