Richard Joseph Goldstone (born 26 October 1938) is a South African retired judge best known for leading the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the 2008-2009 Gaza Conflict, which produced the controversial Goldstone Report. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BA LLB cum laude in 1962 and began his legal career as a commercial lawyer and advocate at the Johannesburg Bar in 1963, taking silk as Senior Counsel in 1976. Goldstone was appointed a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa in 1980, serving until 1989, then moved to the Appellate Division from 1990 to 1994, and finally served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from July 1994 to October 2003. He has also worked as a university teacher. Goldstone chaired the influential Goldstone Commission investigating political violence and intimidation during South Africa's transition to democracy in the early 1990s. Internationally, he served as the first Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR). His judicial career and public service roles highlight his significant influence in post-apartheid South Africa and global human rights accountability.