The members of the Court met for the first time on the last day of October 1994. At the end of that year they undertook a study visit to Germany, a country whose constitution - along with those of Canada, India and Namibia - had had a strong influence on the writers of South Africa's interim constitution.

The Court was formally opened by President Nelson Mandela on the morning of 14 February 1995.

Mandela told the Court: "The last time I appeared in court was to hear whether or not I was going to be sentenced to death. Fortunately for myself and my colleagues we were not. Today I rise not as an accused, but on behalf of the people of South Africa, to inaugurate a court South Africa has never had, a court on which hinges the future of our democracy."

The judges took oaths of office wearing their specially designed green robes in front of the president and the Minister of Justice, Dullah Omar.

The inauguration was completed with the unveiling, in the foyer of the Court, of a commemorative plaque that depicts the Court's logo - a representation of the African concept of justice under a tree.