[2] After matriculating at Bridgetown High School in Athlone,[1] he enrolled at the University of the Western Cape, but he left in his second year in order to take up odd jobs to support himself.
[1] He developed a reputation for practice of public law and featured as counsel in several notable Constitutional Court cases, including Government v Grootboom, on the justiciability of socioeconomic rights; Mohamed v President, on the legality of extradition or deportation to a second country where the subject faces the death penalty (in this case, the deportation of Khalfan Khamis Mohamed to the United States); and United Democratic Movement v President, which established the constitutionality of floor-crossing.
[5][6][7] In addition, on numerous occasions between 1998 and 2011, he served as an acting judge in the Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa.
[1] In October 2012, Schippers was one of eight candidates shortlisted and interviewed for permanent appointment to five vacancies at the Western Cape High Court.
[1] Schippers's most notable judgement in the Western Cape High Court was Democratic Alliance v South African Broadcasting Corporation, in which the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) sought an urgent interdict compelling the public South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to suspend SABC executive Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
Schippers ruled that the Public Protector's remedial action was not binding or legally enforceable in the same way as a court order, but that it was not merely recommendatory, either, and could not merely be disregarded by organs of state.
[23][24] Madonsela appeared as amicus curiae in the latter case, maintaining her argument that Schippers's judgement had denuded the constitutional authority of her office.
[25] Asked about the saga later, Schippers said that he accepted the decision of the appellate courts but that his own starting point had been the notion that the Public Protector's office was based on the ombudsman model.
[2] The Judicial Service Commission recommended him for appointment, alongside Tati Makgoka and Mahube Molemela,[27] and he joined the bench on 1 June 2018.