This "maverick law professor"[1] was prosecuted twice (and convicted once) by the South African state prosecutor[2] and privately sued once,[3] all such actions being based on his supposed contempt of court.
A gifted linguist and great traveller, his post-graduate studies took him to the universities of Heidelberg, Bonn and Strasbourg, and in the process he became fluent in English, French, and German, and met his future wife, Traute von Oehsen.
His publications include the posthumous "The Cloistered Virtue: Freedom of Speech and the Administration of Justice in the Western World";[5] "The Taboos in legal research - a personal case history" [6] (in which he discussed his trial and conviction for contempt of court); and, reflecting his other campaigning interest as well as his love for his home city, "Durban At Your Feet, an alternative guide to a city".
The University of Kwa-Zulu Natal gives an annual Barend Van Niekerk Prize for the most outstanding Jurisprudence law student.
At van Niekerk's funeral service, Alan Paton, who gave the eulogy, noted that the form of blessing used "asks God to give Barend peace, now and for ever.