Quote of the week
Mr Zuma is no ordinary litigant. He is the former President of the Republic, who remains a public figure and continues to wield significant political influence, while acting as an example to his supporters… He has a great deal of power to incite others to similarly defy court orders because his actions and any consequences, or lack thereof, are being closely observed by the public. If his conduct is met with impunity, he will do significant damage to the rule of law. As this Court noted in Mamabolo, “[n]o one familiar with our history can be unaware of the very special need to preserve the integrity of the rule of law”. Mr Zuma is subject to the laws of the Republic. No person enjoys exclusion or exemption from the sovereignty of our laws… It would be antithetical to the value of accountability if those who once held high office are not bound by the law.
Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State v Zuma and Others (CCT 52/21) [2021] ZACC 18
Plans announced to beef up LLB degree
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY
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The South African Law Deans Association
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The Law Society of South Africa and
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The General Council of the Bar of South Africa
For immediate release: 6 June 2013
LLB Summit charts way forward to ensure adequately equipped lawyers
The South Africa Law Deans Association (SALDA), the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) and the General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) welcome the positive spirit as well as constructive and frank contributions made by all the stakeholders who attended the Summit on the LLB degree in Kempton Park on 29 May 2013.
There was substantial consensus that the duration of the LLB degree, which was changed to a four-year undergraduate degree in 1998, should be extended to 5 years. The adequate funding of university law clinics should also be canvassed. These law clinics allow law students to integrate their knowledge with the practice of the law by gaining practical experience. They also provide much needed legal services to indigent members of the public.
Delegates at the LLB Summit, which included representatives of the attorneys’ and advocates’ professions, SALDA, law students, the Justice Department and other stakeholders resolved to request the Council for Higher Education (CHE) to conduct a standard-setting process for the LLB degree to be concluded by 30 June 2014.
The CHE should conduct this exercise by consulting widely with the LLB Summit Steering Committee, which represents all the stakeholders who attended the LLB Summit. The standard-setting process should take into account the required attributes for graduates identified at the LLB Summit, such as:
- knowledge of substantive law;
- generic skills (language, literacy, numeracy, research, analytical, IT);
- ethics;
- a commitment towards social justice;
- the requirements of the workplace; and
- resources.
In the meantime, a national task team will be set up to monitor the process and facilitate ongoing liaison between university law faculties and the profession. Members of the task team will include representatives of SALDA, the LSSA, GCB, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Society of Law Teachers of Southern Africa.
The LSSA and SALDA will assume the responsibility of convening the task team before the end of August this year.
Issued on behalf of the South African Law Deans Association, the Law Society of South Africa and the General Council of the Bar of South Africa
by Barbara Whittle, Communication Manager, Law Society of South Africa
Tel: (012) 366 8800
Cell: 083 380 1307
E-mail: barbara@LSSA.org.za
