Law Society welcomes Constitutional Court judgment on National Director of Public Prosecutions
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes the judgment by the Constitutional Court rectifying the unconstitutional actions and legislation relating to the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).
‘The LSSA urges President Ramaphosa to act expeditiously to appoint a National Director of Public Prosecutions. It is critical for the President to act speedily and judiciously to ensure that, going forward, the independence, integrity and credibility of the National Prosecuting Authority and our criminal justice system are restored. This is one of the cornerstone institutions that supports our democracy and the people of South Africa. Our prosecution services are at the heart of the criminal justice system and carry the expectations for justice of the victims of crime in our society. They are also a mirror of our criminal justice system to the outside world,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Mvuzo Notyesi and Ettienne Barnard.
The LSSA also welcomes the Court’s declaration that the National Prosecuting Authority Act permits the suspension by the President of an NDPP and Deputy NDPP for an indefinite period and without pay, is unconstitutional as well as other sections of the Act. The LSSA urges Parliament to amend the legislation speedily and to take into account the interim remedy proposed by the Court that the period from the time the President suspends the NDPP or a Deputy NDPP to the time she/he decides whether or not to remove the NDPP or a Deputy NDPP shall not exceed six months.
The Co-Chairpersons further add that the process of appointing the new NDPP should be transparent and motivated by the candidate's commitment to the Constitution, the independence of the prosecutorial institution and accountability to the public in terms of the law. The process should not be tainted with political influence and membership or partisanship, which has throughout characterised such appointments.
The LSSA accepts that the President is alive to these challenges and notes that he has committed himself to fight corruption.
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI AND ETTIENNE BARNARD
Contact:
Ros Elphick – ros@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 083 655 7163
Mapula Sedutla – mapula@derebus.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 079 972 0072
Law Society welcomes Constitutional Court judgment on National Director of Public Prosecutions
Law Society welcomes Constitutional Court judgment on National Director of Public Prosecutions
Law Society calls for accountability for unconstitutional and unlawful immunity for Dr Grace Mugabe
Law Society calls for accountability for unconstitutional and unlawful immunity for Dr Grace Mugabe
Law Society calls for respect and dignity during service delivery protests.
Law Society calls for respect and dignity during service delivery protests
‘The LSSA supports the rights of citizens and inhabitants of South Africa to protest peacefully. We also recognise that the majority of service delivery protests are, in fact, not violent. However, the LSSA considers the random looting of shops and the burning of public and private buildings a grave injustice to all people, and a serious breach of the rule of law,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Mvuzo Notyesi and Ettienne Barnard.
They add: ‘The LSSA urges all people to protest peacefully and with dignity; that includes respect for the rule of law and respect for others’ lives and property, and not to take the law into their own hands. In addition, the LSSA calls on Government to take urgent steps to ensure that citizens and their property are properly protected during protest action.’
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI AND ETTIENNE BARNARD
Contact:
Ros Elphick – ros@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 083 655 7163
Mapula Sedutla – mapula@derebus.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800
Editor’s note:
The Law Society of South Africa brings together its six constituent members – the Cape Law Society, the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society, the Law Society of the Free State, the Law Society of the Northern Provinces, the Black Lawyers Association and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers – in representing South Africa’s 25 200 attorneys and 5 700 candidate attorneys.
Law Society calls for respect and dignity during service delivery protests
Law Society of South Africa press release: Law Society triumphant in Proxi Smart matter
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes the judgment delivered on 16 May 2018 at the Gauteng Division of the High Court in the matter Proxi Smart Services (Pty) Limited vs the Law Society of South Africa and Others.
The applicant applied for declaratory relief concerning the lawfulness of its business model for performing the administrative and related services pertaining to property transfers that it contended was not by law reserved to conveyancers or legal practitioners.
The court held that the applicant has not made out a case for the relief it sought and dismissed the application with cost.
‘Proxi Smart Services wanted to render certain ‘non-reserved’ or ‘administrative’ conveyancing-related services. The LSSA contended that Proxi Smart’s attempt at creating a distinction between ‘reserved work’ and ‘non-reserved work’ had no basis in law, and that the full conveyancing process is regarded as professional work performed by conveyancers – who are regulated by the statutory, provincial law societies. This should remain so in the interest of the public’, say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Ettienne Barnard and Mvuzo Notyesi.
The matter was first heard in the High Court: Gauteng on 6 and 7 February 2018 where judgment was reserved.
‘This judgement reaffirms the specialised skill involved in the conveyancing process’, added Mr Notyesi and Mr Barnard.
The other thirteen respondents in the matter were the Chief Registrar of Deeds; Roger Dixon; the Justice Minister; the Attorneys Fidelity Fund; the four statutory provincial law societies; the National Association of Democratic Lawyers; the Back Lawyers Association; the Black Conveyancers Association; the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform and the National Forum on the Legal Profession.
The LSSA was represented by Advocate Ish Semenya SC and Advocate Allen Liversage SC, instructed by Maponya Attorneys.
View all the Proxi Smart matter documents on the LSSA website: https://www.lssa.org.za/about-us/matters/proxismart-services-pty-ltd
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, ETTIENNE BARNARD AND MVUZO NOTYESI
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department LSSA@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800
