LSSA condemns attorney’s unacceptable behaviour towards journalist.
Law Society adds its voice to condemn scourge of violence against women
The media and social media channels have been replete with reports of rape, assaults, sexual harassment and murder of women, often by intimate partners, in the home or in the workplace. As others have done, we call on law enforcement and prosecution agencies to act swiftly and decisively to bring perpetrators to book so that justice is not only done but is also seen to be done.
‘From the side of the LSSA, we will call on the statutory regulatory bodies, the four provincial law societies, to undertake a review of the rules of professional conduct as well as the procedures related to these, to ensure that all practitioners, but particularly women attorneys and candidate attorneys, find a sensitive and supportive environment when reporting any form of abuse to the law societies,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons, Walid Brown and David Bekker.
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, WALID BROWN AND DAVID BEKKER
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department
Contact: Barbara Whittle, Communication Manager, barbara@LSSA.org.za
(012) 366 8800 or 083 380 1307
Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele, Communications Officer, nomfundom@LSSA.org.za
(012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344.
LSSA adds its voice to condemn scourge of violence against women
LSSA adds its voice to condemn scourge of violence against women
LSSA shocked and saddened at passing of CEO, Nic Swart
Law Society Shocked and Saddened at Passing of CEO, Nic Swart
He died in Gaborone, Botswana in the early hours of this morning, while attending the SADC Lawyers Association conference.
‘The LSSA, its council, staff and the profession have lost a colleague, a dear friend, a mentor, a leader and an innovator passionate about the legal profession in general and legal education in particular,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons David Bekker and Walid Brown.
They add: ‘Nic has led the LSSA and its various departments ably as CEO since 2011 through times of growth and achievement locally, regionally and internationally, but also through the difficult and at times contentious and uncertain processes around the transition to the new dispensation under the Legal Practice Act. A consummate educationist, he strove to ensure that practical vocational training and continuing legal education, which he has spearheaded and nurtured since 1989, continue to be accessible and affordable for aspirant legal practitioners and those already in practice. Nic was especially passionate about the empowerment of young lawyers and of the LSSA staff.’
‘Our profession owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to Nic Swart, as do the thousands of attorneys who have received training, guidance and support from his beloved School for Legal Practice and the LEAD department over nearly three decades.’
Nic Swart joined the LSSA’s predecessor, the Association of Law Societies, in 1989 to start a pilot school for legal practice. That small pilot project with only 51 candidate attorneys has grown immensely since 1990 to one of the premier legal education institutions in the country through Nic’s vision, unstinting dedication and hard work.
We offer our support, thoughts and prayers to Nic’s wife Mariette and his two daughters who have walked every step with Nic and with the LSSA all these years. May they find solace in the knowledge that Nic was loved, appreciated and admired in the profession and beyond.
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, WALID BROWN AND DAVID BEKKER
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department
Contact: Barbara Whittle, Communication Manager, barbara@LSSA.org.za (012) 366 8800 or 083 380 1307
Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele, Communications Officer, nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344.
Attorneys to draft free wills during National Wills Week: 11 to 15 September 2017
LSSA saddened at the passing of Judge Jake Moloi
After serving in the Department of Justice as interpreter, prosecutor and magistrate, he joined law firm Schoeman & Kellerman in Welkom as a candidate attorney. In 1979 he became the Free State’s first black attorney, opening his own practice, Jake Moloi & Partners, where he was a practising attorney until 1998. In 1996 he became a member of the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He was President of the Black Lawyers Association from 1997 to 2001
With LLM degrees in Human Rights and International Trade Law, Judge Moloi was contracted by the European Union in Brussels to assist in regulating and improving international trade relations from 2003 to 2006. Upon his return to South Arica, he served as an acting judge on the Free State, Northern and Western Cape Benches for several terms in 2008 and 2009, and was appointed a permanent judge in the Free State Division of the High Court in 2009.
The LSSA is deeply saddened at the loss of this giant of the legal profession who was so instrumental in unifying attorneys in this country. The LSSA wishes to uphold his memory by continuing to act in the interests of the profession.
We extend the sincere condolences of the attorneys’ profession to Judge Moloi’s family and friends, and to his fellow judges on the Free State Bench.
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, WALID BROWN AND DAVID BEKKER
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department
Contact: Barbara Whittle, Communication Manager, barbara@LSSA.org.za (012) 366 8800 or 083 380 1307
Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele, Communications Officer, nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344.
LSSA saddened at the passing of Judge Jake Moloi
Appointment of Madam Justice Leona Theron of the Supreme Court of Appeal as a Justice of the Constitutional Court
Notwithstanding her humble beginnings she persevered in her chosen profession with commitment, determination, energetic application and was soon regarded as a highly respected advocate. At the very young age of 33 Justice Theron was one of the youngest appointees to judicial office and was thereafter appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
In such office she further distinguished herself and built an enviable reputation and illuminating career respected both by her peers and the legal profession both as a practitioner and subsequently as a Judge. She assiduously applied the provisions of our noble Constitution in the belief that our survival, prosperity and greatness as a nation was dependent on our ability as a nation, through its institutions of governance, to give content to the values of the Constitution. These, inter alia, address the issues of dignity, equality and freedom as well as address historical and legacies issues of discrimination and socio-economic inequality.
In 2008 Theron handed down a seminal judgment in the KZN High Court when she ruled that women in customary marriages were, in effect, married in community of property and so accrued similar rights and benefits.
In Gumede (born Shange) v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, Theron wrote that the “proprietary regime established by the codification of customary law, is, prima facie, discriminatory. It is discriminatory as only South African women are subjected by the law to such consequences. The discrimination is on two of the prohibited grounds listed in Section 9(3) of the Constitution, namely race and gender.”
Justice Theron, in her private life, is a deeply committed to her family and friends. In the past she has made time for an active engagement in the training of aspirant Judges; she is an accomplished pianist and violinist and also has a passion for poetry.
Her appointment is an inspired one and will be a further credit to the esteem in which the South Africa judiciary is held, especially for its independence.
