ITWeb :IT will bring change to law profession

The South African legal profession is undergoing significant and permanent change – and much of it is driven by the consumer and business experience of the Internet, says ICT lawyer Reinhardt Buys.

A profession in the throes of transformation

Transformation of the legal profession at various levels, and the issue of racism in the judiciary and the profession was sometimes the focus and often the subtext of many of the discussions at the annual general meetings of four of the six constituent members of the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) that took place in October. The KwaZulu-Natal Law Society (KZNLS) held its AGM in Durban on 7 October, the Black Lawyers Association (BLA) in Vanderbijlpark on 21 October, and the Law Society of the Free State (LSFS) and the Cape Law Society (CLS) met in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth respectively at the end of October.

The legal profession after ten years of democracy

The fruits of ten years of democracy have brought widespread benefits to the traditionally established legal profession in South Africa. The liberation of South Africa, the lifting of sanctions, the opening of world markets and an open free-market economy have placed the country firmly in the global market place. Financial benefits have, as a result, flowed into the established corporate sectors of the economy. The legal profession - particularly the large, old, established, traditionally white law firms - has enjoyed these fruits of globalisation. The expanded clientele, including those who broke the sanctions and those who supported them, have turned almost exclusively to the established large white law firms for their legal work. Some slightly smaller firms have also marketed themselves astutely and cornered some of the nationally and internationally based corporate legal work.

The case for one legal practitioners Act

The forthcoming second draft of the controversial Justice Department issue paper on the rationalisation of the legal profession will canvass the position of prosecutors and public service lawyers as well as paralegals and corporate legal advisers. According to the Department's consultant and author of the first issue paper, Prof Cheryl Loots, prosecutors - whom she regarded as an important branch of the legal profession - had for too long been regarded as public servants. Similarly, paralegals had an important role to play in the delivery of legal services.

A profession grappling with change

The issues of transformation and empowerment in the legal profession, as well as the perceived racism in the judiciary, formed a common thread throughout discussions at a number of annual general meetings held during October and early November (*KwaZulu-Natal attorneys met in Durban on 8 October, the Black Lawyers Association met in Nelspruit on 23 October, the Cape Law Society gathered at the Wilderness on 30 October and Free State attorneys met in Kroonstad on 5 November. The Law Society of the Northern Provinces was due to hold its AGM at Sun City on 20 November, after this issue had gone to press, and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers met earlier this year (see 2004 (Sept) DR 14).

Mabandla promises transformation

Speaking during the debate on the President’s State of the Nation Address, Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla told Members of Parliament that government is committed to a restructured court system, a transformed judiciary and transformation of the legal sector (see 2008 (March) DR 2). In her speech in February, the Minister told MPs that a variety of stakeholders have, over the past three years, made invaluable contributions towards the transformation of the judiciary in the country. She said members of the attorneys’ profession and the bar have contributed immensely in the drafting of the Legal Services Charter, which will be tabled in Parliament this year (see also 15 of this issue). While legislation on the renaming of High Court divisions has already been put before Parliament for deliberation, the Minister said in her speech she was confident the long-awaited legislation on the restructuring ofSouth African courts will be tabled before the end of the year (see 2008 (March) DR 16). On the Traditional Courts Bill, the Minister told MPs the draft policy on the South African traditional justice system has been completed and will be put before Parliament during the course of the year. In February this year, the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) also made a written submission to the Justice Portfolio Committee in Parliament on the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Bill, which seeks to amend the Magistrates’ Courts Act 32 of 1994. In its submission to the committee, the LSSA called for the upgrade of infrastructure in regional courts and for proper training of judicial officers in order to deal with all the backlogs. ‘To the extent that the existing system might not meet the needs of our society, there must be transformation. Society develops and changes over time and the legalsystem must adapt to meet its needs but, at the same time, care must be taken so that the fundamental rules of justice are not compromised,’ chairperson of the LSSA’s Committee on Magistrates’ Courts, Cape Town attorney Graham Bellairs, said. He added that the LSSA and the legal profession at large support any means to further enhance the system in which access to justice is improved in order to uphold the rule of law. According to Mr Bellairs, access to justice at grassroots level is important to engender belief in and reliance on the country’s justice system. In welcoming the Minister’s speech, Mr Bellairs said the legal profession is generally supportive of the initiative taken in promulgating the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Bill.