NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

QUESTION FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 173
DATE OF QUESTION: 18 OCTOBER 2011

173. Adv A H Gaum (ANC) to ask the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development:

(a) When does he intend to table legislation to amend the legal practice regime and (b) what major reforms will it bring about?  

NO2979E

REPLY:-

I wish to inform the Honourable Member that the Legal Practice Bill is intended to rationalise the various laws regulating the legal profession which are still in operation in different parts of the Republic of South Africa. The legal profession is still not representative of the demographics of South Africa and entry into the profession is, in many instances, determined by outdated, unnecessary, and overly restrictive prescripts. Access to legal services, especially by the poor, is limited.

The Bill therefore also seeks to correct these shortcomings by uniting the legal profession and regulating it by means of a single statute. A South African Legal Practice Council, which will be elected largely by members of the profession, will put in place norms and standards for all legal practitioners.

Regional or provincial structures are envisaged which will deal largely with operational issues. A single code of practice for legal practitioners is envisaged. The regulatory structures, however, leave space for the recognition of differences between advocates and attorneys and the way they operate. It might be said that the Bill democratises the regulatory structures which, in turn, will pave the way in order to take the transformation agenda to its logical conclusion.

The Bill, in other words, provides a legislative framework for the fundamental transformation and restructuring of the legal profession in line with constitutional imperatives. It aims to ensure that legal services are affordable and within the reach of the citizenry. While seeking to attain these objectives, the Bill recognises the independence of the legal profession and seeks to strengthen this independence but also to ensure accountability by the legal profession to the public.

It envisages the obligatory rendering of community service, not only by candidate legal practitioners but also by practising lawyers, advocates and attorneys, which will contribute enormously to access to justice. It also provides for the establishment of an Office of Legal Services Ombud which is intended to protect and promote the interests of consumers of legal services.

The Bill proposes an incremental approach as far as its implementation is concerned. A Transitional South African Legal Practice Council is envisaged which will fulfil a key role in the first phase of implementation, paving the way for the establishment of the permanent South African Legal Practice Council and putting systems and procedures in place for the second and subsequent phases of the implementation process.

Its role, powers, duties and functions relate largely to aspects in respect of which there are still differing views between the various categories of legal practitioners among themselves, on the one hand, and between the Government and the legal profession, on the other.

As in the case of all Bills approved by Cabinet, the Bill has been submitted to the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser for certification. It is hoped that the certification process will be finalised soon, where-after the Bill will be introduced into Parliament. It can be mentioned that, despite Cabinet's approval of the Bill, there has been continuous engagement with the legal profession on various aspects of the Bill in an effort to reach further consensus. I am anxious that the Bill be introduced into Parliament before the close of the 2011 session of Parliament and that deliberations on the Bill commence in earnest at the start of the 2012 Parliamentary session.

Issued by Parliament, November 3 2011

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