UWC’s LLB qualification fully accredited

19 June 2018

The University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Bachelor of Laws (LLB) was fully accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) on Thursday, June 14.

In April 2017, four universities were at risk of losing their accreditation for their LLB qualification: North West University, Walter Sisulu University, the University of South Africa and the University of the Free State. UWC’s LLB degree received conditional accreditation.

At the time, Director of the Council’s national standards and review unit, Olivia Mokgatle, said the council found various issues related to staffing, the curriculum, teaching and learning assessment.

Based on the improvement plans submitted by law faculties in October 2017, three Universities were issued with notices of withdrawal in November 2017: UCT, Limpopo and Zululand. Walter Sisulu University’s accreditation was withdrawn. UWC again received conditional accreditation.

Acting Dean of Law at UWC, Professor Jacques de Ville, said the Faculty is delighted with the good news.

“The improvement plan submitted by the Faculty in May 2018 was a joint effort of all academic and support staff. The accreditation outcome of course means that the Law Faculty can continue to present its four and five year LLB programmes and the Faculty hopes that it will continue to attract some of the best students in the country, as well as from abroad,” he said.

Prof de Ville said the review process provided a good opportunity for the Faculty to reflect on its own identity as well as its goals for the years to come.

“The strategic plan adopted by the Faculty as part of the review process speaks of the Faculty’s vision in the following terms:

‘The Faculty of Law is committed to being a prominent law faculty, renowned nationally and internationally for its high quality research publications, specifically in certain niche areas, for its innovative ideas, for developing graduates within the minimum prescribed time who are committed to social justice, and are furthermore well-qualified, workplace-ready, technologically equipped and have adaptive expertise for the 21st century, as well as for its extensive social engagement.’

The vision statement summarises what the faculty is all about, and where it will concentrate its efforts over the next few years,” said Prof De Ville.

“The UWC Law Faculty received conditional accreditation from the CHE in 2017. It was thus in a somewhat better position than some other Law Faculties that were placed on notice of withdrawal. In the end, all law faculties had to ensure compliance with the LLB Qualification standard adopted by the CHE. The risk of losing its LLB accreditation motivated staff to work tirelessly for 5 months towards the three specific conditions the Faculty had to comply with: (1) the adoption of a strategic plan, (2) reviewing the LLB curriculum, and (3) deciding on the person and role of an academic coordinator for the LLB programme, as well as a number of recommendations made by the CHE.”

“The Faculty wishes to thank Mr Morta and Prof Lawack for their continued support during the review process.”

Issued by Aidan Van Den Heever on behalf of University of Western Cape, 19 June 2018