From left: Deputy Chairperson of the National Forum on the Legal Profession, Max Boqwana; Elections Chairperson, Elizabeth Baloyi-Mere; and the referee who was appointed in terms of the regulations, Thandi Orleyn.
By Mapula Sedutla
Today, the National Forum on the Legal Profession (NF) announced the elected attorneys and advocates who will form part of the first Legal Practice Council (LPC). The announcement comes after the first elections of the LPC were held in terms of reg 2 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA). The elections were held from 19 September until 3 October.
The number of practising attorneys who were eligible to vote was 24 398, while the number of registered advocates was 5 233, which came to a total of 29 631 eligible voters. Only 23% of the total number of eligible voters voted.
In terms of the nominations, 78 attorneys were nominated while three withdrew, 50 advocates were nominated while one withdrew. The number of votes stood at 6 682 with 372 spoilt votes.
The attorneys elected to the LPC are –
The advocates elected to the LPC are –
Black Lawyers Association member, Maboku Mangena, posed a question from the floor and asked whether there were statistics available in terms of the race breakdown of voters and, if there was information available in terms of the number of voters per province. Answering the question, the referee who was appointed in terms of the regulations, Thandi Orleyn, said that as part of the elections, the regulations did not require the NF to classify voters in terms of race or provincial breakdown. Deputy Chairperson of the NF, Max Boqwana, added that the NF was in possession of the information on the provincial breakdown of voters and that the information will be used for lessons for the forthcoming Provincial Council elections.
Member of the new LPC, Jan Stemmett, asked what the way forward would be now that the results of the elections had been announced. Answering the question, Mr Boqwana, noted that once all the members of the new LPC have been named, including the nominations by the Minister of the Department of Justice, then the first council will be convened.
The full LPC will be composed in terms of s 7(1) of the LPA, which states:
‘(1) The Council consists of the following members:
(a) 16 legal practitioners, comprising of 10 practising attorneys and six practising advocates, elected in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Minister –
(i) in terms of section 97(1)(a)(i); or
(ii) in terms of this section, in consultation with the Council, if the procedure referred to in subparagraph (i) requires revision after the commencement of Chapter 2;
(b) two teachers of law, one being a dean of a faculty of law at a university in the Republic and the other being a teacher of law, designated in the prescribed manner;
(c) subject to subsection (3), three fit and proper persons designated by the Minister, who, in the opinion of the Minister and by virtue of their knowledge and experience, are able to assist the Council in achieving its objects;
(d) one person designated by Legal Aid South Africa; and
(e) one person designated by the Board [the Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund Board], who need not necessarily be a legal practitioner.’
Mapula Sedutla NDip Journ (DUT) BTech (Journ) (TUT) is the editor of De Rebus.
