Mapula Thebe – editor

As the National Forum on the Legal Profession continues to work earnestly on its mandated functions, and as the profession moves closer to the formation of the Legal Practice Council (LPC), the question that arises is: What will happen to all the functions and benefits legal practitioners currently enjoy that the LPC will not be mandated to perform? To answer this question, it seems obvious that practitioners should form an organisation to look after their professional interests.

At the recently held Johannesburg Attorneys Association annual general meeting, President of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces, Anthony Millar, discussed this very issue. Mr Millar noted that reading from the preamble of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA); it shows that the Act will protect everybody but legal practitioners. He added that the Act is regulatory in nature and does not deal with the many functions that the statutory law societies and other voluntary associations such as the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) deal with. An important question Mr Millar also raised was: How will legal practitioners interact with the LPC? (see p 5)

Mr Millar went on further to state that it was necessary for practitioners themselves to establish promote and fund a broad-based professional association which can –

• act in their professional interest;
• represent them in various forums;
• act as their spokesperson nationally and internationally; and
• position the legal profession as the champion of the rule of law and a protector and promoter of constitutional rights.

Some practitioners may question the need for a professional interest body, especially if formulating such a body may entail having to part with money to fund the body. However, the profession needs such a body because if such a body does not exist, the profession stands to lose the following:

• Receiving a copy of De Rebus, which is an authoritative and reliable source of information and the only source of legal content for some practitioners who cannot afford a library.
• Receiving information on changes that will affect their practices.
• The public will not have a point of reference to seek the services of legal practitioners.
• Legal practitioners will not be able to directly interact with the LPC on matters that will affect the profession, the public and their practices.
• The monitoring, reviewing and influencing of legislative and policy processes.
• Promotion of the profession through initiatives such as the Wills Week.
• The fulfilment of post-qualification professional development or continuing professional development in terms of s 6(5)(e) and (h) may be unaffordable if it is commercialised.

The above is not an exhaustive list of what legal practitioners stand to lose if a professional interest body is not formed. Many other risks will arise if such a body is not formulated. It is evident that a professional interest body is not a ‘nice to have’ but a necessity.

New staff member

De Rebus would like to welcome Kgomotso Ramotsho to its team. She has been appointed as news reporter and takes over from Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele who has joined the communications department of the LSSA.

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2016 (Oct) DR 3.