LSSA Exco Member appointed member of Information RegulatorThe Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes the appointment of its Executive Committee and House of Constituents member, Mfana Gwala, as a part-time member of the Information Regulator for a period of five years, with effect from 1 December 2021. The LSSA congratulates Mr Gwala on his appointment.
The Information Regulator is an independent body, which was established in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). POPIA aims to promote the protection of personal information processed by, among others, introducing certain conditions for the lawful processing of personal information. The Information Regulator is empowered to monitor and enforce compliance by public and private bodies with the provisions of POPIA.
The Information Regulator consists of a chairperson and four other members. Two members serve in a full-time capacity and two members may serve in a full-time or part-time capacity.
The recently appointed members of the Information Regulator are:
Please note that the registration for the first session for the 2022 Professional Examinations opened on 3 January 2022 and will close on 4 February 2022. Candidates can apply by completing their applications online at https://exams.lpc.org.za/.
The dates for the first session of 2022 exams are as follows:
Attorneys Admission Examination
Conveyancing Examination
As of 2021, the exam is written over two days, with Paper 1 on theory and Paper 2 on practice.
Notarial Practice Examination
The registration for the second session will open on 6 June 2022 and close on 8 July 2022.
The Judge President of the Free State Division of the High Court in Bloemfontein issued a practice directive, effective immediately, relating to applications for default judgment pertaining to the National Credit Act 34 of 2005. The directive states that these applications will no longer be considered by the Registrar’s office and must be directly placed on the motion court roll by way of Notice of Set Down.
Visit www.judiciary.org.za to view the directive.
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) in conjunction with LexisNexis conducted a national survey of the legal profession. Drawing comparisons against a 2016 survey, the survey analysed the evolution of South African law firms as they responded to challenges facing the profession in 2021.
The results of the survey show that law firms in South Africa have been hard hit by the pandemic but have remained strong and resilient. Sixty percent of mainly small and medium size firms say they have been hugely impacted by the lockdown with the remainder saying the pandemic had a minimum effect on their law firm.
Visit the De Rebus website for a summary of the report and download the report.
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) has, at a national level, made educational videos. The videos aim to inform attorneys of the relevant requirements and practices regarding the specific focus topic.
The links can be found on the LSSA’s YouTube channel. Do not forget to subscribe to the channel to watch the videos.
We would also appreciate any suggestions on further related video topics that you may have.
The current videos online are:
The Office of the Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng Local Division has issued a notice to all litigation attorneys in Gauteng regarding innovations in the organisation of the motion court in Johannesburg. The notice states that with effect from 1 January 2022 a new set of categorisations of applications will be in place for all applications filed in the High Court in Johannesburg. When enrolling an application from that date, the new system should be used. The notice also talks about case load per judge and the current lead time from first enrolment to final set down date.
The telephone numbers to be used when communicating with the Motion Applications’ Office have also been updated, effective immediately.
Visit www.judiciary.org.za to read the notice and to download the new category template.
Visit www.derebus.org.za to view the notice regarding the updated telephone numbers.
Please note that the Law Society of South Africa’s annual general meeting and conference is provisionally scheduled to take place on 23 March 2022. The venue will be communicated in due course.
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) has urged legal practitioners to let the relevant provincial LPC office know of any changes in their contact details (physical address, e-mail address and telephone number of the practice and cell phone number where applicable).
In terms of para 3.17 of the Code of Conduct for all Legal Practitioners, Candidate Legal Practitioners and Juristic Entities published in terms of s 36 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA), it is mandatory to notify the LPC, in writing, within 30 days of any change to any of their contact details.
In the notice the LPC adds that several legal practitioners have ceased practising without notifying the relevant provincial office of the changed status, and without complying with the requirements for the closure of their practice as set out in subrules 54.31 to 52.32 of the Rules made under the authority of ss 95(1), 95(3) and 109(2) of the LPA.
Visit www.derebus.org.za to read the notice.
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) issued an important reminder to companies, close corporations and business rescue practitioners regarding the compliance obligations of companies and close corporations in business rescue.
Visit www.cipc.co.za to read CIPC notice 61 of 2021.
Nomfundo Jele, Acting Communications Manager, Law Society of South Africa, nomfundom@lssa.org.za
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2022 (Jan/Feb) DR 5.
