Purpose of Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014

Article 9 amends Article 97 LPA, which defines the mandate of the FN. The FN`s mandate was initially to be limited to what was deemed absolutely necessary to prepare for the establishment of the proposed new permanent regulatory structures provided for in the PLA. However, it became clear that the FN`s mandate was not broad enough to ensure a smooth transfer of the ongoing work of existing regulators (statutory law firms) when the new regulators come into force on a given date. The FN`s mandate under Article 97 has been limited to certain rules and regulations on a transitional basis. Sections 94 and 95 provided for the creation of permanent rules and regulations respectively once the entire AHR Act had come into force. The mandate of the FN was extended to advise the Minister on the first set of rules to be enacted within the meaning of Article 94 and to enact the first set of rules within the meaning of Article 95. This ensures that the rules and regulations are harmonious and avoids a period when there are no regulations, when the Minister should have published the regulations in consultation with the LPC once it is established and operational. Article 95(1) provided that the CPA was to establish rules on a number of matters, many of which concerned the regulation of legal practitioners. The amendment ensures that when the LPC comes into operation on a given day, there are rules on a number of issues for which rules are required. The amendment now transfers to the FN the responsibility for drawing up the first set of rules provided for in § 95. Paragraph 9(e), which amends paragraph 97(2)(a) in conjunction with section 11, is a consequential amendment to section 117 arising from paragraph 9(e) and authorizes the NA to negotiate a date on which bar associations are dissolved. This date may not be more than six months after the beginning of Chapter 2 of the AHR Act. (L) implement the provisions of this Act to achieve the purpose of this Act as set out in section 3.

“A general system allowing foreigners to qualify will have a negative impact on many graduates who find it difficult to obtain internships or community service for qualification purposes. However, in an apparent attempt to strike the right balance, the Court concluded that both citizens and non-citizens can benefit from an exemption that allows applicants (including foreigners) who meet all (other) criteria to be admitted as “non-practicing” lawyers. For example, some non-citizens wish to be admitted as non-practicing lawyers and work in South Africa as legal advisers or for non-governmental or community-based organizations. They may also wish to be admitted as non-practicing legal practitioners while awaiting admission as permanent residents. By obtaining permanent resident status, they could then apply for the conversion of non-practising lawyers to practising lawyers. Moreover, the Court concluded that it would further one of the objectives of the PLA – to remove unnecessary or artificial barriers to access to the legal profession. The law recognizes that the profession is fragmented and divided, with different laws in different parts of the republic, and that access to legal services and opportunities within the profession is limited. The stated purpose of the Act is to create a single regulatory body to ensure that legal services are publicly available and that access to the profession is unrestricted in order to align the legal profession with the transformative ideal of the Constitution. ( A) facilitate the achievement of the objective of a transformed and restructured, accountable, efficient and independent legal profession; She relied heavily on the Ministers` comments and stated that the LPA should not be considered in isolation and that the impugned provisions should be considered in conjunction with the impact assessment and the ESA. Applying the three-step analysis of the Harksen equality clause, she noted that “it was rational for the LSSA and LPC at the time to adopt an attitude in favour of the possibility for young South Africans or permanent residents to enter the legal profession without competition from foreigners from the rest of the world”.

In a courageous attempt to balance the competing interests in this case, the Court concluded that if prohibiting locally trained and qualified foreigners from admitting and registering as (non-practicing) lawyers constituted unjust discrimination, it was fair to prohibit them from admitting and registering as practising lawyers. This is done in recognition of the Government`s policy objective of protecting employment opportunities for citizens and permanent residents. Section 24(2)(b) of the AHR Act restricts the right to be admitted and registered in South Africa to citizens and permanent residents. Parts 1 and 2 of Chapter 10 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (PDF -366KB) entered into force on 1 February 2015. The implementation was signed by the President on 16 January 2015 and published in Official Gazette 38412 of 23 January 2015. January 2015 (PDF – 340KB). Read the notice (PDF – 88KB) of the LSSA Co-Chairs (February 5, 2015) Section 120 of the AHR Act specifies (details in parentheses): Short title and beginning 120. (1) This Act is referred to as the Practice of Law Act, 2014.

(2) Chapter 10 [the National Forum] shall enter into force on a date to be fixed by the President by publication in the Official Gazette. 3. Chapter 2 [Council on the Practice of Law] shall enter into force three years after the date of entry into force of Chapter 10 or on such earlier date as may be fixed by the President by publication in the Official Journal. (4) The other provisions of this Act shall enter into force on a date subsequent to the entry into force of Chapter 2, which shall be fixed by the President by publication in the Official Journal. The Council of Legal Practice is a national statutory body established under Article 4 of Law No. 28 of 2014 on Legal Practice. Clause 3 amends section 23 of the AHR Act, which provides for the establishment of provincial councils. Section 3(a) amends section 23(1) to require the LPC to establish provincial councils, the areas of jurisdiction of which are to correspond to those of the divisions of the High Court of South Africa, as they may be determined by the Minister from time to time within the meaning of the High Courts Act 2013. The LPC may delegate to provincial councils powers and functions that can be better exercised at the provincial level in the interest of the legal profession. The Council of Legal Practice is a national statutory body established under Article 4 of Law No.

28 of 2014 on Legal Practice. The Council of Legal Practice and its provincial councils regulate matters and exercise jurisdiction over all legal practitioners (lawyers and lawyers) and trainee lawyers. (I) To promote access to the profession of lawyer in the exercise of a legal profession that largely reflects the demography of the Republic; A lawyer providing legal services to local clients which may involve local persons other than the clients must be permanently present in South Africa in cases where negative or detrimental consequences arise from such legal services. The lawyer`s continued presence serves to protect clients and the public. After examining the statistics of unemployed graduates, the Court concluded that an indiscriminate and blanket ban on non-citizens holding positions similar to those admitted in the Republic of South Africa serves no governmental purpose and is irrational. This is because only 2.4% of the unemployed had a university degree. It therefore held that Article 24 of the AHR Act was unconstitutional in that it prohibited foreigners from being admitted and admitted as non-practising lawyers. Advocacy plays an important role in maintaining peace and order in society, upholding the rule of law and promoting the collective aspirations of a nation, especially in a democratic order such as ours. It is therefore not surprising that the eligibility criteria for this occupation are of increasing interest to the nation. Article 6 amends Article 91 PCPA, which provides for the law of banks in relation to fiduciary accounts.

Clause 6 amends subsection 91(4) so that the board of directors of the Legal Practitioners` Fidelity Fund may also determine the period for which a statement of account must be issued. In addition, the word “statement” is replaced by the word “transaction history”. This is considered necessary because a settlement sometimes reflects only the bank balance and, in certain circumstances, details of the transaction history of the escrow account may be required, for example for the purposes of an escrow review by CAP or the Board of Directors. The law, signed in 2014, aims to create a framework that facilitates the transformation and restructuring of the legal profession. Recently, in Rafoneke v. Minister of Justice [2021] 3609-2020 (FB), Bloemfontein had to comment on the constitutionality of the provisions of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA) limiting admission and registration to citizens and permanent residents. The Act provides that all legal practitioners will be subject to the jurisdiction of the South African Council of Legal Practice (“Council”), which will, inter alia, regulate the conduct and affairs of all practitioners (lawyers and solicitors), develop standards and develop programmes to empower the previously poor.