Varsity College has found itself in a quagmire because the KZN Law Society refuses to allow its LLB students to register to serve their articles, says a report in The Witness. The college contends it has all the relevant accreditation to offer the degree but the society maintains that ‘only a university’ may do so. This follows amendments to relevant legislation last September which no longer classifies Varsity College as a university.

Unable to resolve the dispute, the college’s umbrella body – the Independent Institute of Education – yesterday brought an urgent application in the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg). It wants the law society to review and set aside its decision not to recognise the institution’s LLB degree.

Advocate Andrea Gabriel SC argued before Judge Piet Koen that 539 students need to know the court’s decision before the end of September. This is the closing date for its students to apply to other universities for admission to continue their LLB degrees.

Gabriel said there is no difference between students studying for the degree at universities and those studying at the institution. ‘Why does the law society refuse to recognise the four-year LLB degree provided by the institution?’ She answered that the society’s refusal is because a section of the Attorneys Act requires entrants to the profession to obtain an LLB degree from a ‘university’.

She said the society contends the institution is not a university because is it not called a university. ‘We submit that this is a blinkered and unconstitutional approach,’ said Gabriel.

Advocate Thandanani Mthembu, for the society, reiterated that the institution is not a university as contemplated in the Attorneys Act. He said that the Higher Education Act was amended and these amendments came into effect in September 2017.

Full report in The Witness (subscription needed)