Legal Articles and Guides

The University of Cape Town’s former dean of law‚ Professor Penny Andrews‚ has denied allegations, which surfaced on Twitter, of irregular expenditure‚ saying they were ‘false and defamatory’. Andrews‚ who has resigned‚ became dean in 2016 after several years abroad‚ and was the first black academic to hold the position, notes a TimesLIVE report.

When we were little we were taught that “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words cannot harm me”.  In reality, words and actions do harm a person, whether directly or indirectly.  I have been reading articles lately and came across many stories where bulling and harassment has been so bad, that victims resort to suicide.  The world is cruel, and if no one makes a stand, nothing will change.

The Road Accident Fund Act has been described as ‘social legislation’. Crucially, the Act’s fundamental objective is to provide protection to a wronged party who has suffered loss through the negligence or unlawful act on the part of a driver or owner of a vehicle. Prescription is a rule of law that is designed to bring finality to disputes. Consequently, prescription shuts the door on the claimant effectively disabling them to issue a claim once the time period has lapsed.

The life insurance industry is on high alert after the cyberattack and blackmail attempt on insurer Liberty. The firm had regained control of its IT systems by yesterday, says a Business Day report. The insurance industry holds sensitive data on millions of clients, including their banking details and medical reports.

What should happen when a claim prescribes on a public holiday, and attempts are made to serve a summons but the court is closed? Sounds unlikely? In fact, it has actually happened in a claim involving the Road Accident Fund.

Faced with claims amounting to about R45m thus far, the man in charge of wrapping up the financial affairs of disgraced lawyer Colin Cowan, has only managed to recover R7m. Cowan, once a well-respected attorney in Durban, committed suicide in November 2010, his death uncovering large-scale fraud he committed while working as a consultant at law firm Garlicke & Bousfield, notes a Times Select report.

Deputy KZN Judge President Isaac Madondo believes it is time that customary law received appropriate treatment and recognition as a constitutionally recognised source of law.

Law firm Webber Wentzel is challenging a raid on its offices by the Hawks on various grounds, including legal privilege, notes Daily News. The Hawks raided the offices of the firm and cellphone service provider MTN last week, in the latest development in the decade-long battle between MTN and Turkcell over service provision in Iran, says a Fin24 report.

Following two recent judgments allowing registered digital communication to replace registered post in some litigation proceedings, at least one firm has grabbed the opportunity to offer specialised service to litigants.

As more and more South Africans opt to live together without formally marrying (or entering into a civil union or recognised customary marriage), the need to bust the myth of the “common law marriage” becomes more acute.

The Law Society of SA (LSSA) has welcomed a Gauteng High Court judgment – seen as ‘reaffirming the specialised skill involved in the conveyancing process’ – in the matter Proxi Smart Services (Pty) Limited vs the Law Society of SA and Others.

In a case brought by the Helen Suzman Foundation, the Constitutional Court has ordered the JSC to make public its deliberations on appointing judges. In a majority judgment delivered yesterday, the court ruled that a blanket ban of disclosure was unjustifiable in a democratic society.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has questioned why there was talk of extending the LLB programme to five years in SA‚ when countries in Europe offered high-quality law programmes in three years. Most SA universities offer a four-year LLB programme‚ except the University of the Witwatersrand‚ which scrapped the four-year programme in 2014, notes a TimesLIVE report.

With just eight months to go before the final provisions of the Legal Practice Act 2014 are put into effect, the legal profession is preparing for the radical transformation of its operational landscape, reports Venilla Yoganathan for Legalbrief. With emphasis on stronger regulation, transparency and accessibility, the Act, gazetted in September 2014, will fundamentally alter several long-entrenched legal practices, including the role and functions of attorneys and advocates; fee structures; and disciplinary processes.

A nationwide manhunt has been launched for Andrew Stephens, a lawyer who allegedly misappropriated more than R150m through the abuse of his law firm’s accounts and his clients’ trust. A Weekend Argus report says the US-born lawyer had been working as financial director of Sandton-based law firm, Dadic Attorneys, since 2011.