The Council for Higher Education (CHE ) has recently announced that they are planning a national investigation of the effectiveness of the four-year LLB degree.
The Council for Higher Education (CHE ) has recently announced that they are planning a national investigation of the effectiveness of the four-year LLB degree.
The Law Curriculum Project will investigate what law graduateslearn during their studies, and whether or not this adequately prepares them for the various professional paths available to them.
The CHE was commissioned by the South African Law Deans’ Association (Salda) after receiving complaints from a group of law practitioners who felt that the standard of academic legal education is low.
At present Salda is unsure whether these are the isolated views of one group of practitioners, or whether the sentiments shared by this group are widespread.
The investigation will involve an electronic survey, which roughly 15 000 professionals are expected to participate in.
These professionals are made up of judicial officers, advocates, attorneys, academics, prosecutors, and legal advisors in both the public and private sectors.
The four-year undergraduate LLB degree was introduced in 1997 as a solution to a number of forums convened by the Ministry of Justice.
These forums were initiated in 1994, when the landscape of the legal profession was such that 85% of law practitioners were white, while at the same time 85% of the population was black.
The aim of these forums was to re-examine legal education options offered at various academic institutions across the country, in the hopes of making a predominantly-white profession more accessible to a wider demographic.
Georgina Picket, head researcher for the CHE project, says that the possible outcomes of the project will depend on what the findings of the preliminary research are.
“Should it appear that there are concerns around the quality of the LLB offerings the quality assurance arm of the CHE may become involved. Other issues might require additional investigation and study, or the involvement of the government. We’ll have to wait and see.”
According to Prof Jonathan Campbell, Dean of Law at Rhodes University, only 22% ofstudents across the country (excluding Unisa) who register for a four-year LLB degree complete the degree within the four years.
Thirtyone percent complete the degree within five years, and 15% are still enrolled after five years. This is why he feels that doing an undergraduate commerce or humanities degree, followed by the two-year LLB option is more beneficial.
At Rhodes 90% of law students register for an undergraduate degree followed by the two-year option, compared to the 22% in other universities across the country.
“In short, the four-year LLB is not working for the vast majority of law students which now appears to be widely acknowledged,” he said.
An advantage of choosing to first do an undergraduate degree is that the student receives a broader overall education.
This keeps their options open and students are more mature when the time comes to begin their LLB, thus being more able to cope with the academic demands of the course.
However, pursuing this option means adding the expense of an extra year of tuition and is one of the main reasons why students prefer to enrol for the four year LLB.
But the four year undergraduate option consists only of law-related subjects. Campbell is “satisfied with the calibre of students leaving with an LLB degree from Rhodes”, and is confident that his graduates are capable of performing well as legal practitioners.
In addition to educating students in legal theory, the Rhodes law department focuses on equipping its students with values and skills necessary for the practice of law.
The university runs a legal skills course, which focuses on reading and writing as well as on numeracy. The moot programme also ensures that students gain practical experience before graduating. In addition to this, LLB students are required to volunteer at the Legal Aid Clinic.
This subjects them to real-life legal scenaria, and forces them to take on responsibilities similar to that which they will encounter after graduating.
Universities across the country can rest assured that this investigation will not result in the re-accreditation of the LLB degree.
François Venter, chairperson of SALDA, feels that a mere re-accreditation of the degree will not rectify the problem.
He said “improvement of the quality of legal education and spreading such quality across all providers of legal education will require creative measures and the political will to invest greater resources in the system.”
