Lawyers urged to get involved in LPC elections

The Law Society of SA (LSSA) has welcomed Justice Minister Michael Masutha’s announcement that the elections for the Legal Practice Council (LPC) are under way and has urged practising legal practitioners to participate fully in the process. An independent body, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), will manage and oversee the elections. An LSSA statement notes the nominations must reach EISA by midnight of 14 September 2018. Voting via the ballot papers distributed will start at midnight on 19 September and will close by midnight on 30 September. Results will be released by 4 October. The LSSA says the attorneys’ profession will continue to support the objectives of the Legal Practice Act and specifically the ones highlighted at the media briefing – a uniform regulatory body for all legal practitioners; transformation of the profession to reflect the demographics of the country; to consider gender representation specifically in the advocates’ profession; the establishment of the Office of the Legal Services Ombud; to increase access to justice by the introduction of community service for candidate and practising legal practitioners; and transform the dispensation for the conferral of senior counsel status.