Wits goes back to postgraduate LLB degree

Jaichand said the decision to revert to an academic programme in which law students studied for an undergraduate degree before embarking on a postgraduate two-year LLB degree was aimed at producing graduates to fill the general leadership gap in SA, where 'both mettle and imagination is missing'. 'We want to produce lawyers who understand their social function and duty, which has been missing, because we have just been training legal technicians (with the current degree),' Jaichand said. The announcement, which the report says took many in the legal sector by surprise, was welcomed by academics at four law schools across the country. One said it was a move that other universities should follow as the current system produced 'legal barbarians' who, while trained in law, were ill-equipped to translate that into understanding how lawyers functioned in relation to society and the 'power dynamics' that existed. The proposed postgraduate LLB will include additional courses in ethics - identified as a problem by the Law Society of SA - legal research and writing courses. Full Business Day report (subscription needed)

A report in Die Burger explores whether other universities in the area, the University of Johannesburg and University of Pretoria, will follow suit. The report notes that both faculties offer a four-year LLB and the BA (Law)/BCom (Law) with LLB combination. Professor Patrick O'Brien, dean of the UJ law faculty, said they encourage students to register for a BA or BCom first for the same reasons advanced by Wits. Professor Anton Kok, of the Tuks law faculty, said the extended programme was 'probably better preparation for legal training'. But Kok says the four-year curriculum is shorter and cheaper. 'Many of our LLB graduates also complete a Masters degree after the LLB, which is another way of broadening their legal training.' Full report in Die Burger