Commission to influence payment for lawyers

According to the Legal Practice Bill passed in the National Assembly last week, the SA Law Reform Commission will investigate the 'circumstances giving rise to legal fees that are unattainable for most people'. The commission will have to report back to Justice Minister Jeff Radebe within two years after President Jacob Zuma has promulgated the Bill. It is understood the government is pushing for the Bill to be finalised and sent to Zuma before next year's general elections. The Bill is now in the National Council of Provinces. The Justice Department is scheduled to brief the National Council of Provinces' Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development tomorrow. The commission, which includes Judge Jody Kollapen as deputy chairman, along with academics Professors Pamela Schwikkard and Vinodh Jaichand, Advocate Mahlape Sello and attorneys Irvin Lawrence and Namhla Siwendu, will probe the desirability of a plan to set fees and tariffs for lawyers. The Bill also says the commission will investigate the desirability of allowing clients to voluntarily agree to paying fees either lower or higher than any such set figure. Full Weekend Argus report (subscription needed)

The Legal Practice Bill is a stick with which to beat advocates and stems from hatred created through the suppression of black lawyers under apartheid, critics say in Rapport. Chairperson of the General Council of the Bar, Ishmael Semenya SC, is quoted as saying advocates hoped for a better relationship with the government, but there is a deeply-rooted and 'misplaced' problem with the advocates profession. He said he read the transcripts of the National Assembly debate and got the 'feeling' the Bill targeted advocates. During the debate, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and Chief Patekile Holomisa (an ANC MP) both referred to the humiliation suffered by black attorneys under apartheid. Holomisa then made the point the advocates' profession was still dominated by white men. Dene Smuts, of the DA, said the Bill was drafted with the intention of punishing advocates, who, as far as the ANC is concerned, represent the colonial order. This is irrational, she contends, as not all advocates are white or all attorneys black. She advised the GCB to take legal steps if the NCOP does not amend the Bill significantly. Full report in Rapport

However, the passing of the Bill has been welcomed by the Black Lawyers Association. According to a statement on the Politicsweb site, the BLA says it is happy to note that a number of its written and oral submissions and subsequent comments made to the Portfolio Committee found their way into the final version of the Bill. It adds: '... (the) BLA finds it appropriate ... that the final version of the Bill fundamentally recognises and protects the interests of the historically disadvantaged legal practitioners as is amply captured under Sections 6(5)(h)(iv) and 94(1)(b) of the Bill.' It says the Bill 'balances the transformation agenda of the legal profession as directed by the Constitution and at the same time not compromising the independence of the legal profession'. The Bill has also been welcomed by the Higher Education Transformation Network, which says it has added immense value to the transformation of the legal profession that will culminate into a broader representative judiciary as well as removal of unscrupulous practices by the legal fraternity. Full statement on the Politicsweb site