| Law Society and its functions |
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The Law Society of the Northern Provinces (incorporated as the Law Society of the Transvaal), established during 1892 and is the statutory body governing the attorneys’ profession in the four provinces constituting the former Transvaal province, i.e. Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo Province. Did you know that:
PROFESSIONAL AFFAIRS The Head of the Department with the Assistance of the Director attends to the affairs of the 24 person Council, which include the handling and planning of meetings, preparation of agendas and minutes, carrying our decisions made by the Council and the drafting of the President’s Report. The department is also responsible for arrangements relating to meetings of the Council with other role players as well as all arrangements relating to the annual general meeting of members and special meetings. Expert Committees The following committees are presently functioning: Admission and Articles The committees consider matters in their field of expertise and regularly liaise with other role players in the profession and with Government Departments and consider the draft legislation and recommendations by the SA Law Commission and make submissions on such matters. The opinions and recommendations of the committees are submitted to the Council. Provincial Law Councils The provinces within the jurisdiction of the Law Society, being the Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West Provinces, are functioning as Law Councils with a Circle Council which forms part of the structures within the organised profession. The powers of each Law Council are determined by the constitution of the Law Councils which have been restructured to be representative. The staff of the Law Society renders all administrative and secretarial services to the Law Councils. Records Department Record of information of members:
The Records Section attends to matters including the capturing and updating of information of individual members as well as the attorneys’ firms and the collection of subscription fees, additional levies and contributions payable to the Attorneys Fidelity Fund. The section also issues Fidelity Fund Certificates to members and is responsible for the processing of applications of annual certificates submitted by firms. Practical examinations Responsible for the administration of the practical examinations written twice annually, being the attorneys admission examination, conveyancing examination and the notarial examination. Attorneys Admission examination FEBRUARY 2011
The results for the August 2011 examinations will only be available on 07 October 2011. Conveyancing
The results for the August 2011 examination will only be available on 07 October 2011. Notarial Practice
The oral examination will be conducted on 23 August 2011 Contracts of Articles from 1 July 2010 – 30 June 2011 The Professional Affairs section dealt with the registration of 1 255 contracts of articles and 146 contracts of service between attorneys and candidate attorneys, the registration of 194 cession of service agreements and the issuing of 1 548 appearance certificates to candidate attorneys. Admissions/Court Applications Applications for admissions as attorneys, notaries and conveyances are considered by the Law Society in order to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements and if required, comments are submitted to the High Court. The processing of applications for re-admissions (striking), applications for enrolment in terms of Section 20 of the Attorneys Act 1979, applications for enrolment of practitioners from other Law Societies, the issuing of certificates relating to the right of attorneys to appear in the High Court and annual prizes awarded by the Law Society are also dealt with. Admissions during the period 1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011
FINANCES DIVISION The financial affairs of the Law Society and the monthly reporting are dealt with by the Head: Financial and seven members of staff in the finance team. The Law Society derives its income from two main sources i.e. members subscriptions and collection commission from the Fidelity Fund. HUMAN RESOURCES This Division attends to the training and skills development of staff on the basis as provided for in the Skills Development Plan and also ensures that appointments are made in accordance with the affirmative action policy and employment equity plan of the Council. DISCIPLINARY DEPARTMENT The Disciplinary Department is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of complaints of alleged unprofessional or dishonourable or unworthy conduct on the part of attorneys, the handling of telephonic and written enquiries from members of the public and attorneys, (investigation of complaints of people holding themselves out as attorneys) and investigation and prosecution of members failing to pay their subscription fees, fines and costs imposed by Disciplinary Committees. Members who fail to lodge their accountant’s reports, as required by the rules are prosecuted, instructions are given to the Society’s attorneys for striking and suspensions, (referrals of cases where attorneys misappropriated trust funds are made to the Director for Public Prosecutions for prosecution), and all arrangements relating to the Disciplinary Committee meetings and appearances before the Council in terms of Rule 101 of the rules of the Law Society are made. MEMBERS AFFAIRS The Department Members Affairs can be divided in three sub divisions being the Monitoring Unit, Curators Unit and the Assessment/Audit Unit. Monitoring Unit It is the goal of this Unit to act pro-actively to limit the risk of losses, which may be suffered by the Attorneys Fidelity Fund. This Unit undertakes visits to attorneys’ firms with a view to assessing the position and if necessary, to conduct financial investigations. The nature of investigations conducted can be divided into the following: Accounting records Investigations into the accounting records are undertaken where irregularities relating to the firm’s financial transactions are detected. Audit Investigations The Unit conducts audits at the request of an attorney and at all new established firms within six (6) months after establishment. The emphasis during this audit is to ensure that there are proper systems and procedures in place to enable the firm to account for the financial transactions on the banking account. Assistance Investigations Firms are visited where it appears that problems are being experienced in relation to the management and administration of practices. A Practice Development Official is attached to this unit with the main emphasis to visit attorneys, firms and to ensure a better return on the trust banking accounts operated by attorneys. Curators Unit The Curators Unit attends to the curatorship duties as determined in terms of a court order obtained in the event of the Law Society bringing an application for the striking or suspension of an attorney. The office is also appointed as curator bonis in the event of the liquidation or death of a sole proprietor, should it be required. In terms of the court order, the Curators Unit visits the office of the firm in question and attends to the winding down of the practice. All client files are taken into possession and communication established with the client in terms of which an instruction is obtained from the client in regard to his/her matter. The curator bonis takes responsibility for the trust banking account and attends to the liquidation thereof. Assessment/Audit Unit This Unit attends to the administrative duties relevant to the assessment of attorneys’ fees, either on request of the client or the attorney concerned. This Unit also sees to the administrative duties relevant to the receipt and processing of the annual accountant’s reports to be submitted to the Law Society. MANDATORY PRO BONO SCHEME The new pro bono rule was approved by members at the 2008 annual general meeting and the Law Society. The mandatory pro bono scheme, which make it compulsory for all members to complete 24 hours of pro bono work annually, subject to being asked to do so and having practiced for less than 40 years and being younger than sixty years of age. The upliftment of all of the people of our country includes finding ways to give everyone equal access to the law and the judicial system as far as it is practically possible. The pro bonoproject is doing a great deal to make this vision a reality. The pro bono project is one of the more innovative projects launched by the legal profession. The main purpose of the project is to emphasise the improvement of access to the law and the judicial system particularly for the benefit of the most disadvantaged section of the South African population. The pro bono project provides the opportunity to members of the public in making legal services available to the general public and local communities and in rural areas. It has indeed become critical for the attorneys’ profession to ensure equal access to justice to all members of the public. It is important that the public be able to protect themselves (even if they cannot afford it) by accessing the justice system in the most easy and convenient manner. Furthermore, they need to know where to go and trust that they will be properly assisted. There is a substantial sacrifice in time and thus income, by these participating attorneys. Their willingness to become involved is a further demonstration of their community spirit akin to the profession’s contribution. Without these attorneys’ voluntary participation the system would grind to a halt. The backbone of the whole project is the willingness of attorneys to provide their time and knowledge free of charge to serve the local community. The rule provides that pro bono referrals to members should be done on the basis that such work would fall within the professional competence of the member concerned. COMMUNICATION UNIT The aim and task of the Communication Unit is to promote the positive image of the attorneys’ profession and the Law Society of the Northern Provinces by ensuring that the services, policy and functions of the Society are acceptable to the outside world and that the general public is familiar with them. Image of the Attorneys Profession The way to break down the negative image of the attorneys in the media is to place the idea in the minds of the public that attorneys are there to assist, therefore more general information on matters that are of importance in the daily lives of members of the public was distributed to the electronic and printed media. The challenge to inform, upgrade and educate the public on their rights lies in creating public awareness by utilising a suitable and well-planned marketing campaign in the electronic and printed media. Newsletters The present functions of the Unit include media campaigns and media liaison with the electronic and printed media and the publication of four newsletters, being Ordenuus/Society News. Law Councils The Unit is responsible for the organising of radio participation, advertisements in newspapers and to promote attorneys services, publishing of articles in local and community newspapers as well as the arrangements relating to numerous lunches and dinners. Information Services When a member of the Law Society participates on a radio- and television programme or writes an article for publication in the printed media, members of the public are invited to contact the Law Society to be referred to an attorney for a free consultation. During the past year 2 796 member of the public made use of this service. Seminars The Law Society provides on a regular basis a forum to members by way of presenting seminars and conferences on topics directly involving the profession and members in their practices, and needless to say when seminars or conferences are presented to them on important topics the response is generally of a very good response The Communication Unit assisted the Law Society as well as the four Provincial Law Councils, Gauteng, Limpopo and North West and Mpumalanga with their communication actions and organising of seminars. Herewith the list of seminars still to be presented, it needs to be noted that we have already presented 12 seminars during the first three months staring from January 2011.
Web-Site The maintenance of the five websites for the Law Society as well as each of the Circle Councils also falls within the duties of the Communication Unit. HESTER BEZUIDENHOUT HEAD: COMMUNICATION UNIT |
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Provinces
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