Justice Department unfazed by bill fury

THE JUSTICE Department has hit back at critics of the Legal Practice Bill, saying it will help to transform the legal profession and that the “dominant, loud voice” of one sector of the legal community does not represent the views of all.

“A wide spectrum of interest groups are affected by the bill… No one can claim to talk for all and say ‘this is what we want’ and bind everyone else,” Jacob Skosana, head of the department’s policy unit, said yesterday.

Briefing the portfolio committee on justice for the first time on the bill – which has been in the pipeline for more than 10 years and was recently reintroduced by Justice Minister Jeff Radebe – Skosana stressed that key concessions had been made during the bill’s consultation process.

These included a U-turn on the composition of the National Legal Practice Council envisaged in the legislation, which will do away with professional bodies such as the Law Society of SA.

The bill, which gives the justice minister sweeping powers over the governance of the legal profession, seeks to replace all existing law societies with the state-influenced council – a single 21-member statutory body – as well as all regional bodies.

It also sets limits on how much lawyers can charge their clients in a bid to lower fees and increase access to legal services for the majority.

Jeremy Gauntlett, a former chairman of the General Council of the Bar, has described the bill as “the biggest single threat to an independent legal profession… and to the courts”.