1 / 8

Worldwide Review of the Legal Profession

Worldwide Review of the Legal Profession. Competition and Regulatory Developments in Africa. Outline. The context The profession: growth spurts Regulation Issues Representation (Trade Union and Public Interest Issues) Regionalization Challenges and Opportunities. The context.

zareh
Download Presentation

Worldwide Review of the Legal Profession

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Worldwide Review of the Legal Profession Competition and Regulatory Developments in Africa

  2. Outline • The context • The profession: growth spurts • Regulation Issues • Representation (Trade Union and Public Interest Issues) • Regionalization • Challenges and Opportunities

  3. The context • Rapidly growing economies; extractive natural resources • Increasing focus on regional integration and continental co-operation • Shift – in political ideology and economic policy – from the West and the “Bretton Woods” institutions to a “balance” with the East. • New challenges to democracy, rule of law

  4. The profession: growth spurts • Apart from Nigeria and South Africa, most countries have between 100 and 500 lawyers • A “symbolism” about crossing the 1,000 member mark • There appears to be a good “race” to increase numbers in the profession • Also, increase in African law firms joining law firm alliances; regional law firm alliances; some big South African law firms expanding “north”

  5. Regulation Issues • As they grow in size, there is renewed focus on regulation. Some have made amendments to their regulatory frameworks • Focus on building capacity to regulate • Compulsory Continuing Legal Education (CLE) schemes • More robust disciplinary regimes • Value addition from international partnerships • Acceptance, in a few jurisdictions, of a role for non-lawyers in the regulatory process (usually in Disciplinary Committees)

  6. Representation (Trade Union and Public Interest Issues) • Participation in law reform, especially in Sector Wide Approaches (SWAPs) • Innovative ventures into legal aid and access to justice e.g. Open Days/ Legal Aid Weeks; compulsory legal aid schemes • More assertive and proactive interventions in matters of democracy, governance, rule of law, human rights • Useful complement of international partnerships on rule of law

  7. Regionalization • EALS; SADC LA; WABA (West African Bar Association); Pan-African Lawyers’ Union (PALU). Also, the African Forum of the IBA (AfrIBA) • Opportunities for learning, sharing and collaboration on both regulatory and representative issues • Joint positions or actions e.g. on Zimbabwe • Exploration of regional economic communities (RECs) and the African Union (AU) for advocacy; both within the “political” and “judicial” organs/ institutions

  8. Challenges and Opportunities • Financial stability and sustainability (low membership base, low subscriptions) • May also lead to poor staff/ skills retention rate Could be addressed by “diversification” strategies • Highly repressive governments e.g. Ethiopia, Zimbabwe Understanding that this is a long-drawn out campaign; success will not be overnight. International and pan-African advocacy are essential

More Related