Practical Legal Training

The Legal Aid Clinic provides training opportunities for students in accordance with the objectives of the constitution of the Association of University Legal Aid Institutions. Students (±125 in 1999) enrolled for the course Introduction to Legal Practice (LCR405-V), are allowed to do the required practical work for the course at the Clinic, attend the Small Claims Court as well as other court proceedings. 

The Director of the Clinic, Mr Mauritz Lombard, also sits as commissioner in the Small Claims Court and students can attend these sessions thus gaining valuable experience.

Students in other areas (Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban for example) do their practical work under the supervision of two practising attorneys who are appointed as part-time tutors by Unisa.  The students in Durban do their practical work under the supervision of the director of the Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Natal.  

Candidate attorneys can complete their internship at the Clinic and to date, twelve have been admitted as attorneys in the High Court of South Africa.  There are presently five candidate attorneys employed by the Clinic who will also be admitted as attorneys when their term of internship is concluded.