University of Fort Hare UFH Legal Clinic Departments

The Clinic has several stakeholders. These include the Attorneys Fidelity Fund; Cape Law Society; Department of Justice and Constitutional Development; Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre; SAPS; Office of the Attorney; Commission on Gender Equality; Family Advocate’s Office; SAULCA; Black Lawyers Association; Legal Aid South Africa, and the East London Magistrate Court. We are constantly seeking to improve this area.

The Law Clinic’s primary source of funding as far as salaries of staff are concerned is the Faculty of Law. Currently the Attorney’s Fidelity Fund also makes a substantial contribution towards the running expenses of the Law Clinic and has committed to doing so from 2008. This contribution is made on condition that the Law Clinic continues to make a satisfactory contribution to free legal services to the community. Quarterly reports are required to be submitted to the Attorney’s Fidelity Fund in this regard.

As far as legal assistance and court cases are concerned, final year LLB students, supervised and assessed by the professional staff of the clinic, attend to consultation with clients, discussing the clients’  legal problems with the attorneys, doing legal research and giving legal advice to clients, opening of files and managing the finances on the file, dealing with housekeeping issues, drafting of letters,  court pleadings and motions to court, as well as preparation of court cases in general. All of this is continuously and extensively supervised and corrected by the attorneys on a daily basis. The actual appearances in court have to be done by the attorneys themselves. Since funding for court cases is not available or provided for in the Law Clinic budget, there is always a need for expert legal assistance and the assistance of other experts on a pro bono basis, especially when a case has to be heard by the High Court.

The Clinic is constantly involved with student initiatives. These include the CLASI Project; Student Chapter with the Black Lawyers Association; Law Student Council and Access to Services initiative; SLSJ; Professional Skills and Ethics Mock Trials, and the All African Human Rights Moot Court Competition Development; Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre; SAPS; Office of the Attorney; Commission on Gender Equality; Family Advocate’s Office; SAULCA; Black Lawyers Association; Legal Aid South Africa, and the East London Magistrate Court. This is one of the main areas of the legal clinic and as we continue to grow we hope to incorporate more students and the local communities.