The Faculty of Law is deeply distressed by the continued perpetration of violence against women and children in society. The spate of violence against women and children indicates that we as lawyers and prospective lawyers have much to do to achieve the dreams and goals as set out in the Constitution. The scourge of gender based violence permeating our society denies the rights to substantive gender equality and to freedom from all forms of violence entrenched in the Bill of Rights, and threatens the fabric of our constitutional democracy. It calls for all organs of state, including Universities, and all sectors of society to take urgent, proactive measures to create an environment in which women and children can be physically and psychologically secure.

The Faculty of Law recognises the role that it has to play in fostering the ideals of transformative constitutionalism in legal education. Awareness-raising and a zero-tolerance of violence against women and children are important elements of academic and civil society initiatives to end this violence. The right to peaceful protest enshrined in section 17 of the Constitution is one of the tools available to civil society to advocate for more effective measures to address the scourge of gender based violence in our society. The Faculty of Law therefore supports those who are participating in the protest against gender-based violence at Parliament today. The Faculty will do its best to be as accommodating as possible to those students who participate in the protest action.

Since 2018 a four-year LLB degree program has been offered and the curricula of the existing BA (Law) and BCom (Law) programs have been adapted accordingly. This LLB is offered as the basic law degree program by the Faculty and may be followed over a minimum period of four years. The BA (Law) and BCom (Law) degree programs require three years of study and are integrated with the curriculum of the four-year LLB program. On completion of a BA (Law) or BCom (Law), a student may enroll for the LLB and complete the final two years of this program, hereafter he obtains the LLB degree. Such a student will accordingly, after five years of successful study, obtain both a BA (Law) or BCom (Law) and a LLB degree. A BAccLLB program has also been offered since 2001. This program enables students to complete both the BAcc and LLB degrees within a minimum period of five years.

Since 2019 a three-year postgraduate LLB program has been offered, based on the curriculum of the four-year LLB programme. The Postgraduate Diploma in Tax Law has been offered since 2019 and the Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law since 2019.

A student with an LLB degree conferred by this University or any other bachelor’s degree in Law (excluding the BIuris degree) and who has attained an average of 60% in the final year of this degree or a comparable achievement in another (for example, foreign) qualification, or a student who has attained a level of proficiency or accomplishment in Law which, in the judgment of Senate, is regarded as adequate for this purpose, may apply in writing to read for a Master’s degree in Law. Senate will consider every application on merit.

Note: International students applying for admission to the LLM program (by coursework) are required to submit proof of their current level of proficiency in English (for example, through IELTS or TOEFL scores). Students with English as home language or students who have completed their first degree in English are exempted from this requirement.

A student with an LLM degree, or a student with an LLB degree conferred by this University or any other bachelor’s degree in Law (excluding the BProc and BIuris degrees) approved for this purpose by the Senate, and with relevant academic or professional experience, or a student who has attained a level of proficiency or accomplishment in Law which, in the judgment of Senate is regarded as adequate for this purpose, may apply in writing to read for a Doctoral degree in Law. Senate will consider every application on merit.