| (1) |
An attorney may render legal services in expectation of any fee, commission, gain, or reward as contemplated in this Act or any other applicable law, upon receipt of a request directly from the public for that service. |
| (a) |
An advocate may render legal services in expectation of a fee, commission, gain or reward as contemplated in this Act or any other applicable law— |
| (i) |
upon receipt of a brief from an attorney; or |
| (ii) |
upon receipt of a request directly from a member of the public or from a justice centre for that service, subject to paragraph (b). |
| (b) |
An advocate contemplated in paragraph (a)(ii) may only render those legal services rendered by advocates before the commencement of this Act as determined by the Council in the rules, if he or she— |
| (c) |
An advocate may render legal services in criminal or civil matters in expectation of a fee, commission, gain or reward as contemplated in this Act or any other applicable law upon receipt of a request directly from a justice centre for that service, in which 10 event the provisions of paragraph (b) do not apply. |
| (3) |
The Council must make rules relating to the briefing of advocates— |
| (b) |
directly by members of the public. |
| (4) |
The Council must make rules relating to the instruction of attorneys. |
| (5) |
Attorneys may only practise— |
| (a) |
for their own account; |
| (b) |
as part of a commercial juristic entity referred to in subsection (7) and as such, may only make over to, share or divide any portion of their professional fee whether by way of partnership, commission, allowance, or otherwise with an attorney; |
| (c) |
as part of a law clinic established in terms of subsection (8); |
| (6) |
Advocates may only practise— |
| (a) |
for their own account and as such may not make over to, share or divide any portion of their professional fee whether by way of partnership, commission, allowance or otherwise; |
| (b) |
as part of a law clinic established in terms of subsection (8); |
| (c) |
as part of Legal Aid South Africa; or |
| (d) |
as an advocate in the full-time employment of the State as a state advocate or the South African Human Rights Commission. |
| (7) |
A commercial juristic entity may be established to conduct a legal practice provided that, in terms of its founding documents— |
| (a) |
its shareholding, partnership or membership as the case may be, is comprised exclusively of attorneys; |
| (b) |
provision is made for legal services to be rendered only by or under the supervision of admitted and enrolled attorneys; and |
| (c) |
all present and past shareholders, partners or members, as the case may be, are liable jointly and severally together with the commercial juristic entity for— |
| (i) |
the debts and liabilities of the commercial juristic entity as are or were contracted during their period of office; and |
| (ii) |
in respect of any theft committed during their period of office. |
| (a) |
Subject to the approval of the Council in terms of the rules, a law clinic may be established by— |
| (i) |
a non-profit juristic entity registered in terms of the Non-profit Organisations Act, 1997 (Act No. 71 of 1997), to conduct a legal practice if, in terms of its founding documents— |
| (aa) |
the majority of its members of its governing body is comprised of legal practitioners; and |
| (bb) |
upon its winding-up, dissolution or voluntary deregistration, any asset remaining after all liabilities have been met, are transferred to another non-profit organisation having similar objectives to it; or |
| (ii) |
any university in the Republic if it is constituted and governed as part of the faculty of law at that university, |
and is subject to the provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c).
| (b) |
A law clinic referred to in paragraph (a)— |
| (i) |
may only render legal services if those services are rendered by or under the supervision of attorneys; |
| (ii) |
may not make over to, share or divide any portion of its professional fee whether by way of partnership, commission, allowance or otherwise; |
| (iii) |
may not distribute any of its income or property to its members, governors or employees, except as reasonable compensation for services rendered; |
| (iv) |
may only engage candidate legal practitioners if it complies with the requirements determined by the Council in the rules; and |
| (v) |
may not render those legal services determined by the Council in the rules. |
| (c) |
Legal services rendered by a law clinic referred to in paragraph (a)— |
| (i) |
must be accessible to the public; and |
| (ii) |
must, subject to section 92, be rendered to the recipient of those services free of charge, except that the law clinic may recover any amounts actually disbursed on behalf of the recipient of the services. |
| (9) |
The Council must, within two years after the commencement of Chapter 2 of this Act, investigate and make recommendations to the Minister on— |
| (a) |
the creation of other forms of legal practice, including— |
| (i) |
limited liability legal practices; |
| (ii) |
multi-disciplinary practices; and |
| (b) |
the statutory recognition of paralegals, |
taking into account best international practices, the public interest and the interests of the legal profession, with the view to legislative and other interventions in order to improve access to the legal profession and access to justice generally.
Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996
