GroundUp reports that SA’s Legal Practice Council (LPC) and the Minister of Justice are opposing a court bid by three Zimbabwean-born graduates to change legislation which bars them from practicing law in SA.

Bruce Chakanyuka, Nyasha Nyamugure and Dennis Chadya, with the assistance of the Asylum Seeker Refugee and Migrant Coalition, have launched a constitutional challenge of the Legal Practice Act (LPA). The Act provides only for the enrolment and admission of attorneys and advocates who are either citizens or have permanent residence permits. The trio all have permits which allow them to live, study and work in SA but don’t have permanent residence status. They have also completed their degrees, written board exams and done articles and pupilage. The matter is pending before the Pretoria High Court. Three other organisations, the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, the Pan African Bar Association and the International Commission of Jurists, have lent support to the trio’s plight and have asked to be admitted as amicus curiae (friends of the court). In opposing documents, LPC chairperson Kathleen Matolo-Dlepu, stated that it did not believe the relevant section of the Act was unconstitutional. She noted that temporary residents were not prevented from working in the legal sector, but they were only exempted from being admitted as officers of the court. On behalf of the Minister, Kalayvani Pillay, a deputy director in the department of legal services, suggested that the Department of Home Affairs be included in proceedings because the case dealt with immigration laws. Pillay argued that the legal profession was not a rare or critical skill and many South African citizens struggled to get work.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp

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