I'm delighted to be part of the launch of the new office of Edward Nathan Sonnenberg Law Firm particularly in a township such as Alexandra, which has a history of suffering and poverty. Both Alexander and Sandton have over time become popular for their respective paradox with regards to development and under-development. Therefore, when I was requested to present a keynote address here today, I was very pleased to rally behind an initiative of this nature because the poor communities such as this one are too often denied justice and often can't afford a lawyer, yet just across the M1 Freeway, access to justice is vividly part of the social contract between the government and our people as it should be across the country.
Given this scenario, an important question that arises is whether the legal needs of all sectors of our society, including the community of Alexandra, are being adequately met. It is a fact that when our people are faced with legal problems, the justice system doesn't always come to mind. A person may not be thinking about the justice system when a debt collector is at a door step. This means that how we meet the legal needs of our people is the responsibility that government and the legal profession at large must shoulder. And the approach should start well before our people find themselves in the intimidating surrounds of a courtroom.
As we take forward the reforms to improve access to justice, we should therefore explore ways in which members of our poor communities can have access to legal advice without having to travel to cities like Sandton or Johannesburg. The opening of Edward Nathan Sonnenberg law firm offices here in Alexander comes at a time when the improvement of access to justice is part of our agenda as government. In this respect, a number of government initiatives are being implemented prompted by our endeavour to improve access to justice.
Firstly, we are building and improving the majority of court facilities in previously disadvantaged areas in order to strike a balance in the distribution of infrastructure with R400 million to be invested in this project.
Secondly, we continue to designate the magisterial districts as equality courts in order to improve access to justice so that our people are no longer expected to approach the High Courts whenever they seek remedial action.
Thirdly, we are also in the process of creating capacity in our courts for indigenous languages, so that all our 11 official languages are utilised in our courts rather than English being the main language.
Fourthly, we are also proceeding with the conversion of Branch Courts into full services courts so that our people do not have to travel to courts in the cities to access services, which are currently not provided by these courts.
But most importantly, our initiative to improve the delivery of free legal services within our community is paramount. As many of you are aware, there are organisations that provide legal aid including the Legal Aid Board and numerous academic institutions and other law societies. But we need to consider whether those services can be consolidated or streamlined, and whether resources can be more efficiently allocated.
For instance, during the past year a total of 113 928 poor South Africans were assisted, largely by the paralegal staff. This is a clear indication of a great demand for civil legal aid services in our communities. And as you know the Legal Aid Board is also under pressure with only 62 Justice Centres and 55 Satellite Offices. I would therefore like to acknowledge the efforts of the Edward Nathan Sonnenberg Law Firm with this initiative, and to emphasis that my department will always support and promote any new pro bono work arrangement that emerges to further improve access to justice. Your initiative is an answer to our objective to ensure that our people have an avenue to resolve their legal problems.
This is mainly because we are struggling to attract law firms to disadvantaged areas like Alexandra, for pro bono work. And quite frankly, it will still be hard moving forward in trying to attract practitioners to smaller residential areas like this one. There are of course some in the profession who are genuinely altruistic and who will go to community centres, take on legal aid work and live in remote areas just to provide a service.
And your firm is a true example of this. These are exceptional people and I congratulate and thank you for this. But it would be foolish to think that the majority of practitioners fit into that category. I would therefore urge the Legal Aid Board to intensify its investment on its Legal Aid programme. We need to have a serious debate about township and rural people, and have a radical look at ways of ensuring fairness to all South Africans regardless of geography.
And I believe if we can work with many law firms like Edward Nathan Sonnenberg, the problems of access to justice may well be a thing of the past. Most importantly, we also need to run effective community legal education to improve legal literacy. The legal aid resources we devote to community legal education can have a significant multiplier effect. For instance, there are good examples that have shown that providing people with early legal information and advice reduces the chance of the person ending up in court.
This means that great benefits can be derived if we build legal knowledge and skills in the community. The legal advice and representation is a practical necessity that those knowledgeable in the law would have to admit that a man who represents himself has an ignorant person for a client. We must therefore improve legal literacy to reduce the burden of legal crisis management on the court system. And this delivers me to my last point. As we transform our justice system, we must ensure that all our people have access to justice in order to improve our ability to identify and meet the needs of those with legal problems.
The commitment of your firm is a good sign of the law profession's social commitment and willingness to shoulder such civic responsibilities. I would also like to pay tribute to all those law practitioners who have so generously provided legal advice under difficult circumstances.
In conclusion, I wish to thank those who have given my department their unfailing support. In the years ahead, there are pivotal issues to be resolved - particularly in relation to the transformation of the judiciary and access to justice. I look forward to a continued participation of all lawyers and law firms and hope that they be they judges, attorneys, advocates or academics - will play a full part in these reforms in the spirit of improved access to justice for all. The government and the people of South Africa must take bold strides forward, rising to the challenges ahead and searching for excellence in the face of inevitable transformation of the judiciary and our justice system.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
14 July 2009
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (http://www.doj.gov.za)
