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24 November 2006

"Strengthening the Law and Legal Systems for Development in the SADC region"

Mr Vincent Saldanha, President of the SADC Lawyer' Association
Members of the Association's Executive
Distinguished guests
Esteemed ladies and gentlemen

Allow me, first and foremost, to, on behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, welcome all of you present at this important conference. Allow me also to express my own heartfelt gratitude for the honour and privilege you have bestowed upon me by asking me to say a few words on the occasion of this conference.

I further want to congratulate the organisers of this conference, the SADC Lawyers' Association who have convened us to discuss a topic of extreme importance which is titled: Strengthening the law and legal systems for development in the SADC region.

Distinguished guests, Africa is today a far different continent from what it was 10 years ago. We in South Africa as we celebrate 10 years of our Constitution, we are a much more stable country than we were a decade ago. Our economy, compared to 10 years ago, is thriving. The SADC region is also undergoing exciting and dynamic changes, which will equip our region better to deliver to its people. Tremendous strides have been made over the past years towards greater integration and cooperation in various fields. Most encouraging is the sense of political will, determination and urgency which SADC members have displayed in tackling the often difficult challenges that confront us.

As we continue to work towards regional integration, our priority should and must remain the effective implementation of decisions taken. Ten years ago we had the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) with a strong focus on anti-colonialism and liberation movements.

Today the continent has the African Union (AU), whose main aim is to end conflicts and wars on the continent. The organisation has a strong focus on socio-economic developments. With the passage of years we have therefore seen meaningful collaboration among Africa states that has brought an end to wars. An example of this can be seen in the strides that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has made.

Honoured guests, I must say that I am inspired by the noble goals of the SADC Lawyers’ Association. When I received this invitation to address you this morning, I looked up the objectives of the Association and I see that some of these include, to maintain and promote the rule of law throughout the South African Development Community (SADC) region and to promote human rights. These objectives are indeed similar to our own national goals. But why should these objectives be any different? After all, the challenges facing South Africa as a country are similar to those facing the SADC region and the whole African continent. I would therefore like to use this opportunity to talk about some of these challenges, such as enhancing access to justice for all our people.

One of our greatest challenges in this region and indeed throughout the African continent is that of broadening meaningful access to justice for all our people and not only those that can afford it. In going about addressing these challenges we have to be honest with ourselves if our efforts are to bear fruit. We need to do an introspection of our progress in accelerating access to justice.

Ladies and gentlemen, through a wide-ranging process of transformation, the South African government has had to intervene decisively to ensure that the legacy of our divided past is completely eradicated. It was the former Minister for Justice, the late Dullah Omar who noted that: "We have been looking critically at the role of government and have come to the firm conclusion that government must within the framework of the constitution intervene to create real equality."

When talking about equality here, we are not only referring to it in terms of race, but in its widest sense including, inequality between the rich and the poor. In the current legal environment, only the wealthy can easily afford the services of private legal practitioners.

Few South Africans have the financial resources to afford an attorney. In our attempts to broaden access to justice, we have looked into various options, such as the Legal Aid Board. The Legal Aid Board's mandate is to provide accessible legal services and effective access to justice for the poor. However, it is not many people who are aware of the crucial role that the Legal Aid Board plays in the South African legal system. The Legal Aid Board lawyers, who act as public defenders for those who cannot afford private legal representation, stand between the majority of poor people brought before court on criminal charges, and jail. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has resourced the LAB for about R485 million during the current financial year to enable it to carry out its mandate to reach more people, especially the poor and those in rural areas.

But the question is: what is the legal service sector doing to ensure that access to legal services is broadened to all our people? This question is not only relevant to South African legal practitioners, but to all legal practitioners on the continent.

Ladies and gentlemen, it should, however, be noted that these objectives cannot be achieved by governments alone. There is a need to involve other stakeholders such as the private sector and civil society organisations. The partnership between public and private sector stakeholders is of strategic importance in making the process of integration a more inclusive and legitimate one with all relevant stakeholders actively pursuing the goals of SADC. Critical to this will be the mobilisation of resources and joint planning of strategies and roles that will complement each other. If we are to succeed in determining and controlling our own destiny in the emerging world order, then it is imperative that we ourselves create environments which will be conducive to sustainable access to justice and legal systems, economic growth and development.

Honoured guests, another dimension of access to justice and legal systems relates to the achievement of gender equality. Equality between women and men has come to be recognised as a human right, a democratic and economic imperative. One of the things that particularly bother me about the legal services sector is that women practitioners are not enabled to grow in the profession. In fact many are leaving the profession disillusioned. In South Africa you can count on one hand the number of women involved in generating knowledge and critical thinking in the profession. We as legal scholars should therefore prepare ourselves for the challenges confronting SADC and its member states as we pursue the ideals and principles of equality and human rights.

In conclusion, in order to fully reap the benefits of enhanced integration and greater co-operation in the region, it is imperative that we strengthen our legal systems in the region. It is also critical that as we proceed to ensure access to justice for all, we should do so with honesty and integrity. One of the objectives of the SADC Lawyers Association is the promotion of the honour, integrity of the profession and uniformity in standards of professional ethics. Where legal sector professionals are involved, surely there should be no incidents of members of the profession colluding with criminals in fraud and criminal activities. In our case in South Africa, we are on a daily basis seeing members of the profession caught in criminal activities involving social grants fraud and tax evasion.

As legal practitioners we need to work for the common good and maintain high standards in our practice. I wish you all well for the rest of the conference and I trust that the papers presented at this conference and the discussions will contribute significantly to the development and harmonisation of laws in the SADC region. I would also like to invite delegates from out of the country to take some time out after the discussions here to enjoy our beautiful country.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
24 November 2006
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutionals Development (http://www.doj.gov.za)