Clinical legal education: Identifying required pedagogical components

Clinical legal education is mainly a practical course, although it includes training in the substantive law. University law clinics generally have to satisfy two main objectives, namely teaching of students and service to the community. Clinical teaching methods can make distinctive contributions to student learning. Clinical pedagogy consists of three main categories, namely the clinic experience, classroom instruction and tutorial sessions. These, as well as specialised clinical units, are discussed. Clinic duties expose students to real consultations with live clients posing with real problems, ensuring a sustainable platform for teaching and learning. Classroom instructions are required for substantive law review and teaching in fields such as professionalism and ethics. Tutorials are the most focused form of instruction, where the clinical experiences and classroom instructions are transferred into legal practice

The National Credit Act: Debt counselling may prove to be a risky enterprise

Debt counselling, and debt counsellors, have been introduced in the National Credit Act. The Act assists consumers in controlling debt, but the viability for an individual to register as a debt counsellor is questioned. The requirements (and exclusions) to qualify as debt counsellors, their necessity in identifying reckless lending transactions and their functions in the processes of debt review and debt rearrangement are discussed. Certain categories of persons who may normally incorporate debt counselling as part of their practices and who do not qualify in terms of the Act, is indicated. Debt counsellors’ responsibilities and accompanying risks, at a prescribed fee tariff, are indicated when the debt review processes, from applications by consumers who are not over-indebted, voluntary and involuntary debt rearrangement, until the issuing of clearance certificates, are assessed. An inevitable deduction is that practice as a debt counsellor may be impossible when the financial layout required is assessed. Individuals who, due to their training and experience in the positions they hold, would have been well placed to practice as debt counsellors is shown to be unable to practice as such in terms of the Act. These individuals will be compelled to establish private enterprises to enable them to practise as debt counsellors, which will be impossible at the current prescribed fee tariff

Clinical legal education: Planning a curriculum that can be assessed

Surveys conducted in a selection of jurisdictions are discussed to determine whether clinical legal education should be a core and mandatory course in the LLB curriculum. The focus of a university law clinic and the role of the clinician are examined. The pedagogy that must be used in clinical legal education is explored. The discussions specifically consider skills, values and expected outcomes for the course, as well as effective assessment programmes and common requirements for the design of a curriculum

Ekonomiese ontwikkeling en samewerking in Afrika*

Gedurende die afgelope dekade het verreikende konstitusionele veranderinge in Afrika plaasgevind, en daar is vandag meer as dertig state in Afrika onafhankelik, teenoor slegs vier in 1954, naamlik Egipte, Ethiopië, Liberie en Suid-Afrika. Benewens die mandaatgebied Suidwes- Afrika, wat ’n ekonomiese eenheid met die Republiek van Suid-Afrika vorm; die Britse Kolonies Kenia, Suid- Rhodesië en Gambië; ses protektorate Basoetoland, Betsjoeanaland, Noord-Rhodesië, Njassaland, Swaziland en Zanzibar-Pemba en oorsese provinsies van Europese lande, nl. die Portugese Angola, Mosambiek en Guinee, en Spaans-Guinee, Ifna en Spaans Sahara, Centa en Mililla, en Frans Somaliland, is daar tans die volgende onafhanklike gebiede: Boeroendi, Ethiopië, Libië en Marokko, wat monargieë is; Algerië, Dahomie, Egipte, Gaboen, Ghana. Guinee, Ivoorkus, Kameroen, Kongo (Leopoldstad), Kon go (Brazzastad), Liberië, Malagassie (Madagaskar), Mali, Mauritanië, Niger, Roeanda, Senegal, Sentraal-Afrikaanse Republiek, Soedan, Somalië, Suid-Afrika, Tanganjika, Togo, Tsaad en Tunisië, wat republieke is; en Sierra Leone, Nigerië en Oeganda, wat as statebondslande dominiumstatus het

Clinical legal education: The assessment of student collaboration and group work

Clinical legal education (CLE) should be a mandatory or core course in the LLB curriculum and the focus of a university law clinic must be CLE, namely student training. A recurring assessment challenge is large student numbers. The best solution was found in grouping students together in student firms for collaborative work; this also has strong educational benefits. When assessing students working in collaboration, a fair assessment strategy must be employed, as all group members receive the same mark. Clinicians must develop and implement clear grading criteria, in the form of rubrics, which will enable them to grade numerous assignments consistently and fairly. Peer and self?assessment are considered to allow for individual marks in addition to the group mark. Models of firm and group?work assessment and marking criteria are suggested. The use of both collaboration and rubrics can simplify the grading process, which allows clinicians to conduct multiple assessments and feedback consistently and fairly. Samples of a number of rubrics and surveys are provided

Access to justice outside the conventional mould: creating a model for alternative clinical legal training

The Constitution guarantees access to legal representation in criminal cases, but not for civil matters. The challenge for university law clinics is, therefore, to find alternative ways of assisting law clinic clients in respect of civil matters. Because the delivery of legal services to law clinic clients form part of an academic curriculum, such services have to conform to the demands and standards of teaching final year LLB students at the university. The alternative to the traditional way of litigation via the Magistrates’ Court is found in the Consumer Affairs Court. The operation of a specialist consumer unit, as a litigation entity and as an academic teaching unit is discussed. The functions of such a unit, measured against the goals set for law clinics, can be applied successfully in providing access to justice for civil litigants, whilst providing multiple academic teaching, research and career opportunities

Assessment challenges in the clinical environment

The assessment of students’ performance in the clinical legal education course presents a challenge for a variety of reasons. Factors to be considered are large student numbers, language barriers, a large and diverse client pool, students working in pairs, specialised units within the clinic, education and experience variances amongst students, different levels in students’ knowledge of substantive and procedural law, different levels of experience in clinical supervision and assessment, student expectations and prescribed exit-level outcomes for the course. The setting of parameters for assessment and mark allocation, as well as further methods of assessment, not currently used, are discussed

Closing the gap between the needs of students and the community they serve

University law clinics, within the structures that are identified, must satisfy two main objectives, namely teaching of students and service to clients. The students’ and clients’ needs must be balanced in order to overcome the gap between their respective needs. The outcomes of research into these sometimes conflicting needs are reflected upon. Students’ preparedness for practice, in view of the SAQA exit-level requirements for LLB is discussed. Teaching models are reviewed and curriculum planning methods are suggested. Accommodating the gap between the different needs can best be addressed by teaching in the live client model. Solutions in overcoming the shortcomings of this model are suggested

Clinical legal education: The challenge of large student numbers

Clinician:student ratios in clinical courses at South African university law clinics were found to be, in some instances, more than three times the ratio recommended at other international jurisdictions. Whether clinical legal education should be a mandatory course in the LLB curriculum and whether the focus of the clinicians should be on student training will be probed. In considering the challenge of large student numbers, the solution of grouping students into student law firms for collaborative work will be proposed. The student firm sizes will be discussed and it will be suggested that students work in pairs within student firms. The firm set-up, its operations and the possibility of social loafing will be discussed. It will be shown that the advantages of collaboration far outweigh any disadvantages. Recommendations will be made and it will be shown that the grouping of students in firms will ensure less contact time with clinicians, which will address their workloads and time constraints

Will working students flourish or give up? Exploring the influence of academic psychological capital, grit, and time management

Working students are faced with challenges and responsibilities both at university and in their employment. In attempting to study the books and chapters assigned, meet assignment deadlines, participate in extracurricular activities, and functions at work, working students may be overwhelmed. The primary aim of this study was to examine and understand the influence of non-cognitive factors (including Psychological Capital, time management, and grit) on flourishing and the working student’s intention to quit their studies. A non-probability sampling technique indicating convenience sampling and purposive sampling were employed to recruit respondents. The sample (n = 194) was from a residential university in the Western Cape of South Africa. Non-cognitive variables had a positive relationship with flourishing and a negative relationship with intention-to-quit studies. Academic mindset measured as Psychological Capital explained the largest proportion of the variance in flourishing and intention-to-quit studies. Lecturers, counsellors, and university officials should collaborate to incorporate programmes that will aid in developing these non-cognitive variables into the university’s curriculum. These interventions may help improve academic success and throughput of working students