Fifteen years have passed since the four-year undergraduate Baccalaureus
Legum (“LLB”) degree was first introduced in 1998. This degree was
introduced by the Qualification of Legal Practitioners Amendment Act 78 of
1997 “as the minimum academic qualification for admission to practice as an
advocate or an attorney … [to] ensure a level of equality between all
practising lawyers” (Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Discussion Paper on Transformation of the Legal Profession (1999) 4). The
justification for the introduction of the four-year LLB programme was twofold:
First, there were too few black South Africans represented in the legal
profession and, secondly, the country’s previous apartheid policy had
resulted in a distinction between the law degree that could be obtained by
whites and that which could be obtained by non-whites (Greenbaum “The
Four-year Undergraduate LLB: Progress and Pitfalls” 2010 35 Journal of
Juridical Science 1 2). To address these problems, Government introduced
a single law degree, which was intended in one fell-swoop to remedy both
the problem of under-representivity as well as provide equal qualifications for
all.Department of HE and Training approved lis
