Iya, P. F. (1996) Skills development for competent practice of law : an analysis of the skills development programmes for lawyers in the Boleswa countries of South Africa. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The central thesis around which several arguments develop and revolve in
this work is that time has come for members of the legal profession in Botswana,
Lesotho and Swaziland - countries with shared historical, cultural, legal and socioeconomic
values - to join other forces in assessing both their structures and
functions with a view to readjusting them to suit the new demands of society, namely
that even under those new conditions, legal services must not only be available but
must be competently delivered to the public. To be responsive to the needs of
society, lawyers must be trained in such a way that they are able to appreciate the
importance of social goals and contribute to the full satisfaction of those goals with
competence and efficiency.
In advancing the above thesis three methods are employed. Firstly, is to
establish the present and future needs of the society and how these needs can be
met in terms of the necessary requirements of law, lawyers and the entire legal
process to satisfy those needs. Secondly, to establish the extent to which those
needs have and are being met and to explain the reasons for the limitation in their
success. Thirdly, to advance the theory that legal education has a task in
transforming society by equipping students with highly developed skills needed to
bring about people-centred development.
The object of the thesis is, therefore, to develop and explore through
empirical research new avenues of development-oriented legal education by
analysing the sources and magnitude of the problem of legal education; by
examining the social context in which law, lawyers and the entire legal process
operate; by exploring all factors, legal and non-legal, which limit law, lawyers and
legal institutions, including legal education in their role to meet the needs of society
and by developing a skills-oriented legal education which would produce lawyers
much needed for development within the context of Botswana, Lesotho and
Swaziland.
To that end the work is divided into ten chapters discussing, amongst others,
the objectives and methodology employed in the research; the concept of
development and the limitations of lawyers in that development process as
evidenced by the socio-political economy of the BOLESWA countries; the legal
needs and the utilisation of lawyers to meet those needs in Swaziland; and the
extent to which the past and present law programmes adequately prepare lawyers to
satisfy social needs. It ends by providing a few suggestions. However, central to
the entire discussion is the development of a fresh model in legal education that
emphasises skills development as the most appropriate for development-oriented
lawyers needed today in the BOLESWA countries. In one's research in legal
education, one is struck by lack of sufficient work in this area. Yet legal education is
at a crossroad of its development in the BOLESWA countries where crisis of law
and development occupy central themes in scholarly debates currently taking place.
If significant changes are to be effected, the arguments on skills development
presented in this thesis remain critically important for future debates, policy
formation and implementation on the subject in the BOLESWA countries and
Southern Africa generally.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	K Law [LC] > K Law (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Law -- Study and teaching -- Botswana, Law -- Study and teaching -- Lesotho, Law -- Study and teaching -- Swaziland, Sociological jurisprudence -- Botswana, Sociological jurisprudence -- Lesotho, Sociological jurisprudence -- Swaziland, Legal services -- Botswana, Legal services -- Lesotho, Legal services -- Swaziland
Official Date:	December 1996
Dates:	Date Event December 1996 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Burridge, Roger
Sponsors:	University of Warwick. Dept. of Law ; Centre for Science Development of South Africa ; Macquarie University
Extent:	xxi, 325 leaves
Language:	eng

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