Pro Bono & Human Rights Advocacy

During the week of 7-10 April, our Pro Bono & Human Rights practice (Pro Bono Practice) partnered with the University of Hertfordshire (Herts University), United Kingdom, Judge Stuart Wilson from the Johannesburg High Court, and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) to deliver an intensive and highly engaging practical advocacy workshop for public interest and human rights lawyers.

The training was facilitated by Simone Start and Stuart Lindsay, both Barristers and Principal Lecturers at the Department of Law, Criminology and Professional Legal Education, Herts University, with the assistance of Anne Marie de Vos SC, Jacquie Cassette, Head of our Pro Bono Practice, and lawyers from LHR. The primary purpose of the training was to equip the participants with practical litigation skills, with emphasis on developing their oral advocacy skills.

The participants included young attorneys from various public interest law organisations, including LHR, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), the Centre for Child Law, AccessChapter2, Probono.Org, and Amnesty International, and pro bono practices in commercial law firms, as well as junior advocates.

We were privileged to be joined by Judge Seena Yacoob, Judge Elmien du Plessis, Judge Sandiswa Mfenyana, and Judge Richard Moultrie, who, together with Judge Stuart Wilson, imparted invaluable insights and guidance to the participants from the perspective of a judge.

The feedback received from participants was overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to rolling out further workshops going forward.