Legal education in South Africa

Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular jurisdiction, to provide a greater breadth of knowledge to those working in other professions such as politics or business, to provide current lawyers with advanced training or greater specialisation, or to update lawyers on recent developments in the law.

Legal education can take the form of a variety of programs, including:

Early Western legal education emerged in Republican Rome. Initially those desiring to be advocates would train in schools of rhetoric. Around the third century BC Tiberius Coruncanius began teaching law as a separate discipline. His public legal instruction had the effect of creating a class of legally skilled non-priests (jurisprudentes), a sort of consultancy. After Coruncanius' death, instruction gradually became more formal, with the introduction of books on law beyond the then scant official Roman legal texts. It is possible that Coruncanius allowed members of the public and students to attend consultations with citizens in which he provided legal advice. These consultations were probably held outside the College of Pontiffs, and thus accessible to all those interested.

Canon and ecclesiastical law were studied in universities in medieval Europe. However, institutions providing education in the domestic law of each country emerged later in the eighteen century.

In England, legal education emerged in the late thirteenth century through apprenticeships. The Inns of Court controlled admission to practice and also provided some legal training. English universities had taught Roman and canon law for some time, but formal degrees focused on the native common law did not emerge until the 1800s.

In many countries, including most of those in the Commonwealth of Nations, the principal law degree is an undergraduate degree, usually known as a Bachelor of Laws (LLB). Graduates of such a program are eligible to become lawyers by passing the country's equivalent of a bar exam. In these countries, graduate law programs are advanced degrees which allow for more in-depth study or specialisation.

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