Welcome to the Department of Law.  

In order to meet both Faculty and University Vision and Mission statements, the Department holds the values of :-

• Academic excellence by striving to produce graduates who have attributes that are nationally relevant and globally competitive;
• Honesty and Integrity;
• Accountability and Mutual trust;
• A teaching and learning as well as a research and innovation environment that is conducive for both the academics and the students to be actively engaged in both knowledge construction and knowledge production ;
• To futher the vision of making higher education more accessible in the interest of social justice and
• To always maintain the reputation of UNIZULU by producing Lawyers who are destined to be future leaders.
• The Department also promotes access to justice through the legal services offered at the UNIZULU Law Clinic that provides free legal services to the indigent community.

Purpose and Rationale of the Qualification

Purpose

The purpose of the UNIZULU LLB is to ensure that the minimum required outcomes of an LLB and their assessment have been effectively achieved. The qualification meets the minimum requirement for 480 credits, is on a career-focused track, and provides a framework to ensure that students may achieve both the required, compulsory minimum outcomes, as well as have a selection of electives to satisfy their specific interest areas. The choice to do more than one elective per semester can result in the student earning up to 504 credits at the end of his or her studies.

The contribution of the LLB programme to the legal discipline cannot be overemphasised. It is a prerequisite for entry into the legal practice, academia and a variety of other professions that require legal training. The programme has a mixture of practical, procedural skills and a body of knowledge that a graduate would need to demonstrate that there is mastery of Law in order to practice.

Rationale

The programme has been designed in line with national norms and standards. This degree is the minimum qualification for any career in law, be it public prosecutor, magistrate, judge, law advisor, attorney or advocate.  To become an attorney, a person must, after completion of the degree, attend the School for Legal Practice and/or serve articles of clerkship in an attorney’s office, and pass the profession’s prescribed practical examinations. In order to formally practise as an advocate, a person must join one of the Bar Associations. A person holding the LLB degree must firstly apply to be admitted as an advocate by the High Court of South Africa, and thereafter complete a term of pupillage and pass the Bar Council’s practical examination.

Exit-level outcomes:

The aims of the LLB are to produce graduates:

• with a systematic and coherent body of understanding and an in-depth knowledge of the relevant legal concepts and principles;
• with a high level of cognitive and problem-solving skills, and the ability to apply principles in practice principles;
• able to communicate both in speaking and in writing;
• numerate and computer literate;
• able to apply basic research methods to the practice of law;
• with the desire for lifelong personal intellectual growth;
• able to take initiative and responsibility;
• the ethical standards required to participate in the promotion of the administration of justice and the development of legal institutions in South Africa; and
• empowered to accept their responsibility towards the realisation of a just society based on a constitutional democracy and the rule of law within an international legal order.

LLB degree: General information

Bachelor of Laws

POSTGRADUATE QUALIFICATIONS

All qualifications in FCAL are accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and are registered with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

General Admission Requirements

Prospective postgraduate students are advised to consult the University’s Manual for Postgraduate Studies carefully. On completing a baccalaureus degree students are not automatically admitted to the postgraduate programmes of the Faculty. Admission and registration for postgraduate programmes take place in accordance with the General Rules and meeting the specific entrance requirements of the different qualifications. The entrance requirements of the different qualifications may also differ. Entry into postgraduate studies will be subject to satisfactory performance at undergraduate level and the recommendation of the relevant department head and subsequent ratification by the Faculty Board of Commerce, Administration and Law.

Submissions and Deadlines

Students must make sure of the official deadlines for submitting examination documents, i.e. research projects, dissertations and theses. These dates are determined annually. A student who submits his examination documents after the prescribed deadline will most probably not receive his degree at the next graduate ceremony and he/she will have to wait for the next graduation ceremony. The implication of this negligence will be that the student will have to register and pay class fees for another year.

MASTER’S QUALIFICATIONS BY RESEARCH

The teaching philosophy for post-graduate studies is based on the following assumptions:

• That the students are adults and that the principles underpinning adult learning inform the teaching approach to be used. This includes self-directed learning, self-paced learning and critical reflective learning.
• The students are independent students and should develop the ability to synthesise, analyse and interpret a variety of facts and be able to formulate a critical stance.
• That students are guided and supported to develop the ability to understand the variety of academic discourses and the ability to develop sound academic writing skills that are of a standard that corresponds with work of a postgraduate standard.

Master of Laws (2LLM06)

1. Research on an approved field of study must be undertaken under the guidance of a supervisor, and a dissertation (or thesis of limited scopes) submitted.
2. A student may be required to undergo an examination, written or oral, in the field of study of his or her dissertation.
3. Material previously included in a LLB dissertation may, with the approval of Faculty, be included in a LLM dissertation.

Purpose and Rationale of the Qualification

 Exit-level outcomes

Master of Laws: General Information

DOCTORAL QUALIFICATIONS

Purpose and Rationale of the Qualification

Doctor of Laws (Doctor Legum) (2LLD06)

Specific rules relating to the Degree of Doctor Legum are:

1. The General Rules notwithstanding, the degree may also be awarded on the basis of meritorious publications.
2. A student shall be required to undergo an oral examination in the field of study of his or her thesis.
3. Material previously included in an LLB or LLM dissertation may, with the approval of Senate, be included in an LLD thesis.

Doctor of Laws: General Information