LEGAL SECTOR CODE DISCUSSION ON SA FM

LEGAL SECTOR CODE DISCUSSION ON SA FM: Interview with Ms Christine Qunta

Legal Sector Code will transform the legal profession and address the imbalances of the past

The Legal Sector Code (LSC) Steering Committee, has welcomed the approval of code by the Minister of Trade Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau, in terms of section 9(1) of the B-BBEE Act 53 of 2003. The stakeholders in government, including State Owned Entities (SOEs) and the legal practitioners are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the code and to prepare for the changes and requirements of the Code.

“This is a historic milestone in terms of transformation of the legal sector and previously there were two efforts made to introduce a charter for the legal profession and this is the most successful,” says LSC Transformation
Steering Committee chairperson, Ms Christina Qunta.

She explains that the Legal Sector Code is established in terms of section 9(1) of the B-BBEE Act 53 of 2003. “Therefore it becomes binding for verification purposes instead of the generic scorecard. It is binding on all legal practitioners, attorneys and advocates who choose to be measured for B-BBEE,” explains Qunta.

Giving context on the importance of the code, Qunta explained that there are structural challenges faced by black practitioners, especially black women, as a result of historical inequalities are: “There is inadequate access to a sustainable flow of quality work from the private sector; discrimination by the private sector in terms of procurement of specialised work; inconsistent briefing patterns from organs of state and SOEs; unequal access to senior positions in racially mixed law firms, in particular in large LSMEs; and a lack of skills resulting from limited access to quality and specialised areas of work”, says Qunta.

The immediate next step in the process will be for the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Ms Thembi Simelane, to appoint a LSC Charter Council to oversee and monitoring the implementation the code.
According to Mr Thabo Masombuka, a member of the LSC Steering Committee, once the LSC Charter Council is appointed it will be the only authorised structure to give guidelines on the code.

“The only authority of giving accreditation and guidance on compliance with the code or extension of scope will be with the LSC Charter Council, we therefore we gently caution agencies and advisors not to see the promulgation of the code as an opportunity to enter this market, this code is specifically structured to give the Charter Council appointed the sole mandate of giving advice and accreditations,” explains Masombuka.

“It is also important to note that the role of the Legal Practice Council (LPC) and the Legal Sector Code Charter Council are distinctly different, the LPC remains the regulatory authority with the mandate of regulating the
profession and protecting the public; while the Charter Council focuses on the adherence, accreditation and guidance on compliance with this newly gazetted code,” adds Masombuka.

The LSC will facilitate redress in aspects of the profession that require specific measurements and interventions. More importantly, it also provides specific guidelines for industry stakeholders on how they can meet the requirements of the code. “The code also introduces targets are aimed at addressing the unequal representation of racial sub-groups participating in the sector, based on regional and demographic representations, being Africans, Coloureds and Indians. Furthermore, the targets will assist ensuring that black women are equitably
represented in the management and ownership structures of legal practices,” adds Steering Committee Chair, Christina Qunta.

“It is important to note that attorneys firms with a turn over of less than R5 million and advocates with turnover of less than R3 million will not be obliged to meet the requirements of the code. In terms of ownership scorecard, for large firms, in the first-year ownership must be 30% black owned with women being 15%. Over a five-year period, ownership must increase to 50% with women increasing to 25%. Management control, in the first year, for large law firms, 30% in the first year up to 50% with women being 15% and moving up to 25% in the fifth year,” explains Qunta.