No Fear No Favour No Persecutors instead of Prosecutors........
2011-06-30 15:58
2011-06-30 15:58
Johannesburg - Lower court judges are doing their best under the circumstances when deciding on bail for repeat offenders, Bernard Ngoepe, judge president of the High Courts in Pretoria and Johannesburg, said on Thursday.
"Bail is not as simple as many people think," he said at a briefing to announce an access to justice conference in July.
"Repeat offenders are not always guilty every time. It is not an easy matter.
"It is difficult to deal with and sometimes a court might get it wrong and another will get it right."
The subject was raised again after it emerged that some of the people arrested for allegedly killing Northcliff police reservist Mark Ishlove also took part in a break-in at the home of Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros and were out on bail at the time.
"But I think they are doing their best under the circumstances," said Ngoepe.
"Bail is not as simple as many people think," he said at a briefing to announce an access to justice conference in July.
"Repeat offenders are not always guilty every time. It is not an easy matter.
"It is difficult to deal with and sometimes a court might get it wrong and another will get it right."
The subject was raised again after it emerged that some of the people arrested for allegedly killing Northcliff police reservist Mark Ishlove also took part in a break-in at the home of Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros and were out on bail at the time.
"But I think they are doing their best under the circumstances," said Ngoepe.
- SAPA
The Citizen
Scrap 4 year LLB degree - Ngoepe
2014-04-19 11:59
Johannesburg - Retired Transvaal Judge Bernard Ngoepe has called on South African universities to scrap the four-year LLB degree, The Saturday Star reported.
"In the olden days, you would not even be allowed to enrol for an LLB without a junior degree," Ngoepe told the newspaper.
He said the undergraduate LLB was a "glorified" BProc - the previously phased out Baccalaureus Procurationis course completed in order to qualify as an attorney in South Africa.
"They took what was a BProc degree, added one or two more courses and called it an LLB," said Ngoepe.
He was responding to Wits University's announcement this week that it was discontinuing its undergraduate Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) and replacing it with a LLB postgraduate programme.
"In meetings with law firms and members of the Bar, one assessment was uniformly received - the four-year undergraduate LLB does not adequately prepare students for the legal profession," university spokesperson Buhle Zuma said in a press statement at the time.
Ngoepe said that the BProc degree should have been retained at universities as an entry point into the profession and students could then study further for an LLB degree.
- SAPA
The Citizen
COMMENTS BY SONNY
It's about time that criminal lawyers and prosecutors are trained to handle complex cases in High courts.
B. Prog was seen as an entry level for a LLB degree.
Then education went backwards to where we are now.
Take the Oscar Pistorius Trial where the prosecutor sees his role as a persecutor.
Before knowing the FACTS OF THE CASE, he proceeded, to attempt to convict and/or intimidate the
accused Oscar Pistorius into a "Premeditated State of Mind!"
Only now towards the end of the trial he has tailored his case to suit the situation by inferring that the
accused is suffering from a mental illness or social anxiety deviation?
WHAT WILL THE OUTCOME OF THIS TRIAL BE AND WHAT WILL THE EFFECT BE ON THE ACCUSED's
STATE OF MIND?
JUDGE MASIPA WILL HAVE TO DECIDE!
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