Three UKZN School of Law academics presented papers at the recent Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) Conference held at the Zambian Institute for Advanced Legal Education in Lusaka.
The conference was themed: Challenges and Opportunities for Commonwealth Legal Education.
The academics were Professor David McQuoid-Mason, Dr Franaaz Khan and Dr Vishal Surburn.
McQuoid-Mason, who is President of CLEA and Acting Director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at UKZN, presented the opening paper titled: How Clinical Legal Education can Decolonise Traditional Legal Education.
Khan spoke on: Reviewing the Life Orientation Curriculum Pertaining to Gender and Security in South African Schools and the Role of Street Law and Law Clinics, while Surburn’s presentation was titled: The Introduction of Legislative Drafting Skills in Law Schools: An Example of Best Practice in Maritime, Marine and Environmental Law Undergraduate Modules.
McQuoid-Mason also ran a one-day Interactive Teaching Skills Workshop before the conference.
The conference was attended by delegates from India, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe, with papers presented covering the following themes: clinical legal education, modernising the law curriculum, human rights, the use of technology in legal education, and government and combating corruption.
Logistical support for the conference was provided from South Africa by McQuoid-Mason, with the assistance of Melissa and Andrea Murray of the Institute of Professional Legal Training (IPLT), and generous sponsorship from publishers Juta & Co Ltd.
The team was able to keep the registration fees low by obtaining sponsorship for meals and teas, and reducing their cost through self-catering.
The CLEA Conference was held the week before the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference (CLC) in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe where McQuoid-Mason delivered a paper titled: Legal Education: Uber Specialisation and Postgraduate Education, and also assisted with the running of the CLEA Commonwealth Moot Competition which was won by Canada in a close contest with the United Kingdom.
Words: Ndabaonline