The Wits Faculty of Law 1922-1989 A Story with a Personal Touch

In recognition of the vital role played by our universities in the development of the law and the legal profession an article by Professor A H van Wyk on the Law Faculty of Stellenbosch was pub­ lished in the April 1989 edition of CONSU LTUS. In the article appearing in this edition Professor Ellison Kahn deals with the Law Faculty of Wits. Hopefully, similar articles on other law faculties in South Africa will appear in future editions of CONSU LTUS.

I Conception and Gestation Conception took place in 1905. Law standing. In mid-1906 the Institute be­ constituent college of the newly creat­ classes then commenced at the Trans­ came a branch of the Transvaal ed University of South Africa, a fede­ vaal Technical Institute, the oldest University College, the other branch ral examining institution succeeding predecessor of Wits. The period of being in Pretoria. By now J Colin Mur­ the University of the Cape of Good gestation was seventeen years: in 1922 ray had joined Morice, bringing his pri­ Hope. Pressure for the creation of an the University of the Witwatersrand vate pupils across. Murray (1876-1947), independent university in Johannes­ was born. a Scottish solicitor, had practised as an burg proved irresistible. In 1920 the The Institute offered tuition for the attorney in Cape Town from 1899 to School became the 'University Conege, Law Certificate for attorneys and the 1902, and then moved to Johannes­ Johannesburg' with 812 students, and Civil Service Lower Law Examination. burg, where his professional ability the next year the University of the Wit­ The head of the department was soon became apparent. Murray's love watersrand, Johannesburg, (Private) Professor George Morice, who had of education led to his serving Wits Act was passed, which was brought been a Transvaal judge in republican with devotion until shortly before his into operation on 1 March 1922. days, and was practising at the Preto­ death, lecturing in a part-time capaci­ Classes of the School had been held ria Bar. He remained until mid-1908, his ty from 1906 to 1946. Despite his lack since 1910 at its attractive building on notorious lack of fluency notwith- of a university degree, Wits made him Plein Square opposite Park Station part-time Professor of Mercantile Law (subsequently part of the Technical in 1927, a position he held up to the College and thereafter part of the end of 1946. Even in advanced age Technikon) and from 1915 also in the Murray was delightfully pawky. A unsightly, uncomfortable wood and member of his class on bills of ex­ corrugated-iron structures, known change nearly fifty years ago, I remem­ (even in official records) as the Tin ber his requiring his students to recite Temple, to the west of the square, sections of the Act (which he was structures that had been vacated by reputed to know entirely by heart), and the municipality in'1915 on the com­ his pronouncing (was it in a Scottish pletion of the Town Hall. Until the end brogue?) secondly as sigh-kindly. of 1928 almost all law lectures took In 1909 the College started conduct­ place in the Tin Temple. ing classes in addition for LLB students From mid-1908 until the end of 1912 of the then University of the Cape of Colin Murray conducted all the law Good Hope, a purely examining body classes. Then he was joined by J V and the only degree-awarding institu­ Brink BA LLB as a part-time assistant tion in southern Africa. lecturer. Brink, who was at the Johan­ 1910 saw the Pretoria branch of the nesburg Bar, where later he became a College become independent, snatch­ leading silk, helped Murray from 1913 ing its name. The Johannesburg branch to 1920. No one has ever drawn atten­ was now the School of Mines and tion to Jack Brink's services to our Professor J Colin Murray Technology, which in 1918 became a faculty.

CONSULTUS, OCTOBER 1989 103 11 Babe in Arms: 1922-1925 (23 taking the LLB, 20 the Law Certifi­ hannesburg Bar. One was Harold Han­ cate and 6 the Civil Service Lower), out son, who b'ecame a KC and was a The Department of Law of the new of a total University enrolment of some brilliant trial advocate - 'Hansonian university had only two members of 1 300. eloquence' was a byword. Another was staff, both part-time: Murray as lec­ Of a law library there was not a sign. H J B Vieyra, 'who was part-time lec­ turer and Dean of the Faculty of Law, While students were allowed to' use the turer in the Department of Law for the and 0 D Schreiner BA (CG H) MA (Can­ Supreme Court library, it is doubtful if LLB and attorneys' and civil service tab) as an assistant. Schreiner, aged 31, many did, for a law course amounted courses from 1943 until his elevation after taking a brilliant degree in law at to no more than lectures on a con­ to the Transvaal Bench in 1963. His Cambridge and gallant service in the densed version of the prescribed text­ rather precise and correct manner of Great War, had joined the Johannes­ book, such as Salmond on speaking hid his true -modesty and burg Bar in October 1920, and already Jurisprudence, Buckland's Manual of warmth. How well I remember the in 1921 had begun delivering part-time Roman-Dutch Law, Lee's An Introduc­spats he wore in winter, wishing that I lectures in law at the University Col­ tion to Roman-Dutch Law, Dicey's Law had the courage to do what he did. lege, Johannesburg. He continued lec­ of the Constitution, parts of Gardiner turing until 1929. Arthur Suzman QC, and Lansdown's South African Crimi­III Growing Up: 1926-1945 who later studied at Oxford and Har­ nal Law and Procedure and Mackeur­ In 1925 the University created a full­ vard, found Schreiner one of the most tan's Sale of Goods. time chair of law. It was filled in 1926, outstanding teachers he had encoun­ Though students were not expected the successful applicant being Robert tered.2 Oliver Schreiner remained a to read law in the true sense and there Gordon (Robin) McKerron (1900-73), member of the Board of the Faculty of was a law school in name only, gradu­ aged 26, another Scot, who had taken Law from 1922 until his death in 1980, ates emerged who were to distinguish brilliant degrees: an MA in Classics at a period that will never be equalled. themselves in the legal profession. In the University of Aberdeen, and a BA From 1962 to 1974 he was Chancellor 1922 two students obtained the LLB. in the honour school of jurisprudence of the University, which in 1961 had One of them, Oscar Rathouse, became at Oxford, followed by a BCL, for conferred the LLD honoris causa on an eminent silk at the Johannesburg which he received the highly prized him. On his distinguished career as a Bar; in 1947, after an acting appoint­ Vinerian Scholarship. McKerron was judge there is no need to elaborate. ment on the Transvaal Bench, he appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law In 1923 another member of the J0­ declined an offer of a permanent ap- and Head of the Department of Law in hannesburg Bar joined the part-time 1927, positions he held until he left on staff and the Board: W H Ramsbottom active service in August 1940. On his BA (CG H) BA LLB (Cantab), then 29. Af­ return to civil life in mid-1945 he re­ ter valorous war service, he had com­ sumed these positions. But his years as menced practice in 1921 . 'Rammy', a prisoner of war had taken their toll that saint-I ike character and great of his sensitive and highly strung per­ judge, lectured until 1928, writing his sonality. He resigned early in 1947 to lectures on the blackboard in a mag­ practise at the Johannesburg Bar. Un­ nificent hand. He remained on the til 1955 he was a part-time lecturer. Board until his death in 1960. Then he left the city, to take up vari­ Another early part-time lecturer was ous academic posts at other universi­ Norwood E Coaker, also of the Johan­ ties, most of the time at Rhodes. nesburg Bar, and later a silk, who re­ McKerron was a perfectionist, with mained from 1925 to 1938: a cultivated a laser-beam-like concentration on gentleman, very precise in speech. matters engaging his attention that Mention must also be made of Harry caused him to be absent-minded. The Rissik, a part-time lecturer in the period story is told that he arranged two class­ 1926-34. es in different subjects in adjoining The LLB lectures were delivered in rooms at the same time, and coped by the Tin Temple in the late afternoon. lecturing during the hour for a few The LLB was a postgraduate degree ex­ minutes in the one room followed by tending over three years, which could Professor R G McKerron a few minutes in the other one. But he be r.educed by one year through obtain­ A photograph taken in the early 1960 l s performed his administrative duties ef­ ing credit in certain law courses for the ficiently as a rule. The able student ap­ BA. The fees for students were eight­ pointment, ill an attempt to help exist­ preciated his lectures. Everyone een guineas a year, raised in 1927 to ing judges secure better remuneration. appreciated his old-world courtesy and twenty guineas. Translated into today's The offer was not made again. Among charm. rands, the fees then were about R1 200. the four who qualified in 1923 was B McKerron immediately decided to Today they are around R3 500 - but A (Sonny) Ettlinger, later also a leader build up a law library. Since 1921 the the student receives far more in return. of the Johannesburg Bar. The follow­ University Council had held the sum of In 1925 the expenditure on the sala­ ing year saw only one LLB - Victor £573 handed to it by the trustees of the ries of Murray, Schreiner and Coaker Rosenstein, who, too, in later years was Leonard Memorial Fund to keep alive was £900, at the rate of £2 a I~cture ­ a skilled senior at the Johannesburg the name of James Weston Leonard KC .say R100 in present terms. There were Bar. In 1925 six students obtained the (1853-1909) - 'Peerless Jim', distin­ only 49 students in the Faculty of Law degree. Two made their mark at the Jo­ guished politician and advocate. Now

104 CONSULTUS, OKTOBER 1989 the accumulated funds of some £700 The Law Library was built up again. the use of practitioners, and being edit­ were used to buy the South African Part of the old collection was replaced ed after Hof mann's death by experts in Law Reports and textbooks. The J W in 1932 by the purchase of the library t he subjects.) The Wits Selection Com­ Leonard Memorial Law Library was of L E Krause, attorney of Pietersburg, mittee preferred Hofmann to the other housed with the rest of the University an early and able translator of portions short-I isted applicant, a Scots academ­ library and the Department of Law it­ of Voet's Commentarius ad Pandectas. ic of good presence, but with few pu­ self in the middle portion of the Cen­ Once again Colin Murray donated the bl ications, who was also recommended tral Block. That portion was then only entire series of volumes of the Law by the London Committee. In retro­ a temporary wood and iron structure Quarterly Review. By 1945 there was spect Wits probably chose the wrong behind the famous portico and pillars, a complete collection of South African man. At all events, out came Hofmann the most photographed university fa­ law reports, and a good collection of at the beginning of 1935, and back he cade in the country. The Council had English law reports, though no reports went towards the end of the year. The run out of funds. from other countries. There was a fair reason he gave for his resignation was The Law Library grew quite rapidly. range of textbooks. The 'old authori­ ill-health; but it was said that the real In 1928 Colin Murray donated a set of ties', however, were scanty, just filling reason was the inadequacy of the law bound volumes of the Law Quarterly two small, glass-fronted bookcases library, a view that receives some sup­ Review, the only set in South Africa for housed in the professor's office. The port from his inaugural lecture, 'The a number of years. A bookcase was library was located in a pleasant long Basis of Mistake on Contractual Obli­ now devoted to house the works of the room in the east corridor of the ground gations',4 in which he bewailed his in­ Roman and Roman-Dutch authorities. floor of the Central Block, overlooking ability to conduct research into the In 1927 Dr F P Walton KC donated a bare patch of ground where the subject of his lecture, 'there being prac­ ,Cujacius's Opera Omnia. R W Lee, Chemistry block now stands, but on tically no material for such personal .Rhodes Professor of Roman-Dutch Law which in those days there was only a research available in this country', an at Oxford, donated in 1927 Dionysius dismal corrugated-iron car shelter. obvious overstatement. Hofmann was Gothofredus's Corpus juris Civilis and Until 1934 Robin McKerron was the to perish in a Nazi extermination camp. in 1929 a manuscript copy of Van der only full-time member of staff of the Now there was a vacant chair again, Keessel's Dictata on Grotius. Other Department of Law. Then a second and this time the University made a ter­ gifts were also made. Then came trage­ chair of law was filled. The incumbent rible mistake in filling it. The Faculty dy. On 24 December 1931 a fire gutted was Ludwig Christoph Hofmann Dr Jur of Law was seeking an incumbent who the entire middle portion and much of (Leyden), a 32-year-old Hollander, a was a specialist in Roman law, jurispru­ the content of the rest of the Central 'repetitor' (a private 'crammer' for law dence and the history of Roman-Dutch Block. Invaluable collections were de­ students), coaching in Dutch civil law, law. Elemer Balogh, born in Hungary ~troyed, including the whole of the the conflict of laws, Roman law and in 1881, LLD (Budapest 1903) applied. Leonard Law Library of over 2 000 Roman-Dutch law in Leyden, who the He claimed to have been Professor of volumes. The University had been London Committee had said in a cable International Law and Comparative grossly negligent in housing the mate was 'good .. . unimpressive appear­ Law at the University of Budapest from rial in an area not built of fire-resistant ance, strongly academic, excellently 1913 to 1922 and of Roman and Com­ material; and in failing to insure most grounded with little practical ex­ parative Law at the University of Kov­ of it. perience ... speaks and reads German, no, Lithuania, from 1923 to 1932; and Up in flames went the manuscript of French, English and Dutch with equal a lecturer in comparative law at the McKerron's Law of Delict, then three­ facility'. In fact William Cullen, mem­ University of Berlin in 1933. Fleeing quarters complete, and all his lecture ber and secretary of the London Com­ Germany in 1933, he was working in notes. He was in the position that Tho­ mittee, in a letter to Raikes written after Paris at the Institute of Comparative mas Carlyle had found himself when Hofmann had resigned, disclosed that Law. He was permanent Secretary John Stuart Mill told him that the he himself had been 'exceedingly General of the International Academy manuscript of the part of The French doubtful about Dr Hofmann's suitabil­ of Comparative Law, which he had in­ Revolution he had asked Mill to read ity'. Hofmann had a recommendation itiated in 1923 at Geneva. Certainly he had been used by Mill's maid to light from the eminent A S de Blecourt, devoted a great deal of attention to the the morning fire. McKerron's reaction Professor of Law in the University of running of this organisation, which in­ was the same as Carlyle's. He started Leyden, and author of leading works on volved an enormous correspondence: afresh, and brought out his book in the history of Roman-Dutch law, that he would buttonhole me and other stu­ 1933. Though it was short - barely 200 was extravagant in its praise. And Hof­ dents, saying'Allo, my friend, you write pages - it filled a pressing need. And mann had already published volume I a letter for me, no?'. In his application it .was written in lucid and polished of his Het Nederlandsch Verbintenis­ he listed 34 publications in six lan­ prose. The work went through seven senrecht which came out in a fourth guages. Two very eminent legal aca­ editions, the last, publ ished in 1971, edition when he was in Johannesburg, demics gave him glowing recom­ running to 329 pages. As Professor and both volumes of his Het Neder­ mendations: Professor Jean Escarra, Tony Honore has so aptly put it, it re­ landsch Zakenrecht. (I was told that Professor of Law in the University of mained as lean and muscular as its these works, originally written for stu­ Paris, and Professor W W Buckland ~ author. 3 Some critics said that it was dents, reflected the view of Hofmann's Regius Professor of Civil Law in the more English than Roman-Dutch law, teacher, the great Professor E M University of Cambridge. The only but this is a"ather unfair statement, Meijers, so closely that in the Nether­ other possible appointee having with­ though admittedly today some of lands Hofmann was called 'HMV.' Still, drawn, in November 1935 a strong Wits McKerron's formulations are out of they went through many editions, selection committee chose Balogh date. gradually becoming more detailed for without his having an interview with it

CONSULTUS, OCTOBER 1989 105 or the London Committee; and the first class in Parts I and II of the Law (Charl ie) Johnson, a bri II iant and University Senate and Council accept­ Tripos and in the LLB at Cambridge. He delightful man, who later emigrated. ed the recommendation. On 14 Janu­ then obtained the SJ D degree at Har­ Many of these teachers were Wits LLBs ary the next year William Cullen of the vard. In 19i8, while practising at the Jo­ who, under McKerron's influence, had London Committee wrote to Raikes, hannesburg Bar he commenced proceeded to Oxford to take the BCL: the Principal, that he and a colleague lecturing part-time in LLB courses, ini­ so Suzman, Murray, Millner and John­ had spent an exhausting hour and a tially in Purchase and Sale, Public In­ son, all of whom, like gifted Wits stu­ half in London talking to Balogh. His ternational Law and the Conflict of dents generally, distinguished them­ eccentric pronunciation and enuncia­ Laws. Soon he concentrated on Con­ selves abroad academically. tion of English had made it hardly pos­ stitutional Law and the Conflict of In 1940, with McKerron about to go sible to understand a word he spoke. Laws. The standards he set were exact­ on active service, Herman Robert (Bob- Had this interview taken place before ing, and for a while the casualties were Balogh's appointment, they would not many. Then the students realised that have recommended him: 'Frankly, I the good old days had gone, and they cannot visualise him either as a lec­ started to cope. In 1944 Pollak took turer or as a teacher'; but now it was silk, and the following year arranged too late. for me to lecture in the Constitutional These fears soon became a reality. Law class. Pollak dropped all his lec­ The eminent professors had sold naIve tures after 1945, for his gifts as an ad­ Wits down the river. The story goes vocate had come to be appreciated by that when Buckland was later the attorneys. But he remained a challenged about his testimonial, he re­ staunch member of the Board of the plied 'You should have read between Faculty until he took the ill-fated step the lines'. But there were no lines to in 1959 of emigrating to England. read between. Tall, heavy, deliberate-moving, slow­ Unkempt, incoherent in English, speaking, and quick-thinking, Poltak highly excitable, this pathetic, eccen­ would have made a splendid professor tric, lonely bachelor was unable or un­ or judge. He became neither, though willing to give a law course that the he could have become either. His ex­ students could follow or cope with. cellent book, The South African Law of McKerron, who disliked Balogh but felt Jurisdiction, published in 1937, is still sorry for him, was not prepared to car­ often cited. How well I remember this ry on with him. The inevitable inquiry modest, shy, brilliant man: the human­ followed, at which Balogh, incapable ity behind his mask of impassivity; his Professor H R Hahlo of defending himself, was allowed to affectation of a cloth cap; his deep dis­ be represented by the redoubtable J Y 'like of draughts, which the students in T Greig, Professor of English. The up­ teasing mood deliberately created for by) Hahlo was appointed temporary shot was that Balogh was shunted off him by opening all the windows of the part-time assistant to hold things to an independent Department of lecture room. together. He had been twice rejected Comparative Law, with no lecturing The other part-time lecturers at on medical grounds for service in the duties, at a reduced salary. I n its mer­ some stage or other in this period in­ Defence Force. cy and because of the war, the Univer­ cluded several members of the Johan­ Born in the United States in 1905, at sity kept him on until the end of 1946. nesburg Bar, among them B L (Birch) an early age Hahlo went with his par­ Whether Balogh ever wrote anything Bernstein (who later entered the world ents to Germany, where he took the Dr that was original is debatable. There is of mining and finance, becoming Presi­ Jur at the University of Halle and com­ a strong case for saying that he com­ dent of the Chamber of Mines; was menced practice. Life under Hitler was posed a stew of the writings and views Chairman of the Council ofWits 1960-8 not for him, and he came to South Afri­ of others. and Chancellor 1975-82; and was given ca in 1934. I n two years he completed Balogh's lectures - they were in the an LLD honoris causa in 1968); Herbert the LLB. At the graduation ceremony courses Roman Law, History of South Vieyra; Arthur Suzman, later to be the on 20 March 1937, LLB degrees were African Law, Public International Law senior silk in the country, on whom the conferred on the si)}teen candidates and Jurisprudence - were taken over University conferred the degree LLD who had passed the Final Examination by, part-time lecturers. So the negli­ honoris causa in 1984, and always a in the previous December - the gence of the selection committee loyal supporter of the faculty; Vincent highest number yet, and not to be resulted in the second chair of law be­ Quenet, later to attain high judicial equalled until 1950, which gives an im­ ing kept in abeyance for seven lost office in Rhodesia; Dante Cloete, re­ pression of the size of the faculty in its years. cently retired as Judge President of the formative years. Several of the sixteen Fortunately, there were excellent Eastern Cape Division; A A Hope; Bram were to achieve prominence, among part-time lecturers in those years. One Fischer, so charming but so misguided; them Cecil Margo, later a war hero, an in particular contributed greatly to the and Maurice Millner, who in the fifties outstanding advocate and then judge, well-being of the faculty: Waiter Pol­ was to join the full-time staff. Among and contributor to public welfare in lak (1903-71). those who were attorneys were lan B many spheres, on whom Wits con­ Pollak had remarkable mental gifts. Murray, son of Colin; George Cook, ferred the honorary degree of LLD in After a BA Hons and an MA in classics who has played a prominent role in the 1985; PC Pelser, who became Minister at Wits with distinction, he obtained a affairs of his profession, and C J of Justice; Herbert Rothschild, who be-

106 CONSULTUS, OKTOBER 1989 came an acting judge; Harry Bloom, LLB relieving the holder from service burg silk, LLD honoris causa of the well-known novelist; Edward van der of articles to become an attorney. Hen­ University in 1989). Merwe, the Springbok wicketkeeper; ceforth three years' articles had to be The lists of those completing the LLB Jack Unterhalter, now SC; and Hahlo, served after a first degree and two af­ contain some interesting and distin­ the person most responsible for raising ter the LLB. The attraction of serving guished names. 1926 saw the first wo­ the faculty to its present stature. articles while reading for the LLB was man graduate, Frieda Ustiev; also During the war years Hahlo carried often to prove irresistible. Secondly, Simon (Simie) M Kuper, later a Trans­ the Department of Law, delivering half from 1936 the 'legal BA' and 'legal vaal judge, who was tragically assassi­ the LLB courses. In 1946 he received BCom' (introduced in 1934) were end­ nated in March 1963. In 1927 among well-deserved promotion to a profes­ ed: now it would take six years to get the six successful candidates were Ar­ sorship. On McKerron's departure in the LLB. Wits was the only South Afri­ thur Suzman and I A (lssi) Maisels, now 1947 he became Head of the Depart­ can university to take this step: a law the senior silk, one of the greatest ad­ ment of Law and Dean of the Faculty student, it felt, should have a proper vocates in the history of South Africa, of Law, positions he retained until background in another discipline ­ who was on the bench of the High shortly before he left Wits in Novem­ any discipline. Were we sanctimoni­ Court of Southern Rhodesia from May ber 1968 to take up a post at McGi11 ous? Did we suffer from an inferiority 1961 to June 1963, and on whom the University in Canada. In 1973 Wits con­ complex?: look - our degree is so University conferred the LLD honoris ferred the LLD honoris causa on him. good because it is so hard to get. causa in 1978. I n the 1928 I ist appear He died in his eighty-first year, bub­ A fair picture is afforded by the 1939 Isaac (Iggy) Isaacs, later a silk, who bling with ideas and hard working to results, by no means the worst: of the practised at the Johannesburg Bar into the end. ­ ten students who wrote the Preliminary his nineties; and William Oshry, a lead­ Hahlo's lectures were well construct­ Examination, five failed; of the five ing senior at the same Bar. The next list ed, with a concentration on principles, who wrote the Intermediate Examina­ contains the names of B L Bernstein; infused with wit and humour, and deli­ tion, two failed; and of the nine who Kathleen (Kathy) Ray Clarke (later Bres­ vered in impeccable English with a wrote the Final Examination, three ler), who had a lengthy career in legal harsh German accent. To students he failed. Those who failed may have practice; and Alien Miller Snijman, for was a rather aloof and forbidding passed all courses but one. And many long prominent in the affairs of the at­ figure, but they acknowledged his abil­ of the students were repeating the ex­ torneys' profession. 1930 saw Joel Mer­ ity as teacher and, later, as writer. amination. vis satisfy the requirements of the LLB. The prescribed LLB courses were Fortunately, the University decided After five years at the Johannesburg modified from time to time but not that those who had served in the armed Bar, he entered the world of newspaper markedly except with the decision in forces would get credit for every editing, in which he attained fame. early 1939 to drop Public Internation­ course passed. It took the School of Since August 1945 he has written 'The al Law from the curriculum. No record­ Law until 1985 to introduce this rule Passing Show' for the Sunday Times. ed reasons can be found, but I suspect generally. Yet from the founding of The Wits Law Faculty can claim some that the Board of the Faculty had Wits it was possible to exclude a stu­ credit for the existence of Mr Justice decided that Hitler's actions had dent who had done poorly. Why Fogbound; K C Taradiddle QC and his shown that it no longer existed. Other­ deprive him of his passes? customary junior, Nicolas Solecism; wise the curriculum was the typically The results in the Law Certificate, a and Waterval Boven QC and his cus­ orthodox and set one of those days, qualification of an outside body, were tomary junior, Waterval Onder. with standard courses in private and even worse than those in the LLB. In I can mention only a few prominent public law, and some emphasis on Ro­ the early thirties they were so poor that later figures, apart from those of the man law and the history of South Afri­ enrolments began dropping. At a meet­ 1936 graduating class already men­ can law. ing, representatives of the Incorporat­ tioned: Melville Festenstein and The credit rules became ever stric­ ed Law Society of the Transvaal said Charles J M Nathan, who became Chief ter, until they reached the stage of in all honesty that the students need­ Justice of Swaziland (1932); Felix I Lan­ cruelty, resulting in a heavy mortality ed a crammer to get them through the dau, who became a judge in Israel rate in the examinations, even among examinations, which covered such a (1933); Maurice A Millner (1935); P M students who were later to prove lead­ wide syllabus that spotting of questions Cillie, who became a Transvaal judge, ing practitioners and even become was essential. University education then Judge President, then judge of ap­ judges. Initially credit was given for would not do the trick. Soon Wits peal; Gerald Gordon, later a Transvaal every course passed. From 1928 pro­ stopped teaching for the Law Cer­ judge; and S J Marais Steyn, who be­ gressively, starting with the Final Ex­ tificate. came a Cabinent minister (1937); H C amination in 1928 and ending with the In 1928 it was made possible for the Nicholas (1939); A H I Mulla, the first Preliminary Examination in 1945, it be­ LLB to be awarded with distinction. Up graduate not a white person - the came an 'all or nothing' affair. Fail a to 1945 among those receiving this ac­ University in those days was open, but course in an examination session, and colade were B L (Birch) Bernstein; Mel­ not, as today, avowedly opposed to ra­ you forfeited all passes at that session. ville H S Festenstein (later KC); Maurice cial segregation and committed to For the part-time student, hard pressed A Millner; H C Nicholas (later part-time non-discrimination (1940); J H (Lammie) to get time off to work for the exami­ lecturer, then a Johannesburg silk, then Snyman, who ascended the Transvaal nations, it was a devastating principle. a judge, and finally a judge of appeal, Bench, and Rex S Welsh (1942); E C And ever more students became part­ LLD honoris causa of the University in Helier, whose career culminated in the timers, for two reasons. The Attorneys, 1985); and Rex S Welsh (Rhodes Scho­ post of Attorney-General of the Eastern Notaries and Conveyancers Admission lar, BCL (axon), Vinerian Scholar, later Cape Division; G PC (G ie) Kotze, who Act of 1934 ended possession of the a part-time lecturer, then a Johannes­ was appointed a judge of the TPD and

CONSULTUS, OCTOBER 1989 107 then the ECD, and f inally a judge of ap­ his father. I was fortunate enough to peal; and I (1943). be appointed in his place at Wits. How Bobby Hahlo, Exton and I IV Manhood 1946-1968 worked! How many courses we gave! The number of LLB graduates declined It was exhausting but exhilarating. To dramatically during the war years. In our good fortune we were joined in 1942 there were only two graduates, in 1949 by Dr J E Scholtens Dr Jur (Am­ 1943 eight, in 1945 nine and in 1946 six. sterdam), a leading practitioner in Hol­ The number then rose steadily, to land, who was appointed to fill the reach a peak of 27 in 1954; then came newly created chair of Roman Law and a slow decline until 1966, when the Jurisprudence. A consummate scholar, number shot up from 20 the previous absolutely at home with the works of year to 45 . the G lossators, Postglossators and Ex-volunteers enrolled in fairly large Roman-Dutch writers - which, with numbers. To brush up the knowledge foresight and acumen, he acquired on of those already qualified, the depart­ behalf of Wits to create a magnificent ment conducted a successful refresh­ collection - he wrote brilliant papers er course in 1946. on teasing legal questions. The clever student real ised the excellence of the content of the courses he taught. Scholtens resigned in 1960 to return to the Netherlands, but he took up his Professor } E Scholtens chair again in 1.966, remaining until he reached the maximum retirement age at the end of 1970. I have heard it said that for the few and Constitution in 1960, which sold years we were together we four did not well and, so I am told, is today a col­ make a bad team of teachers. lector's piece. The last collaborative ef­ The department was assisted .over fort of the two of us was The South many years by a loyal and highly com­ African Legal System and Its Back­ petent band of part-time lecturers, ground, which was well received and most of them at the Johannesburg Bar. in which Hahlo again showed his abil­ They included Vieyra, Nicholas, ity to express himself in lapidary Cloete, Philips, Margo, Welsh, Harry English. Colman, W H R (Bill) Schreiner (son of The production of these and other Oliver Schreiner), Harry Schwarz, Iggy works over the years was made easier Isaacs, Harry Nestadt, J H Conradie, by the improvement in the holdings of Goldstone, Brink (son of J W ), Black­ the Law Library, which in 1976 was stock and Rosenzweig. named after Oliver Schreiner. For Gradually the department began many years the wind continued to car­ Professor Ellison Kahn achieving a name with legal publica­ ry into the library a gritty mix of mine­ tions. In 1947, through the inspiration dump particles, red earth and fish oil of Hahlo, it began publishing the An­ from the factory of Irvin and Johnson nual Survey of South African Law. Hah­ on the corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and The full-time staff was enlarged. In 10 remained editor until his departure Jorissen Street. Things got somewhat 1947 Exton Burchell (1917-82) was ap­ in 1968. Since then it has been under better when the library was moved in pointed senior lecturer. He had been the able editorship of Paul Boberg. As 1955 to the south-east corner of the se­ an Elsie Ballot Scholar at Cambridge, important was the appointment at the cond floor of the Central Block. As the where he had taken a first in both parts end of 1949 of Hahlo and McKerron as collection increased, the library gob­ of the Law Tripos, then spent the en­ joint editors of the South African Law bled up lecture room after lecture tire war in gallant active service with }ournal, I becoming assistant editor. I room to the west, until it was the lon­ th~ Natal Carbineers, attaining the rank succeeded McKerron as joint editor in gest sausage-shaped room in the world. of captain, and thereafter obtained the 1958, and ten years later became sole And it became very overcrowded, as LLB with distinction at the University editor. The oldest journal of its kind in student numbers increased: in 1946 six of South Africa. Within a year he was English, the SAL} has perhaps through students completed the LLB; in 1968 appointed to the chair vacated by our editorship of it brought some credit 45, and a further 18 the Diploma in McKerron. On 1 April 1948 I took his to the Wits Faculty of Law. Hahlo pub­ Law, and there was a very considera­ place as senior lecturer: appropriately lished the first edition of his The South ble number of BA and BCom students All Fools' Day. Exton was a superb lec­ African Law of Husband and Wife in taking law courses. turer, administrator and writer of legal 1953; just before his death he brought To cope with the enrolments, the works, and, above all, a fine gentle­ out the fifth edition of this highly full-time staff was enlarged. Some very man. It was a sad day for Wits when regarded treatise. He and I, with the able, even brilliant, senior lecturers and he decided in 1954 to take up the chair help of colleagues, produced South lecturers came and went. Among them at the University of Natal vacated by Africa: The Development of Its Laws were Maurice Millner, who became a

108 CONSULTUS, OKTOBER 1989 professor at the University of London; seconded to the Bophuthatswana much f or legal writing; L I Goldblatt Peter Hunt, our first LLM (1963), who Supreme Court; M W Friedman (1951), (1958), a Johannesburg silk prominent moved to Natal to take a chair, wrote now on the Bophuthatswana Bench; A in Bar affairs; J H Coetzee (1959), re­ a classic work on criminal law, then P Myburgh (1951), for long a TPD cently appointed to the TPD Bench; practised at the Natal Bar and took judge; J V Lazarus and C Plewman Harold Luntz (1959); N M MacArthur silk, only to die tragically at the age of (1951), leading Johannesburg silks; 0 B (1959), a Transvaal judge; Mervyn King 38; Harold Luntz, now a professor at Hoffe, who rose high in the world of (1960), formerly of the Transvaal the University of Melbourne; Barend mining and finance; M C O'Dowd Bench, now a leading businessman and van Niekerk, that fiery particle, who (1952), Anglo American executive and philantropist; Max Labe (1960), today became professor at the University of dedicated to the uplift of disadvan­ SC and chairman of the Johannesburg Natal, whose death at the age of 42 taged communities; David Zeffertt Bar Council; A W Mostert (1961), who was so sudden and sad; John McLen­ (1952); George Bizos (1953), Johannes­ resigned from the Natal Bench and nan, who also went to Natal to take a burg silk noted as defence counsel; and returned as a senior to the Johannes­ chair; R C Beuthin, who moved to a Harry Nestadt (1953), elevated to the burg Bar; Ralph Zulman (1961), a Jo­ chair at Rhodes; and B A Hepple, to­ Transvaal Bench and now JA. Then hannesburg silk and the immediate day a professor at the University of came a 'year of all the talents', 1954, past chairman of the General Council London. Wits seems to have become a the LLBs including Arthur Chaskalson, of the Bar; Anthony (Tony) Bloom training ground for legal academics now SC, National Director of the out­ (1962), of Premier Milling fame and a elsewhere. Those who remained were standing public-interest law firm, the friend of the faculty; Richard Gold­ Alf Lansdown (1955), Paul Boberg Legal Resources Centre, a man of qual­ stone (1962), who became an SC and (1960), made a professor in 1964, and ity on whom Wits is about to confer its then a Transvaal judge at an early age; John Dugard (1966), made a professor honorary LLD; Mark Weinberg, author J H Conradie (1963), for many years a in 1969. of a classic work on take-overs and Johannesburg silk, recently appointed In 1953 Wits introduced a Diploma mergers written for his London LLM, to the CPD Bench; J F Ludorf (1963) in Law, recognised by the Joint Com­ who with innovative brilliance revolu­ (son of the judge by the same christi­ mittee for Professional Examinations as tionised the life-insurance industry of an names), an ECD judge; H Z equivalent to the Attorneys' Admission Britain, is noted for his charitable and Slomowitz (1963), a leading Johannes­ Examination. For a long time it proved community activities, and was knight­ burg senior; S J Sher (1964), who went popular. ed in 1987; Geoffrey Leveson (1954), a on to take an Oxford BCL and join the Mention must be made of several of TPD judge; Sydney Lipschitz (now Lip­ English Chancery Bar, of which he is the LLB.- graduates in this period (most son), the present chairman of the Mo­ now a senior; M 0 Kuper (1966), a Jo­ of the earlier ones being ex-volunteers), nopolies and Mergers Commission of hannesburg silk and recently chairman many of them attaining the rare honour the United Kingdom; W A (Bill) Rams­ of the Johannesburg Bar Council, who of the LLB with distinction - the cyni­ den (1954), who joined the British is the son of the late Kuper 1; Michael cal remark in England that the ranks of colonial service, where he served in the Katz (1967), leading attorney and an the unsuccessful are filled with Ox­ High Commission territories, attaining honorary professor of law at the Wits bridge firsts does not apply to Wits: a high position and being made a QC, Graduate School of Business Adminis­ Gerald Alexander (1947), now a judge now a professor at the University of tration; and Rex van Schalkwyk (1968), of the NPD; Julian (Jules) Browde Durban-Westville; J C G (Stoffel) on the Transvaal Bench. Had space (1947), a Johannesburg silk who has Botha, who became Administrator of permitted, I would have alluded to been an important figure in Bar affairs Natal and then a Cabinet minister; and many other graduates. and public-interest law; Stephen Rein, S H Treisman, who has held high posi­ In its period of manhood the faculty today an SC of the Eastern Districts tions in the organisations of the attor­ had the good sense to return to the Bar, who has been an acting judge; neys' profession. In the following years combined five-year BA LLB and BCom John Coaker (1948), son of Norwood, among the successful candidates were LLB, to be taken by full-time study. another Johannesburg silk, who took a James Thomas (J immy) Kruger (1955), That was in 1962. We were losing good BCL at Oxford; Alastair Kerr (1948), who became a rather controversial students to other universities offering who was appointed a professor at Minister of Justice; Paul Boberg (1955); the five-year curriculum; but, more im­ Rhodes and has written valuable legal P P Duma Nokwe (1955), black nation­ portant, our regulations were having works; Henry Preiss (1948), who joined alist leader - see 5 v Nokwe 1962 (3) the undesirable effect of encouraging the Pretoria Bar and became a TPD SA 71 (T) - and though dead still can­ part-time study for the LLB. At the judge; Harry Schwarz (1949), formerly not be quoted; W P Schutz (1955), a same time the savage credit rules were of the Johannesburg Bar, a prominent leading SC; Ismail Mahomed (1956), the relaxed. I remember well the ferocity politician; Charl Cilliers (1950), who has first member of the Indian community with which the formidable Professor contributed much to the attorneys' to take silk, of the Johannesburg Bar, Raymond Dart, Head of the Depart­ profession and to public welfare; prominent in appearances for the ment of Anatomy, attacked them in Joseph (J oe) Slovo (1950), of whom I citizen in human-rights cases; BA Hep­ the Senate in his harsh Austral ian ac­ need not say anything; EAT (Tony) pie (1957), of whom I need say no more cent; I refrained from saying that the Smith (1950), who became Attorney­ than I have said; A M van Niekerk regulations of the Medical School were General in Rhodesia, then attained (1957), now a CPD judge; E B Broom­ almost as hard, for I felt ashamed of high judicial rank there and in Zim­ berg (1957), who was on our full-time the law rules. From now on if a student babwe, and is now on the Bophutha­ staff, today a Johannesburg SC failed only one or two of the courses tswana Bench; Z Sutej (1950), recently specialising in taxation; P M Meskin for which he was registered, he would retired from the judiciary, having been (1957), now a Natal silk, who has done get credit in those that he passed . It

CONSULTUS, OCTOBER 1989 109 was a movement towards the ideal sit­ There is a supervisor of the Law Clinic selection and promotion of its staff, uation. - Zilla Graff. Two leading practition­ and in its administration.' The last reform took place in 1968. ers are honorary professors - Edwin The proportion of white students has By now it had become impossible for Broomberg and Arthur Chaskalson. dropped. In 1980, of the BProc stu­ one person to be both Head of the Emeritus Professor Scholtens is an dents, 81,2 per cent were whites, in Department of Law and Dean of the honorary research professional fellow. 1989,41 per cent. In 1980, of the LLB Faculty. The number of students tak­ The part-time staff is large. students, 87 per cent where whites, in ing law courses had swollen. An initial As before full-time staff came and 1989, 71,7. For the two degrees com­ proposal to divide the department into went. One departure I must mention. bined, the respective percentages were four departments was abandoned. In­ In 1976, Jonathan Burchell, son of Ex­ 84,5 and 64,5. Blacks (Africans) con­ stead, to maintain unity and cater for ton, was appointed a senior lecturer. stituted 3,5 per cent of the total enrol­ the cross-disciplinary interests of staff, Five years later he was promoted to the ment in 1980 and 24,6 in 1989: a a School of Law was created in the rank of associate professor, and in 1983 striking change. place of the department, with a govern­ full professor. But in 1987 he resigned When in 1981 Wits celebrated its ing committee of all the full professors, to take up the chair his later father and having granted 50000 degrees, diplo­ one to be chairman for a defined peri­ before him his grandfather had held at mas and certificates, it was found that od; and the Dean, also holding office the University of Natal, Pietermaritz­ the Faculty of Law had contributed for a defined period, would be another burg. The call to his home town and 2 095 of them. What was disappointing professor. The scheme proved success­ Alma Mater was too strong to resist. I was the small number of higher ful and is still in operation. True, there greatly regretted his departure. degrees in law: six LLMs, 1 PhD, and 2 have been tensions from time to time: In 1969 the University had 6 214 stu­ LLDs (the higher doctorate), conferred it would have been strange were this dents, of whom 238 were in the Faculty on Hahlo and Boberg. From 1926 on not so, for many academics are sensi­ of Law; in 1988 (the latest available in­ there had been a large number of regis­ tive souls, as will be gathered from formation) the corresponding numbers trations for the LLM, but the calls of reading the novels of Kingsley Amis, were 18718 and 953. In addition the practice had resulted in the submission Malco/m Bradbury and David Lodge. School of Law offered service courses of only two dissertations, both of which But things always simmer down. I to some 4 500 students in other had failed. Since 1981 matters have im­ served as the first Dean under the new faculties. proved greatly. There have been a fur­ dispensation, until 1972. Through no deliberate policy of ther seven PhDs; and - mainly a result Wits, the proportion of LLB students of the introduction of course work and V Maturity: 1969-1989 who are women has risen dramatical­ a research report as an alternative to There comes a stage when events cease ly of recent years. In 1980 they already a full-scale dissertation - 42 LLMs. to be history and may be called con­ accounted for 22,4 per cent of enrol­ The LLB curriculum began to be loo­ temporary affairs, justifying a less ex­ ments (202 men, 60 women), much sened with the gradual introduction of tensive account. Thus my treatment of greater than a decade earlier; this year, 'elective' courses, of which a certain the past twenty years will be brief. 44,5 per cent (315 men, 253 women). number had to be selected by a stu­ The most notable developments (The BProc had 23,2 per cent women dent. Public International Law, which have been the growth in the staff and students in 1980, 38,7 per cent in 1989.) had been restored to the curriculum student numbers; the striking increase Women have gained far more than some years after the war - apparent­ in the number of students who are their proportionate share of the ly it now existed - was one of these women and the number who are not degrees with distinction and of the courses. And new courses were added whites; the changes in the LLB curric­ prizes for performance in individual to the list, such as Taxation and Trusts, ulum; the expansion in the number of courses and the degree as a whole. Criminology, Aspects of Public Law, publications by members of staff; and Draw what conclusion you please. But Practical Legal Studies, Forensic Medi­ the improved physical and library fa­ one thing is clear: women are treated cine, Labour Law, and Law of Prospect­ cilities. on the same footing as men. ing and Mining. In 1969 in the School of Law there The University has had a policy for In 1972 the undergraduate degree of were three professors - Paul Boberg, some time of encouraging enrolment the Baccalaureus Juris was introduced J E Scholtens and I - and six senior by persons who are not whites - par­ in the place of the Diploma in Law as lecturers: a staff of nine full-time mem­ ticularly of blacks (Africans). It has an alternative to the LLB for the aca­ bers. Today there are eleven full done its best to alleviate the difficul­ demic qualification of a prospective at­ professors - Paul Boberg, John ties caused by inferior education and torney. It attracted a fairly large Dugard, Carole Lewis, Etienne Murei­ disadvantaged backgrounds, but it has enrolment for some time, but recently nik, Andrew Paizes, June Sinclair, been determined to maintain the stan­ the numbers have dropped, there be­ Louise Tager, Johan van der Vyver, dard of excellence of its degrees that ing a noticeable, and welcome, swing Roger Whiting, David Zeffertt, and I; - I say this in all humility - is recog­ in favour of the postgraduate and more three associate professors - Michael nised not only in our country but also exacting LLB. Larkin, Harold Rudolph, and Andrew abroad. Wits' official standpoint reads: 1972 saw another innovation: the Skeen; seven senior lecturers; and eight 'The University rejects racism, racial Higher Diploma in Tax Law, taken by lecturers: a teaching staff of 29 full­ segregation and discrimination on the part-time study, which was brought time members, not all of them being grounds of race, gender, belief or na­ into being largely through the en­ whites. Several posts are unfilled ­ tionality. It is committed to non­ thusiasm and expert knowledge of Ed­ university salaries have to compete discrimination, particularly in the con­ win Broomberg. This diploma has with much higher earnings in practice. stitution of its student body, in the proved extremely popular. Among our

110 CONSULTUS, OKTOBER 1989 diplomates are many of the leading ad­ international reputation that has deserve. But at the same time we at­ vocates, attorneys and accountants of brought credit to Wits and South Afri­ tempt to take account of changing the PWV area. The success of this ca as a whole. times and social and economic needs diploma led to the introduction in 1981 The acquisition by Wits in 1985 of and values. of a Higher Diploma in Company Law. the Milner Park Showgrounds to the The Wits Law School tries to test not In 1985, at long last, a student was west of the existing campus, then very only a student's knowledge of legal given credit in every course that he cramped on its 80 acres, gave it an ad­ rules and principles but also his abili­ passed for the LLB or BProc. No longer ditional 50 acres, and allowed the ty to see where they are applicable to had he to succeed in a minimum num­ School of Law to move. It was housed a given set of facts. It also tries to as­ ber of courses in his year of study to in a building on the new west campus sist him in expressing himself in an ac­ get any credit. Justice will triumph, reconstructed from three buildings, the ceptable standard of English. Where though it can take a long time. core being the previous Chamber of perhaps it is at fault at present is in not This year the LLB curriculum has Mines pavilion. The building is called requiring a student to write a sufficient been radically restructured. Up to 1988 the Oliver Schreiner School of Law, in number of essays during the year. Lack there were 22 courses, of which three honour of the eminent judge and form­ of staff is given as one of the reasons were electives. The new scheme er Chancellor of the University. The for this unsatisfactory state of affairs. weights courses with points: for exam­ core of the pavillion was reconstruct­ Another possible fault, linked to the ple, Jurisprudence carries eight points. ed to create the most beautiful law previous one, is the failure to teach and Of the required 186 points, 64 are from library I have seen anywhere in the require a student to find the law for electives. The object of the change is world. The holdings have been greatly himself on a particular topic. to require every student to take 'core' expanded, owing largely to donations When I look at the careers of those courses in the traditional subjects, but by benefactors among local firms of at­ who took their law degree at Wits, I leave him free to arrange his electives, torneys and oversea educational foun­ cannot help feeling a humble sense of if he so wishes, to concentrate on a par­ dations. Recently the coverage of pride. So many outstanding figures in ticular area, such as public law, com­ United States law reports became ad­ both branches of the profession and mercial law, adjective law. mirably extensive, complementing the several in the public service have For a long period Wits has produced wide coverage of the reports of Eng­ walked through the portals of the more LLB graduates a year than any land, Scotland, Canada, Australia and Department of Law and its successor, other university, though its lead is be­ New Zealand. The range of legal jour­ the School of Law. And so many lead­ coming smaller. The annual number is nals is one of the best in the country. ers of commerce and industry. settling into the 150s: in 1987 it was But the financial position of the Where we have fallen short is in our 154, in 1988, 157, and in 1989 also 157. University and the weakness of the contribution to the judiciary. Would.it The degree has been conferred on rand has made it a struggle to maintain be cynical to put the reason in this 2 294 women and men since the found­ the excellence of the library. Tribute way? There were some who wanted ing of the University. must be paid to the sterling work of the and deserved and would have accept­ The Wits Law School can take legiti­ Iibrarians in trying circumstances. I ed an offer of appointment on the mate pride in the number and quality think particularly of Lynette Green­ Bench but who did not get it. There of the publications of its members of stein, Cillah Jaspan and Sandra Sapire, were some who did not want an offer, staff. In particular Paul Boberg, John law librarians of the past. though they deserved it, and did not Dugard, Johan van der Vyver and The administration of the Faculty of get it. And there were some who want­ David Zeffertt have published out­ Law is much more complex than it was ed an offer and d id get it and accept­ standing legal treatises. Perhaps I have in days when I was intimately involved ed it. The first group was larger than contributed a little too. Nor must one in it. Fortunately, there has always the second group and the second group forget that four accredited legal jour­ been loyal and efficient service by the was larger than the third group. nals are edited by members of the support staff for the self-sacrificing A few weeks ago I was having lunch School of Law or its associated insti­ academics who are willing to assume with an accountant who had taken a tution, the Centre for Appl ied Legal responsibility for running such a large degree at another South African Studies: the South African Law Journal, and complicated show. university. Out of the blue he asked me the Annual Survey of South African a question that had been put to me a Law, the Industrial Law Journal and the VI Envoi year earlier by a judge of another South African Journal on Human The ethos of the Wits Faculty of Law province: 'Is the Wits Law School still

Rights. has been service to the South African the best in the country?' I replied: 'You i The Centre for Applied Legal Studies community as a whole. It has tried to have committed the logical fallacy of I calls for special commendation. It was provide courses that expound the many questions.' Puzzled, he inquired: founded in 1978 by John Dugard, with present law in principle and also in 'What is that?' I responded: 'The rhe­ the financial assistance of the Carnegie some detail, but always critically. Al­ torical trick of asking a question that Corporation of New York and the legations are sometimes levelled at us cannot be answered without admitting University Council, the Ford Founda­ that we are case-law oriented and in­ a presupposition that may be false. The tion participating later. Its aim is to clined to pay too much regard to Eng­ lawyer's stock illustration is that of conduct research into the law affect­ lish law. Our reply is that we have been counsel asking a witness in cross­ ing the black community and civil­ faithful to the Roman-Dutch legal examination "Have you stopped beat­ rights issues, and to assist with Iitiga­ heritage. Roman law and the history of ing your wife?" Was Wits' ever the best tion. Staffed by extremely able law­ Roman-Dutch law have always law school?' yers, headed by Dugard, CALS has an received the attention they rightly But I was not speaking seriously_

CONSULTUS, OCTOBER 1989 111 FOOTNOTES

I shall keep footnotes to a bare minimum. A much longer article, covering the years up to 1968, will be published in the South African Law Journal next year, with full authentication. Suffice it to say that I am indebted to the account of the Faculty of Law and its predecessors up to 1939 in Bruce K Murray's Wits The Early Years (Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg 1982), and that I have consulted the records of the Univer­ sity and other sources carefully, have spoken over the years to many former members of staff and students, and have personal knowledge of the affairs of the Faculty since 1940.

'Oliver Schreiner - Some Reminiscences and an Appreciation' in Ellison Kahn (ed) Fiat lustitia: Essays in Memory of Oliver Deneys Schreiner (1983) 131 at 132.

I n his review of the seventh edition in (1971) 88 SALJ 369. 4 Published in (1935) 52 SAL) 432. •

BOOKS RECEIVED

(Some of these books will be reviewed in forthcoming issues) Law and Medicine - first published as Acta Juridica 1988: Juta & Co Ltd pp 233. Price R85 (soft cover) Mars The Law of Insolvency in South Africa 8th edition. By EImarie de le Rey BA(Pret) LLB (Unisa) LLD(Pret): Juta & Co Ltd. pp 750 Price R184 Famiiiereg-Wetgewing Volume 1 Kinders/Family Law Legislation Volume 1 Children Juta Wetgewingsdiens/Legislation Service. Prys/Price R86 Motor Industry/Motor Nywerheid - Main Agreement/Hoofooreenkoms Edited by the General Secretary and Staff of the National Council for the Motor Industry: Juta & Co Ltd. Price/Prys R78 Introduction to the Close Corporations Act 1984. By H J Delport BA LLD(Pret) and J T Pretorius B luris(Pret) LLB(Natal) LLM (Cape Town) LLM(London) LLD(RAU): Juta & Co Ltd. pp 175. Price R29,50 (soft cover) •

BUTTfRWORTHS PRIZf FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO @®[M~[JjJ[bIl[JjJ~

Butterworths Professional Publishers (Pty) Ltd offers an annual prize for the article containing the most use­ ful and best motivated law reform proposal.

1. The prize will consist of R500 worth of Butterworths books, local or overseas, to be selected by the winner. 2. A panel of advocates nominated by the editorial committee will consider contributions for the prize and award the prize. 3. The decision of the panel will be final. 4. Queries and correspondence should be directed to: The Editor, Consultus, Advocates' Chamber, 1605 Momentum Centre, East Tower, 343 Pretorius Street, Pretoria 0002. Tel. (012) 322-1511 (Ext 1605).

112 CONSULTUS, OKTOBER 1989