| 28. | Manner of keeping roll of legal practitioners |
[section 95(1)(v) read with section 30(3)]
| 28.1 | The Council shall keep separate alphabetical registers in which are recorded the names of all attorneys, advocates, notaries and conveyancers admitted by the High Court, as well as the dates of admission and enrolment. The register of advocates shall list separately, in alphabetical order, advocates who hold he rank of senior counsel, junior counsel and advocates practising with a Fidelity Fund certificate. |
| 28.2 | The roll of legal practitioners kept by the Council shall reflect the particulars contained in section 30(3) of the Act. |
| 28.3 | The roll of legal practitioners kept by the Council may be kept in electronic form. |
| 29. | Notification of cancellation or suspension of enrolment |
[section 95(1)(w) read with section 31(3)]
| 29.1 | If the High Court orders that the name of a legal practitioner be struck off the roll or that he or she be suspended from practice the Council must forthwith upon receipt of notification to that effect from the High Court cancel or suspend the enrolment of the legal practitioner, as the case may be. |
| 29.2 | The Council shall forthwith upon the cancellation or suspension of the enrolment of a legal practitioner in terms of rule 29.1 notify that legal practitioner of the cancellation or suspension of enrolment and shall make the appropriate entry in the roll kept by the Council in terms of rule 28. |
| 29.3 | The notification of cancellation or suspension of enrolment shall be in writing by notice delivered to the legal practitioner concerned or sent by pre-paid registered post, and in addition a copy of the notice shall be sent to the electronic address (if any) chosen by the legal practitioner. |
| 30. | Application for conversion of enrolment by attorneys and advocates |
[section 95(1)(x) read with section 32(1)(a)]
| 30.1 | Any person duly admitted by the High Court and enrolled to practice as a legal practitioner under the Act may, in the manner prescribed by rule 30.2, apply to the Council, through the Provincial Council where the legal practitioner intends to practise, to convert his or her enrolment as an attorney to that of an advocate, and vice versa. |
[Part VII Rule 30.1 substituted by the South African Legal Practice Council, Notice No. 665, GG45482, dated 12 November 2021]
| 30.2 | An application for conversion in terms of rule 30.1 shall be in writing and shall contain the following information in respect of the applicant: |
| 30.2.1 | his or her full names, date of birth, identity number and residential address; |
| 30.2.2 | whether or not he or she practises or is about to commence practice; |
| 30.2.3 | if he or she does not practise, his or her business address and personal address and telephone numbers, if any; |
| 30.2.4 | the physical address of his or her main office and its postal address, and telephone numbers, mobile telephone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses and other electronic communication contact particulars, if any; |
| 30.2.5 | whether he or she conducts practice as an attorney or as an advocate and, in the case of an advocate, whether he or she conducts practice— |
| 30.2.5.2 | in the manner contemplated in section 34(2)(a)(ii) of the Act; |
| 30.2.6 | if he or she is employed by any person who does not practise, the nature of his or her employment and the name and business address and postal address and telephone numbers, if any, of his or her employer; |
| 30.2.7 | every court in which he or she has been admitted, and a statement that he or she has not been admitted in any other court. |
| 30.3 | The Council may require that information referred to in rule 30.2 be submitted in a form to be determined by the Council. |
| 30.4 | The application referred to in rule 30.1 must be signed by the applicant, and must be accompanied by the following— |
| 30.4.1 | proof of payment of the prescribed fee; |
| 30.4.2 | a certificate signed by the registrar of every High Court to which the applicant applied for admission to practise that no proceedings are pending or are contemplated to strike the name of the applicant off the roll or to suspend the applicant from practice; |
| 30.4.3 | where the applicant is an attorney applying to convert his or her enrolment to that of an advocate— |
| 30.4.3.1 | a statement indicating whether he or she intends to practise as an advocate and, if so, whether he or she intends to practise with or without a fidelity fund certificate; |
| 30.4.3.2 | proof to the satisfaction of the Council that he or she has the right of appearance in the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court in terms of section 25(2) of the Act or in terms of any legislation in force prior to the coming into force of the Act and has undergone such specialised training in advocacy as is required by pupils for admission as advocates, other than training in terms of a contract for the provision of practical vocational training under the supervision of a training supervisor, as provided for in the rules; |
| 30.4.3.3 | such other requirements as the Council may determine. |
| 30.4.4 | where the applicant is an advocate applying to convert his or her enrolment to that of an attorney, proof to the satisfaction of the Council— |
| 30.4.4.1 | that the applicant has passed the examination required to be passed by attorneys so as to reflect that the applicant has the required knowledge of accounting for the keeping of accounting records referred to in section 87 of the Act and for compliance with the accounting rules published by the Council from time to time; |
| 30.4.4.2 | a statement indicating whether he or she intends to practise as an attorney and, if so, whether he or she intends to practise for his or her own account or as a partner in a firm of attorneys or as a member of a professional company; |
[Part VII Rule 30.4.4.2 substituted by the South African Legal Practice Council, Notice No. 673, GG45500, dated 19 November 2021]
| 30.4.4.3 | that the applicant has been enrolled as an advocate for a period of not less than 12 months, or 3 years in the case of an advocate who has been admitted and enrolled as such without having complied with the requirements of regulation 7 of the regulations under section 109(1)(a) of the Act or without having successfully completed a training course as contemplated in section 112(1)(a)(ii) of the Act ; |
| 30.4.4.4 | such other requirements as the Council may determine. |
| 30.5 | Where the applicant is an attorney, and the Council is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to convert his or her enrolment to that of an advocate, the Council shall remove the name of the applicant from the roll of attorneys and shall place the name of the applicant on the roll of advocates intending to practice without a fidelity fund certificate, or with a fidelity fund certificate, as the case may be. |
| 30.6 | Where the applicant is an advocate, and the Council is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to convert his or her enrolment to that of an attorney, the Council shall remove the name of the applicant from the roll of advocates and place the name of the applicant on the roll of attorneys. |
| 31. | Conversion of non-practising legal practitioners to practising legal practitioners and vice versa |
| 31.1 | Any person admitted by the High Court and enrolled to practise as a legal practitioner under the Act or admitted and enrolled as a non-practising legal practitioner may, in the manner prescribed by rule 30.2, apply to the Council through the Provincial Council where the legal practitioner intends to practise, or in the case of an applicant who is a practising legal practitioner intending to convert his or her enrolment to that of a non-practising legal practitioner, where that legal practitioner resides, to convert his or her enrolment as a practising legal practitioner to that of a non-practising legal practitioner, and vice versa. |
| 31.2 | The provisions of rule 30.2, apply to an application in terms of rule 31.1, with the changes required by the context. |
| 31.3 | The Council may require that information referred to in rule 30.2 be submitted in a form to be determined by the Council. |
| 31.4 | The application referred to in rule 31.1 must be signed by the applicant, and must be accompanied by the following: |
| 31.4.1 | proof of payment of the prescribed fee; |
| 31.4.2 | a certificate signed by the registrar of every High Court to which the applicant applied for admission that no proceedings are pending or are contemplated to strike the name of the applicant off the roll or to suspend the applicant from practice (in the case of a practising legal practitioner). |
| 31.5 | Where the applicant is a practising legal practitioner, and the Council is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to convert his or her enrolment to that of a non-practising legal practitioner, the Council shall remove the name of the applicant from the roll of practising legal practitioners and shall place the name of the applicant on the roll of non-practising legal practitioners. |
| 31.6 | Where the applicant is a non-practising legal practitioner and the Council is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to convert his or her enrolment to that of a practising legal practitioner, the Council shall remove the name of the applicant from the roll of non-practising legal practitioners and shall place the name of the applicant on the roll of practising legal practitioners. |
| 32. | Circumstances in which legal practitioner can apply for conversion of enrolment |
[section 95(1)(z) read with section 32(3)]
| 32.1 | An attorney may at any time, in the manner determined in rule 30, and upon payment of the fee determined by the Council in the rules, apply to the Council to convert his or her enrolment as an attorney to that of an advocate, whether as an advocate who conducts a practice in the manner contemplated in section 34(2)(a)(i) of the Act, or as an advocate conducting a practice in the manner contemplated in section 34(2)(a)(ii) of the Act. |
| 32.2 | An advocate referred to in section 34(2)(a)(i) and practising as such may at any time, as determined in the rules and upon payment of the fee determined by the Council, apply to the Council for the conversion of his or her enrolment to that of an advocate referred to in section 34(2)(a)(ii) and practising as such, provided the applicant satisfies the Council— |
[Part VII Rule 32.2 substituted by the South African Legal Practice Council, Notice No. 2233, GG49833, dated 8 December 2023]
| 32.2.1 | that the applicant has passed the examination required to be passed by attorneys so as to reflect that the applicant has the required knowledge of accounting for the keeping of accounting records referred to in section 87 of the Act and for compliance with the accounting rules published by the Council from time to time; |
[Part VII Rule 32.2.1 substituted by the South African Legal Practice Council, Notice No. 2233, GG49833, dated 8 December 2023]
| 32.2.2 | that the applicant shall within a period of one year after the date on which the applicant was required for the first time to be in possession of a Fidelity Fund certificate, or within such further period as the Council may approve in any specific case, complete to the satisfaction of the Council a legal practice management course approved by the Council; |
[Part VII Rule 32.2.2 substituted by the South African Legal Practice Council, Notice No. 673, G45500, dated 19 November 2021]
| 32.3 | An advocate referred to in section 34(2)(a)(ii) and practising as such may at any time, as determined in the rules and upon payment of the fee determined by the Council in the rules, apply to the Council for the conversion of his or her enrolment to that of an advocate referred to in section 34(2)(a)(i) and practising as such. |
