Abstract
This article examines the regulation of the legal profession in South Africa from colonial times, through apartheid and into the post-apartheid period. It narrates the changing relationship between professional associations and the state, locating these events within the debates on professional self-regulation. Taking the view that professional self-regulation is as a result of ‘an arrangement’ between professions and the state it explores the regulatory bargain struck between associations and the state. The paper demonstrates that during the apartheid period the profession utilised apartheid legislation to exclude black legal professionals. However, in the post-apartheid period, when the state proposed legislative interventions in order to enable access to both the profession and justice, a new regulatory bargain had to be negotiated.
Highlights
Professionalisation and the regulation of professionsProfessionalisation is a complex process whereby professional groups acquire recognition from the broader society
This article examines the regulation of the legal profession in South Africa from colonial times, through apartheid and into the post-apartheid period
The historical perspective allows me to demonstrate the alignment between professional associations and state interests; even if state interests have changed over time
Summary
Professionalisation is a complex process whereby professional groups acquire recognition from the broader society. Alongside recognition is the occupational control of that work by the profession (Friedson, 1986; Larson, 1977) It is through the process of professionalisation and regulation that states’ consent to some occupations acquiring professional power and privilege in the labour market (Flood, 2011). The regulation of the professions allows professional groups to control markets to their benefit it benefits states Some have argued that the self-regulation of professions is a relic of the past and that governments have instituted regulatory changes in order to substantially limit professional autonomy (Evetts, 2002). 66) have suggested that the argument that professions are only in it for self-gain is somewhat simplistic They argue that professions may simultaneously act in terms of public interest; honour their ethical considerations; and, try to improve their market position. In South Africa the concern of the state was to ensure that the profession aligned to its broader political agenda and it was on this that the regulatory bargain hung
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