The Ed O'Brien Street Law and Legal Literacy International Best Practices Conference, Durban, South Africa, April 2016

Rebecca Grimes

doi:10.19164/ijcle.v23i3.533

Abstract

South Africa has been the home of a vibrant public legal education (PLE)　programme for many years. Indeed its Street Law initiative has been　described as one of the strategic responses to　and a　catalyst for change during the apartheid era. The focus on democracy and human rights for all　in the lead up to and following the 1994 election has aided the transition from the old regime to the new.　Ignorance of the law and legal process is of course a problem in many developing and developed countries and an　international conference was therefore　planned last year to bring the ever-expanding international legal literacy scene to Durban in order to identify and share best practice - an attempt to promote and support a better understanding of rights and responsibilities under the law.　The untimely death of the Street Law co-founder, Ed O'Brien, in July 2015　gave the event even greater poignancy. The conference was not only a global sharing of experience but also an important reminder of how this movement began and of Ed's (and others') role in that process.

Highlights

BackgroundSouth Africa has been the home of a vibrant public legal education (PLE) programme for many years[2]
The conference took place from 1 to 3 April 2016 hosted by the School of Law University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and Street Law South Africa in Durban, South Africa and was preceded by a three-day Ed O’Brien memorial safari (29-31 March) at the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game reserve
A local organization set off the youth-based Street Law programmes strand with a presentation focusing on an initiative that includes law students trained to facilitate lessons and other activities based on the South African Constitution for schools and other

Summary

Background

South Africa has been the home of a vibrant public legal education (PLE) programme for many years[2]. Its Street Law initiative has been described as one of the strategic responses to and a catalyst for change during the apartheid era[3]. The focus on democracy and human rights for all in the lead up to and following the 1994 election has aided the transition from the old regime to the new[4]. Conference Report and share best practice - an attempt to promote and support a better understanding of rights and responsibilities under the law. The untimely death of the Street Law co-founder, Ed O'Brien[6], in July 2015 gave the event even greater poignancy. The conference was a global sharing of experience and an important reminder of how this movement began and of Ed's (and others') role in that process

INTRODUCTION

Day two

Day three

CONCLUSION & OUTCOMES