College of Law and Management Studies

August 2025 is the 40^th Anniversary of the first International Street Law Workshop, and the 52^nd Anniversary of the Legal Aid Conference that led to the expansion of Clinical Legal Education in South Africa, both of which were organized by the then University of Natal, Durban. The Street Law workshop went on to inspire the adoption of Street Law programmes in over 45 countries. The first law clinic in South Africa was established by University of Cape Town law students in 1972. The second was established at the University of the Witwatersrand in April 1973 and the third, inspired by the Legal Aid Conference, at the University of Natal, Durban, in August 1973.

 Since this time, Clinical legal Education has spread throughout Southern Africa and beyond, and the South African experience has been shared in more than 60 countries. This is the basis of the pedagogy used to equip final year Law students with appropriate and necessary skills for legal practice, as well as provide access to justice to the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society.

This conference will provide an opportunity to academics, clinicians and practitioners to reflect on the strides made in engaging Law students and diverse communities on contemporary challenges in access to justice and the attainment of equality. Conference delegates will also innovatively consider collaborative methods in traversing the current clinical challenges facing university-based law clinics in South Africa.

This anniversary conference has been structured in three parts:

Thursday, 25^th – Friday, 26^th September 2025: CLEA International Conference

The CLEA International Conference is convened in partnership with SAULCA and the UKZN School of Law. It will provide a platform for international and regional participants to present papers and showcase their approaches to Street Law and Clinical Legal Education, in addressing social injustices in their contexts. Participants will be encouraged to share strategies for community engagement and policy advocacy, and insights into how they have integrated Street Law, Clinical Legal Education and community engagement in their legal education interventions.

Saturday, 27^th – Sunday, 28^th September 2025: Street Law/Clinical Legal Education training workshop

This platform is open to all interested stakeholders seeking to adopt Street Law and Clinical Legal Education programmes and integrate these in their legal education and community advocacy work. Expert facilitators from CLEA, SAULCA and Global Allowance of Justice Education (GAJE) networks will run workshops demonstrating Street Law and Clinical Legal Education methodology, showcasing the design of curricula and lesson plans, teaching methodologies and evaluation mechanisms.

Saturday, 27^th – Sunday, 28^th September 2025: Partner stakeholder engagements

•  Indo-South African Legal Forum : This will run parallel to the Street Law and Clinical Legal Education training workshop, for Indian and South African CLEA stakeholders to engage.
• SAULCA AGM: This will run parallel to the Street Law and Clinical Legal Education training workshop, to permit  SAULCA members to engage with the professional affairs of their association, in terms of their Constitution.