North West University Law

North West University Law, The Faculty of Law at North-West University provides quality legal education, undertakes focused research and is involved in the community. The Faculty’s goal is to equip law students with the knowledge, ethics and skills that they will need in their professional lives, and also to expand the science of law through the research our staff and postgraduate students conduct in the service of justice and democracy.

We offer law programmes across three campuses, including a Community Law Centre in Mahikeng and a Law Clinic in Potchefstroom. We therefore have a presence in, and understanding of, urban and rural environments.

In our undergraduate studies we offer well-rounded curricula that incorporate public law, legal philosophy and sound exposure to private and mercantile law underpinned by criminal and procedural law. The postgraduate offerings on master’s and doctoral levels encompass diverse fields, including environmental law and governance, estate law and trade law.
We strive to be the gathering place of choice for diverse, interesting and dynamic people with an interest in law and our constitutional democracy. We seek out partnerships with students and researchers who share our commitment to the service of justice.
We promise the sustained provision of inspired and ethical legal education, backed by relevant, forward-looking research and meaningful community engagement.

Welcome to the Community Law Centre (CLC) at the campus in Mahikeng. At the CLC we are committed to providing quality legal assistance to the community, primarily to indigent people who qualify for free legal assistance. This service is combined with practical legal training of students, who are empowered to apply their acquired legal skills. We have five permanent staff members, three interns, three candidate attorneys and one administrative support staff member. All staff are committed to the promotion of human rights and access to justice.
Mr S Rasikhalela
Director – Community Law Centre
This specialised unit is principally responsible for our community service and outreach programme.
Through the Clinical Legal Education Programme, the Centre provides free legal aid to indigent people in the communities surrounding Mahikeng and offers professional and technical assistance to paralegal offices and advice centres in the province. The Centre also trains candidate attorneys in preparation for the Attorneys Board Examination and for admission as attorneys. As a service to the public, the Centre holds seminars and workshops on cutting-edge legal issues and participates in radio talk shows and public media educational programmes.

Community Law Centre highlights:

Since 2007, the Centre has produced 14 admitted attorneys, 10 of whom are women.
Our joint partnerships with different stakeholders to instil a culture of human rights in our communities through workshops and radio talk shows.

The Law Clinic forms part of the Faculty of Law of the North West University, Potchefstroom Campus. The Law Clinic is involved in a number of projects concerning free legal services, community outreach, and capacity building programmes, as well as advisory services. The Law Clinic operates in the provinces of North-West and Mpumalanga where these activities take place.
The Law Clinic was officially opened on 05 August 1981 and is a Centre of the Faculty of Law of the North- West University, Potchefstroom Campus. The Law Clinic is involved in several projects which include training, provision of free legal services, community outreach, capacity building programmes and advisory services. The Law Clinic operates in the provinces of North West and Mpumalanga where these activities take place.
The above activities are aimed at:
Training
Practical legal training within the LLB programme of the NWU. Short courses for lawyers and paralegals. Training to members of the communities in the areas where the Law Clinic operates.
Legal Aid Services
The Law Clinic provides free legal services to poor and vulnerable people in the aforementioned provinces.
Capacity building
These programmes assist paralegals and members of the community to, inter alia, develop legal skills and capacity to enable them to practice these skills in the communities in which they work.
Advisory Services
The Law Clinic further provides advisory services to members of the community to promote a “rights -based” society, and to, instead of taking the law into their own hands, use the law to enforce their rights
Within these activities, the Law Clinic cooperates with various organisations such as Legal Aid South Africa, government departments, provincial paralegal organisations, and other NGOs and CBOs to be successful and achieve its objectives.
In addition, the Law Clinic receives funding from international and national donors, as referred to herein, to be able to be involved in these activities. Without such funding, this would have been impossible.
The Law Clinic, through its activities, wishes to improve the quality of life of people in the North-West and Mpumalanga Provinces.

Students who study the BA and BCom (Law) degrees can decide after their third year to take either LLB over 2 years or to proceed with an honours in a non law field.

Overview

Duration: 3 years

Method of Delivery: Full Time
Qualification code: 6DC H01
Curriculum code Potchefstroom Campus: R301P
Curriculum code Vaal Triangle Campus: R301V
Compulsory courses in law, language and language skills PLUS
Choose one of the following majors that is taken on levels I – III:

English;
Industrial Psychology;
Philosophy;
Political Studies or
Psychology.

Admission requirements

APS of 28 and
Language of instruction on Home Language level passed on performance level 4 (50-59%) OR language of instruction on First Additional Language level passed on performance level 5 (60-69%).Overview

Subject groups

The following subject groups exist in order to assist in the academic administration of the programme:

Private Law
Public Law
Mercantile Law
Criminal and Procedural Law

Career opportunities

Commercial sector
Legal Advisor

Curriculum
The curriculum for BCom (Law)

Students who study the BA and BCom in Law degrees can decide after their third year to take either LLB over 2 years or to proceed with an honours in Economic Science.

Overview

Duration: 3 years

Method of Delivery: Full Time
Qualification code: 6DD H01
Curriculum code Mafikeng Campus: R301M
Curriculum code Potchefstroom Campus: R301P
Curriculum code Vaal Triangle Campus: R301V
Compulsory courses in law and language skills PLUS Economics, Business Management and Accounting in year I, only two of those in year II and one in year III.

Admission requirements

APS of 30;
Mathematics passed on performance level 4 (50-59%) and
Language of instruction on Home Language level passed on performance level 4 (50-59%) OR language of instruction on First Additional Language level passed on performance level 5 (60-69%).

Subject groups

The following subject groups exist in order to assist in the academic administration of the programme:

Private Law
Public Law
Mercantile Law
Criminal and Procedural Law

SITE OF DELIVERY

Mafikeng Campus
Potchefstroom Campus
Vaal Triangle Campus

Career opportunities

Commercial sector
Legal Advisor

Curriculum

The curriculum for BCom (Law) can be viewed here.

General Information

Duration: 4 years
Method of Delivery: Full Time
Qualification code: 6DE H01
Curriculum code Mafikeng Campus: R401M
Curriculum code Potchefstroom Campus: R401P
Compulsory courses during study period:

36 law modules;
5 language and language skills modules;
2 practical law modules and
Research report

Admission requirements

Limited electives in year IV.

APS of 30;
Mathematics is a strong recommendation and
Language of instruction on Home Language level passed on performance level 4 (50-59%) OR language of instruction on First Additional Language level passed on performance level 5 (60-69%).

Subject groups

The following subject groups exist in order to assist in the academic administration of the programme:

Career opportunities

Attorney
Advocate
State Prosecutor
Magistrate
Commercial Sector
Legal Advisor

Curriculum

The curriculum for LLB can be viewed here.

Overview

The Faculty of Law is proud of the quality and standard of its postgraduate programmes, the lecturers involved and its graduates. We strive to prepare graduates for successful careers in the various fields of legal practice, as well as to participate effectively in the academic programmes of other South African and foreign law faculties.
Approximately 65 full-time members of the Faculty and a number of extraordinary professors and senior lecturers participate in the different postgraduate programmes. We are also privileged to be assisted in our endeavours by some emeritus professors. More than half of the participating staff members hold doctoral degrees and their fields of expertise cover a wide spectrum of legal disciplines. Many of the extraordinary professors and senior lecturers are from private practice and are all widely recognised as experts in their respective legal fields.
Internationalisation is important for the Faculty. It ensures we keep abreast of the latest developments in other jurisdictions and enables us to benchmark ourselves against our peers. We have international exchange agreements with various universities for postgraduate student and staff exchange opportunities.
Members of the Faculty often act as co-promoters or co-study leaders, as well as examiners and moderators, for postgraduate qualifications of South African and foreign universities. The Faculty not only attracts South African students, but also has students from SADC and other African and European countries enrolled for our postgraduate programmes.
The international standing of the Faculty of Law is evident from the range of projects involving international partners:

Through the European Doctorate on Law and Development (EDOLAD) project, the NWU and five partners offer a joint PhD in Law and Development. Only one of the partners is from outside Europe – the NWW. The other partners are the universities of Tilburg in the Netherlands, Edinburgh In Scotland, Oslo in Norway, Deusto in Spain and Tartu in Estonia.
The Academic Partnership for Environment and Development in Africa (APEDIA) is a joint project between the NWU, Justus Liebig University in Germany, Polytech Namibia, Makerere University in Uganda and the Hawassa University in Ethiopia. This project aims to promote joint research and develop a master’s module on the influence of climate change on development in Africa.

We welcome applications for the different programmes we offer and strive to deliver graduates of outstanding quality with degrees that are internationally recognised.