Lawyers as Peacemakers: Reflections from South Africa

Pretoria, South Africa

I recently had the honor to attend and speak at the “Lawyers as Peacemakers” conference in Pretoria, South Africa. Sponsored by the Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa (IDRA) at the University of South Africa College of Law, the gathering explored therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) and its practical application to various issues.

The Executive Dean of the College of Law and Prof. John Faris, Director of the IDRA opened the conference and the keynote, titled “Is Restorative Justice a Viable and Effective Sentence? A New Paradigm,” was given by the Hon. Justice Lebotsang Bosielo of the High Court.

I kicked off the Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Problem-Solving Courts panel with an introduction to drug treatment courts and Prof. Annette Van Der Merwe discussed TJ in South Africa. Magistrate Gabriela McKellar rounded out the panel with her discussion of use of TJ in Family Courts.

Ubuntu in South Africa

Other themes of the conference were Restorative Justice (RJ) and Exploring Various Vectors in South Africa. Colin Louw, a San community leader, talked about Bushman customary law and the effect of Roman-Dutch and English law on traditional communities. He also explained that “Ubuntu” was the philosophy of traditional South Africa and means “Human-ness” or “humanity toward others.” Later in the conference Clarence Tshoose discussed “Ubuntu Values and the Integrative Law Movement.” The Ubuntu philosophy concept fits nicely with that of TJ, RJ and Procedural Justice and African jurisprudence is essentially therapeutic.

U.S. Attorney J. Kim Wright, founder of Cutting Edge Law, was the first speaker on Day Two and talked about the conference as a 3-year dream in the making. She discussed “Lawyers as Healers, Peacemakers and Change Makers: The Worldwide Integrative Law Movement.” SA Attorney Amanda Lamond talked about the future of Integrative Law and how it was being explored in South Africa.

A Thoughtful Conference

Legal conferences tend to be either training sessions (how to beat a summary judgment motion) or a review of current law (case or statutory update). They seldom involve introspection, consciousness or reflection. What made this conference unique was the exploration of new ideas and things to think about. It was one of the most stimulating conferences I’ve attended.