High Court Halts Legal Practice Council Election Re-Run Amid Alleged Irregularities

In an unprecedented move, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria has delivered judgment in the case of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers and Others v South African Legal Practice Council and Another, placing an interim interdict on the Legal Practice Council (LPC) from conducting a re-election for the Fidelity Fund Board.

The application followed a contentious announcement by the LPC of a re-run election, owing to an alleged procedural irregularity in the previous election held in October 2023. The LPC stated that the election process violated Rule 46 of the Legal Practice Council Rules, prompting its decision not to tally the votes and, instead, re-run the election.

The applicants, comprising various legal entities, including the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL), contested the LPC's decision and sought to interdict the LPC from calling for nominations or conducting the re-run, pending a review of the LPC’s decisions.

The crux of the matter was whether the LPC possessed the authority to declare the election irregular or unlawful and whether their decisions were within their statutorily granted powers. As the judgment outlines, the LPC failed to present a compelling legal basis for its actions, lacking the necessary empowerment within Rule 46 to unilaterally declare the election invalid or refrain from fulfilling its obligations per Rules 46(15) to 46(17).

Justice K Strydom's judgment asserts that the applicants successfully demonstrated that the LPC overstepped its bounds, potentially infringing their rights to fair administrative action, good governance, transparent, and lawful conduct, which merited the grant of the interim interdict.

The judgment also holds that the LPC acted in a "vexatious and reprehensible" manner by forging ahead with the election process despite the pending judicial review, thereby disregarding the possible waste of resources and undermining of public confidence in the legal profession. Consequently, the LPC was ordered to pay the costs of the applicants on an attorney-own-client scale.

The halt of the election re-run raises significant concerns about the internal governance of legal oversight bodies and underscores the crucial need for procedural correctness and transparency within South Africa's legal framework.