Exciting times ahead

Mapula Thebe – Editor

In the next few months, De Rebus will be embarking on a process of redesigning its website so that it can be accessible on all platforms including tablets and smartphones. Readers will be able to bookmark the website on their devices to access it as an application. De Rebus wants to have frequent and current interaction with its readers; therefore the website will be updated regularly to give readers up-to-date information on the happenings of the legal profession.

The new website will have a powerful search functionality where readers can search for key phrases and have access to a database of articles published in the journal that dates back to 1998. Articles on our new website will also be searchable via any search engine, which is not the case on our current website.  

The website will be user friendly as we want to encourage readers to visit the website frequently. Readers will be asked to register on the website so that they can update their information and be able to save articles they want to read at a later stage on the website’s dashboard. This exiting digital move will also assist De Rebus in future so that it can be used as a tool for continuing professional development (CPD). 

Chapter 2 s 6(5)(e) and (h) of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA) states that: 
‘6 (5) The Council, with regard to education in law and legal practice generally – 
(e) may determine, after consultation with relevant role-players and legal practitioners in general, conditions relating to the nature and extent of continuing education and training, including compulsory post-qualification professional development;
…
(h) must report annually to the Minister on –
…
(iii) measures adopted to enhance entry into the profession, including the remuneration of candidate legal practitioners and continuing legal education to develop skills of legal practitioners.’
During the LPA era, CPD as a form of continuing legal education and training will form part of the mandate of the Legal Practice Council. Legal practitioners will be able to use De Rebus as a platform to accumulate CPD points. For example, practitioners can meet their CPD requirements by sending articles to the journal or reading articles and being tested on the articles they have read. That is where the importance of the new website comes in, practitioners will be able to send and read articles on the website, which will be tracked. De Rebus questionnaires on articles can also be available on the website. 

Notice: 

De Rebus experienced server difficulties over the past month and would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused during this time. 
If you did contact us and did not receive a reply from the staff, please resend the e-mail to us at derebus@derebus.org.za

Would you like to write for De Rebus?

De Rebus welcomes article contributions in all 11 official languages, especially from legal practitioners. Practitioners and others who wish to submit feature articles, practice notes, case notes, opinion pieces and letters can e-mail their contributions to derebus@derebus.org.za.
The decision on whether to publish a particular submission is that of the De Rebus Editorial Committee, whose decision is final. In general, contributions should be useful or of interest to practising attorneys and must be original and not published elsewhere. For more information, see the ‘Guidelines for articles in De Rebus’ on our website (www.derebus.org.za). 
• Please note that the word limit is now 2000 words.

• Upcoming deadlines for article submissions: 20 April and 18 May 2015.