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- Ceremonial sittings at courts on Tuesday will commemorate 100 years of women in law.
- The sittings mark a centenary since the Women Legal Practice Act of 1923.
- Women were not permitted to practise law before the Act.
Several courts in South Africa will have ceremonial sittings on Tuesday to commemorate 100 years of women in law.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and Johannesburg High Courts will hold ceremonial sittings to commemorate the centenary of the Women Legal Practice Act of 1923. Similar programmes will take place in KwaZulu-Natal and the North West.
Prior to the Act, women were not considered to be "'persons' who could be admitted to legal practice", spokesperson in the Office of the Chief Justice, Lusanda Ntuli, said.
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The Act opened the door for women by decreeing that: "Women shall be entitled to be admitted to practice and to be enrolled as advocates, attorneys, notaries public or conveyancers in any province of the union, subject to the same terms and conditions [that] apply to men…"
"It did not take long for women to take active steps to become legal practitioners. The first woman to be admitted as an advocate in South Africa was Irene Geffen in 1923. The first woman attorney was Constance Mary Hall in 1926. For historic apartheid reasons, it took longer for black women to join the ranks, with Desiree Finca being enrolled as the first black woman attorney in 1967," Ntuli said.
Finca will be among the special guests at the Gauteng commemoration. The occasion will be hosted in collaboration with the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges and the 100More Campaign.
"The ceremonial sittings will bring together women from legal practice, legal institutions, and the judiciary to honour these pioneering women, to reflect on the journey of women in the legal profession and to reaffirm our commitment as a collective to promote the constitutional rights of equality and human dignity," Ntuli said.
