Professor David McQuoid-Mason.Professor Promotes Street Law in India
Law Professor at UKZN David McQuoid-Mason visited India from 28 February to 10 March to run Street Law social justice workshops and deliver papers on aspects of social justice and human rights at two conferences. He also received international awards and recognition for his clinical legal education work in more than 60 Commonwealth and other countries.
On 1 March McQuoid-Mason conducted a full-day Street Law workshop on aspects of social justice at the National University of Law, Delhi for staff and students at the institution and elsewhere.
He attended the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) Golden Jubilee International Conference to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the CLEA from 2 to 4 March, where he made four presentations and received two international awards.
On 2 March, McQuoid-Mason conducted another Street Law workshop and chaired the CLEA Biannual General Meeting at which he retired as President of the CLEA after serving for 27 years. He was replaced by Professor Siva Sivakumar of the Indian Law Institute, and was subsequently elected as President Emeritus of the CLEA.
From 3 to 5 March 2023, he chaired sessions on combating corruption, money laundering and transnational crime, including one at which his two ex-students and colleagues, Drs Franaaz Khan (now at the University of Johannesburg), and Vishal Surbun (UKZN), presented papers.
On 4 March, McQuoid-Mason received the First Professor NR Madhava Menon CLEA-Global Legal Education Award, the citation for which is engraved on a bronze tablet that states, inter alia:
‘Possessing the inestimable attributes of empathy, fortitude, tenacity, alliance, and readiness, Prof. David J. McQuoid-Mason has wielded a remarkable influence in the realm of legal education, not only in South Africa, but also throughout the world…Labouring unremittingly to empower socially disadvantaged sections through providing free legal aid and legal literacy, Prof. Mason has brought forth the light of justice, shining it upon those who would otherwise have been left in the shadows…’
He also received two other plaques commemorating the event.
From 5 to 9 March, Professor McQuoid-Mason attended the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in Goa where he assisted in organising the CLEA Commonwealth Moot Competition and presented a paper to Commonwealth lawyers on The Right to Death with Dignity: A Basic Human Right - with Particular Reference to South Africa.
He commented on his Indian experiences: ‘After attending the CLEA sessions on combatting corruption, money laundering and transnational crime, I realised that we need to harness the type of energy that we used to fight apartheid during the struggle for democracy to combat these three evils that are destroying development in our country. The Southern Africa Chapter of the CLEA under the auspices of the Society of Law Teachers of Southern Africa will arrange follow-up workshops and training sessions for staff members at all law faculties and schools in Southern Africa later in 2023 so that these subjects are embedded in law curricula.’
Words: Thandiwe Jumo
Photograph: Supplied