Legal Resources Centre

LRC is an independent, client-focused, not-for-profit public interest legal clinic that uses the law as an instrument of justice. It was founded in 1979 and is South Africa`s largest public interest, the Human Rights Clinic. In addition to its national office and constitutional litigation unit, LRC has four regional offices in Cape Town, Durban, Grahamstown and Johannesburg. In its early years, the LRC challenged the legal mechanisms used by the apartheid government to oppress millions of South Africans. As Executive Director of LRC, I can honestly say that it is both an honour and a privilege to lead an organization that proficially teaches, nurtures, develops and enhances skills and competencies. The Legal Resource Centre focuses on what makes professional education and training truly exceptional. Our leadership and teaching teams are qualified, inspiring and passionate professionals who work together to share their experiences, talents, values and high standards, leading to our guiding principle. “Prepared in Thoughts and Resources” Pantelis Karonias Executive Director, Legal Resource Centre Since 1994, the LRC has worked to make the South African Constitution a living document and to ensure that the rights and obligations enshrined therein are respected, promoted, protected and fulfilled through a range of strategies such as impact litigation, legal reform and networking. The LRC provides legal services to vulnerable and marginalized people, including the poor, homeless and landless farmers and communities in South Africa, who face discrimination based on race, class, gender, disability or social, economic and historical circumstances. RBF has been supporting human rights and anti-apartheid causes in South Africa since the 1960s and has deepened its interest in these areas by helping to establish the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Johannesburg by supporting the Legal Resources Trust from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation and local donors in South Africa. The CRA had two main objectives: it was a public interest law firm, providing public defence and legal representation; And it was a practical training ground for law students working in race relations and human rights, which was especially important for black law students who were struggling to get such opportunities.

Today, the Centre continues its valuable efforts to promote the use of the law as a peaceful means of combating racial discrimination and to raise public awareness of the many injustices in South Africa. The CRA produced more judges than any other law firm or public interest law centre, all appointed after 1994. These include the first president of the newly created Constitutional Court, Arthur Chaskalson, and the former president of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Lex Mpati, among many others. The late Felicia Kentridge and the late Arthur Chaskalson were founding members of the LRC. Here they take a tea break with Guy Stringe, the former trustee of the Legal Assistance Trust, in the early days of LRC`s existence. Banner of the first days after apartheid, exact date unknown. The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) is a human rights organisation based in South Africa with offices in Johannesburg (including a constitutional litigation unit), Cape Town, Durban and Grahamstown. It was founded in 1979 by a group of prominent South African lawyers, including Arthur Chaskalson, Felicia Kentridge and Geoff Budlender, headed by American civil rights lawyer Jack Greenberg, then director and advisor to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. [1] The LRC is a general public interest law firm that handles litigation and other activities in a variety of areas of interest, including the full range of rights set out in the South African Constitution.

Since its inception, the LRC has litigated many landmark human rights cases in South Africa, including important cases against the injustices of apartheid and cases under the new constitution after 1994. [2] These include S v. Makwanyane (abolition of the death penalty), Government of the Republic of South Africa v. Grootboom (establishing the enforceability of socio-economic rights), the Case Treatment Action Campaign (government commitment to provide antiretroviral drugs to prevent HIV transmission at birth) and the Silicosis Class Action Lawsuit (South Africa`s largest class action lawsuit against key players in the gold mining industry, who are involved in a multi-billion rand settlement resulted in compensation for black miners).