You are advised to make a written complaint to the Executive Secretary. To speed up the process your written complaint should give out all relevant details and where possible attach relevant documents in support of the same.
You can also complete the complaint form here
The Law Society does not assist anyone in choosing lawyers but encourage people to choose lawyers they are comfortable with. You can choose these lawyers in terms of charges and their experience. Available for a small fee is a directory for all registered lawyers in private practice or you can search for the lawyers.
The first step in converting a foreign LLBS qualification in order for one to be registered as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe is to go to the Council for Legal Education. Their offices are situate at 7th Floor Century House, Nelson Mandela Avenue (Between Angwa Street and Julius Nyerere way).
Tel: 04 774627, 04 788446 or you can visit their website.
The following subjects are available for conversion:
Exams are offered every year in June and November, registration is generally open a month before exams but it is crucial to submit your application in advance. Kindly consult the Council for Legal Education offices well before your preferred month of sitting to avoid any disappointments.
Currently there are no formal tutorials in respect of the Bar Conversion Exams. The LSZ has, however, developed a full set of tutorial manuals canvassing all areas on the syllabus for exams.
These will shortly be available to candidates at a nominal cost recovery price. The reason the LSZ is doing this is because it carries a mandate in terms of section 53 of the Legal Practitioners Act [Chapter 27:07] to provide means of securing efficiency and responsibility on the part of those seeking registration in Zimbabwe.
Accordingly the project to come up with Bar Conversion Exam Tutorial Manuals is not a profit making venture but a response to an identified gap in terms of the provisions of the law.
The Council for Legal Education is responsible for offering Bar Conversion Exams. Accordingly they decide whether or not your qualification is suitable for conversion. Once they accept your qualification you will be allowed to register for exams.
Once you have passed the required subjects under the Bar Conversion Exams, you then come to the Law Society just like any designated LLBS Degree holder and apply to be registered in the High Court. To do this you need to have a law firm of your choice lodge an application on your behalf together with $200 registration fee. The Law Society also needs to satisfy itself that your qualification and professional and personal records are sufficient to enable your registration. Particularly that your degree has been obtained from a designated foreign university.
If your degree is not form a designated university the LSZ will make a recommendation against your registration. A period of ten days is counted upon your lodging of your application in the prescribed form before you can proceed to set down the application for registration at the High Court.
Once you are sworn in at the High Court, you automatically become a member of the law society unless you notify the Executive Secretary of your intention not to be a member of the LSZ in terms of the Legal practitioners Act.
At this stage you are formally registered as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe and you can approach the LSZ for a practising certificate. Certain fees are due and payable in terms of a schedule to be provided once you submit an application for a practising certificate.
You will also be informed about Continuous Professional Development requirements to be completed during and after your three years of pupillage which commence to run the moment you are issued with a valid practising certificate and will continue for as long as you continue to validly hold one.
A designated degree is an LLBS qualification that is locally obtained and designated in terms of a statutory proclamation by the Minister of Justice. This means that the holder of such a degree is not required by law to write bar conversion exams in order to apply for registration.
Currently there are only two designated Law Degrees .i.e. University of Zimbabwe and Midlands State University Faculties of Law LLBS degrees. A designated university on the other hand is a foreign university designated in terms of the law by the Minister of Justice.
Accordingly there is a list of designated foreign Universities situate in foreign jurisdictions. Holders of qualifications from designated universities are qualified to register to write conversion exams but not to register as legal practitioners.
It is the list of designated universities that the LSZ checks your qualification against when you submit an application for registration. It is the same list that the Council for Legal Education consults before allowing you to convert your degree.
