Why Lawyers and Legal Educators Should Care About (Epistemic) Justice

Abstract

Society shapes the law and the law, we hope, might shape society for the better in turn. Legal traditions and practices therefore surely ought to secure for all citizens the prerequisites of a life worthy of human dignity. In a speech to the Routledge-Modise Law School in Johannesburg in September 2008, Justice Kate O’Regan[1] drew on Antony Kronman’s theory that one of the main characteristics identifying the practice of Law is that it is directly concerned with the public good. Lawyers have a responsibility to foster the legal system and the rule of law; at times, this might require them to suggest new laws or legislation; at other times, it might require them to criticize judgments which may not appear correct; at other times, they may need to protect the rule of law itself.

[1] O’Regan, K. ‘Lawyering in Our New Constitutional Order.’ (2009). UCT News Alumni Magazine cited in Walker. M. Higher Education Pedagogies. (2016) Maidenhead: Open University Press & SRHE