The Ou Hoofgebou (Old Main Building) is home to the Stellenbosch Law Faculty and is situated on the corner of Victoria and Ryneveld Streets in the centre of Stellenbosch. The Faculty of Law was established in 1921 and initially the Faculty only offered the LLB degree and focused on training and equipping students, not merely as legal practitioners, but also as jurists. The LLM degree (by thesis) was awarded in 1976 for the first time to two students. The Law Faculty introduced the LLM by course work in 1994. Today the Faculty offers postgraduate programmes to around 220 students. The staff of the Faculty of Law is passionate about legal education, research and social impact. Staff are highly qualified and include 14 National Research Foundation (NRF) rated researchers (1A, 6B, 5C, 2Y) that signify their international and national esteem as researchers. The Faculty is home to 4 research chairs: The HF Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights (Prof Sandra Liebenberg), the Anton Mostert Chair in Intellectual Property Law (Prof Sadulla Karjiker), The Law Faculty Trust Chair in Social Justice (Prof Thuli Madonsela) and The South African Research Chair in Property Law (Prof Zsa-Zsa Boggenpoel). The Faculty is the home of the SU Law Clinic. The Law Clinic transitioned into a fully-fledged Legal Aid Clinic in 1987, after starting out in 1975 as a Legal Aid Scheme operated by senior law students who provided legal assistance to indigent communities of Stellenbosch. Today the Law Clinic presents practical legal training to law students and continues to offer legal services to indigent persons. The Law Clinic assists with various civil matters, for example divorces, contracts, family law and debt. The Law Clinic has been awarded a number of prizes and recognition for excellent contributions: • 2019 South African Specialist Law Firm of the Year, 10th Annual Global Law Experts Awards • 2019 South African Social Justice Law Firm of the Year, 10th Annual Global Law Experts Awards
