At the launch of the celebrations of the Faculty of Law of the UFS of a 100 years of jurisprudence, under the banner of "Iurisprudentia 100", were, from left: Judge Faan Hancke, Extra-ordinary Professor in the Department of Criminal and Medical Law and Chairperson of the UFS Board, Judge Lex Mpati, President of the Supreme Court of Appeal mr. Surty, Judge Hendrik Musi, Judge President of the High Court of the Free State, and prof. Henning.
The opening address by Mr M.E. Surty, MP, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, of the faculty’s celebrations of:  A century of jurisprudence, was delivered on Monday, 16 February 2009 at 19:30 in the Odeion.  This occasion was described by the dean, Prof Johan Henning, as a milestone in the history of the Faculty of Law of the University of the Free State.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr Enver Surty, has applauded the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) for its contribution to law in South Africa. Mr Surty was guest speaker yesterday on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein at the launch of the faculty’s celebration of a century of excellence in legal education, training and research at the UFS. The theme of the celebration is “Iurisprudentia 100”. “The faculty has throughout its existence demonstrated its capability and capacity to produce scholars, legal practitioners, academics, judges, politicians etc, of great note. The university can take pride in the fact that, as an institution, you have done so well,” said Mr Surty. Mr Surty said that our judiciary must be adequately qualified and it must be representative of our nation. “We must therefore have more aspiring judges in our midst and we must have a more representative judiciary – in race and gender. This is where an institution like the UFS can play an important role,” said Mr Surty. Mr Surty also commented on the university’s engagement with its communities. “The UFS has begun to recognise the importance of community engagement. Unless community engagement is part of your curricular activity we would not be able to produce the judges of the caliber we need who are better able to understand the social and economic context of our society,” he said.
This year the faculty celebrates  “Iurisprudentia 100”  – a century  of excellence in  legal education and training and legal research.  This harks back to the Roman Iurispudentes of the first century B.C whose work was described as cavere, agere, scribere and docere. The Faculty of Law has a distinguished history of excellence in theoretical and practical legal education and training which can be traced as far back as the establishment of the Grey University College in 1904.  With this modest beginning the seed was also planted for the establishment of the Faculty of Law, which obtained momentum when Bloemfontein became the judicial capital of South Africa in 1910. The aim of teaching the first law subjects was to prepare candidates for the entrance examination for attorneys.  Later, certain LLB subjects were added.  In 1909 Adv PU Fischer, a BA LLB graduate of the University of Cambridge (and the father of Bram Fischer), was the first law lecturer (in Roman-Dutch law) to receive a permanent appointment and to become a member of Senate.  He later joined the bar and became a member of the Council of the Grey University College and was eventually appointed as Judge-President of the Orange Free State Division of the Supreme Court..  In 1918 the first LLB degrees were conferred on SP le Roux (later Minister of Agriculture and “father” of the Faculty of Agriculture at the UFS), CR Swart (later Minister of Justice, Governor-General, State President and the first Chancellor of the UFS), and W Leinberger (attorney). In 1945 it became a fully-fledged faculty, and in 1948 it entered a new academic era when Dr JP Verloren van Themaat was appointed as the first full-time professor.  He was also the first dean of the new Faculty of Law.  After Dr Verloren van Themaat, six deans lead the faculty until the appointment of the current dean. in 1997.  In 1999 the Faculty was chosen as Bloemfontein’s Institution of the Year.  During the last ten years international contact was made with the universities of London, Cambridge, Sussex, Tilburg, Kentucky, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Utrecht and Deacon (Australia), among others. Over the years, student numbers grew considerably and today the faculty has over 2 700 graduate and postgraduate students. The faculty prides itself on the fact that some of its students and lecturers went on to hold some of the highest offices in the country.  Under its alumni are state presidents, ministers of state, administrators, judges of appeal, judges, rectors, professors and lecturers at the UFS as well as at other universities, advocates attorneys and legal advisors – in private practice as well as in government.
On March 4, 2009 former appeal court judge, Joos Hefer, honorary professor in the Department of Private Law, gave a guest lecture as part of the Faculty’s celebrations of “a Century of Jurisprudence”.  In a packed CR Swart Auditorium on the campus of the UFS the lecture entitled “Evolution of the law of delict” was presented specifically for law of delict students.  Several lecturers and even two judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal attended this prestigious event.  With reference to examples from the case law judge Hefer illustrated how the law of delict changed to adapt to prevailing circumstances and the needs of society.
Prof Johan Henning (dean), Prof Rita-Marié Jansen (lecturer in delict), former appeal court judge Joos Hefer (guest speaker), mr Ludwe Mfudisi and ms Siviwe Mateta (students).
	16 February 2009: Opening address by Minister of Justice 26 February 2009: Visit by Prof Warrenes of Belgium on language rights 13 March 2009: Breakfast for all candidate attorneys   18 March 2009: Breakfast for judges and Cum Laude awards The inaugural lecture of Mr Justice IG Farlam, Judge of Appeal, Supreme Court of Appeal, Republic of South Africa, Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Roman Law, Legal History and Comparative Law of the Faculty of Law, featured on 6 MAY 2009. Subject:  "Cox and Constitutionalism: Aspects of Free State Legal History" 15 May 2009:    Breakfast for labour law certificate alumni 11 September 2009: Breakfast for diploma alumni (CFP) 16 October 2009:     Breakfast for attorneys and advocates 9-12 November 2009:  Inaugural and public adresses 13 November 2009:     Centenary Dinner The Faculty is also planning a de luxe publication which will give an overview of legal training and research at the UFS over the past 100 years. We invite our alumni to provide us with their inputs by sending interesting photos, short anecdotes and other interesting documentation before/on 31 March 2009 to the persons mentioned above. Our alumni’s input will be appreciated.   We look forward for you to join us in our celebrations.
The Department of Roman Law, History of Law and Comparative Law recently hosted Prof. Harry Rajak as part of the Iurisprudentia 100 celebrations of the Faculty of Law of the University of the Free State (UFS). Prof. Rajak, Emeritus Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Law at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, delivered a public lecture as visiting professor on the subject: A virile living system of law: An exploration of the South African legal system. Prof. Rajak delivered a very extensive lecture about the sources, nature, resilience and uniqueness of South African law. Amongst others, he convincingly pointed out that, for quite some time already, the common law of South Africa can no longer simply be equated to the Roman Dutch Law of the 17th and 18th century. South African law has been influenced by other law systems, amongst others, the English law, and developed by the judicature to such an extent that it is more correct to describe it as South African Common Law. Here are Prof. Rajak (left) and Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS, in conversation. Photo: Leonie Bolleurs
Centenary celebrations of  the Faculty of Law reach a highlight Here Prof. Johan Henning hands the Cum Laude award to Judge Faan Hancke. Photo: Stephen Collett The Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) reached the highlight of its celebrations of a century of excellence in legal education, training and research under the theme “Iurisprudentia 100” at a gala dinner on Friday evening. At this spectacular occasion Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty handed a Cum Laude award to Judge Faan Hancke, Chairperson of the UFS Council and Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Law of Procedure and Law of Evidence. Judge Hancke is the fourth recipient of this award. Judge Hancke received the award for his excellent contributions towards the building of the Faculty of Law and the UFS. According to Prof. Henning the faculty has a distinguished history of excellence in theoretical as well as practical education and training, which can be traced as far back as to the establishment of the Grey University College in 1904. Other highlights in legal education at the UFS include, amongst others, 1909 when Adv. Percy Fisher, a BA LLB graduate from the University of Cambridge became the first law lecturer to receive a permanent appointment. In 1918 the first LLB degrees were awarded to SP le Roux, later Minister of Agriculture, CR Swart, later Minister of Justice, Governor-General, State President and the first Chancellor of the UFS, and W. Leinberger, an attorney in town. In 1945 Law became an independent faculty and in 1948 the first full-time professor, Dr JP Verloren van Themaat was appointed. The faculty prides itself on the fact that he has prepared many students as well as lecturers who later became presidents, ministers, administrators, judges of appeal, judges and rectors. National as well as international leaders in the legal field congratulated the faculty on its 100-year celebrations. Messages of congratulations were also received from, amongst others, universities, legal practices and the government.