GEORGE NEWS - George Magistrate Graehymme Williams recently launched his book, Judicial Manual, as a guide for candidate attorneys and newly qualified attorneys in legal practices.
He says he decided to write this book while he was an acting magistrate in Bloemfontein, where he was reminded of the shortcomings in the training of especially new entrants in the legal practice.
"I saw that there was actually a need for a research manual for practitioners to help them with procedures in the criminal law courts."
The book deals with various aspects encountered on a daily basis.
He tells George Herald that he grew up in Mossel Bay, in "Die Valley". "I initially studied to be a teacher, and in fact taught for one year. However, after that period, I quickly realised that teaching was not for me, and I returned to university full-time to study law."
Williams says the money he earned during the year was saved to pay for at least the first six months of his studies. During this time, he became more mature and responsible, which helped him to achieve good results and qualify for a bursary.
"My father was a labourer at the railways, and he could not assist me financially. It was indeed an arduous journey."
As an acting magistrate, Williams was reminded of bad experiences he had in court as a candidate attorney. "I was at one stage ordered to leave the court by a magistrate, and to call my principal to come to court and explain certain things. It was utterly humiliating and humbling, and now, while I had the opportunity to preside, I saw the difficulties experienced by new entrants from a different perspective, and that was the major force behind my decision to embark on writing this book."
Williams also realised how isolated one can feel in the court room, which prompted him to prepare the section with a step-by-step guide of court procedures.
Magistrate Graehymme Williams talks about his book, Judicial Manual.
Infusing case law
He says being an attorney requires discipline and a decision to assume the reading of case law as a pastime. "I don't like reading myself, I cannot recall whether I have ever finished reading one book in my life; however, as a practitioner, you are compelled to read case law." The writing of this book saw him read case law day and night.
He had to meticulously choose the topics so that he could infuse the excerpts from court judgments to ease practitioners' research. "It makes it easy for the practitioner to access the crux of a judgment on a particular point or legal question."
Writing this book has been a hugely informative experience for Williams himself, and the fact that he was living alone in Bloemfontein while his wife remained in George, meant he had enough time to do the reading and the writing.
Willams is currently working on a similar journal for civil law.
"It will be in two volumes, and I am 90% finished with the first volume. I realise that there is a need for such a manual, and specifically for me, it is an immensely learnful experience as the field of law is so wide and colossal. I decided to make it also available as an e-book in light of the fact that we are moving more and more into a paperless world." He says this makes it easier for people to read on their tablets, Ipads and Kindles.
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