Access to the legal profession, socially relevant research to uphold constitutional rights and legal resources for rural areas will be the emphasis of the Ciucci Law Development Initiative established in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University (SU).
“The Faculty is proud to announce that Giuseppe and Kathleen Ciucci have made a significant pledge to the Stellenbosch Foundation to fund the Ciucci Law Development Initiative (CLDI),” says Prof Gerhard Lubbe, Dean of the Faculty and Director of the Ciucci Centre for Law and Social Development. “Developed in the context of the University’s HOPE Project, the Ciucci family and the Law Faculty will partner to support the Faculty in a way that best contributes to positive transformation in South Africa.”
Mr Ciucci was appointed Chief Executive of the Stonehage Group in London in May 1997. Giuseppe and his wife, Kathleen, are both alumni of Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Law. Stonehage is a leading independent Multi Family Office offering wealth management and advisory services to an international clientele.
“Kathleen and I would like to assist disadvantaged learners to access the legal profession, and to support Stellenbosch University to expand its legal resources in rural areas,” Mr Ciucci said. “The Ciucci Centre for Law and Social Development will act as a hub to facilitate socially relevant research and law-related projects that will directly benefit rural communities and disadvantaged learners. We believe this initiative will contribute to the realisation of the University’s HOPE Project and establish the University as a catalyst for positive social transformation.”
The first pillar of the CLDI – launched in 2011 – will facilitate access to legal education through the Undergraduate Training Initiative providing Giuseppe & Kathleen Ciucci Scholarships for First Year students at the Faculty of Law, matched by the Dean’s Fund. These scholarships extend the existing Recruitment Scheme initiated by the Stonehage Charitable Trust and the Dean of the Faculty of Law in 2009, resulting in 22 scholarships being available annually to recruit qualified students from disadvantaged groups. Further funding has been earmarked for a Career Guidance Initiative in the Western Cape area, as well as a First Year Academic Support and Mentoring Programme of the Faculty of Law.
The second pillar of the CLDI is a Developmental Law Initiative, which has attracted three leading faculty members, Prof Sandra Liebenberg, Prof Geo Quinot and Prof André van der Walt, to become the first Fellows of the Ciucci Centre for Law and Social Development, focused on post-graduate research and training in the areas of Socio-Economic Rights, Administrative Justice and Constitutional Property Law. The Centre will co-fund the post-graduate assistantships of the abovementioned participants in the Faculty of Law’s HOPE project in 2011.
For further information on this Initiative, please contact Prof Gerhard Lubbe, Director of the Ciucci Centre for Law and Social Development. Tel: +27 (0)21 808-3784 or gfl1@sun.ac.za.