Professor Mohamed Paleker

Bio

BA LLB LLM PhD

Attorney of the High Court of South Africa

Prof Mohamed Paleker graduated with an LLB degree in 1994 and then worked as a researcher at the Constitutional Assembly, contributing to the writing of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, 1996. Prof Paleker became a qualified attorney in 1997 and started working at the UCT law faculty in 2000, while still doing some part-time legal work. In 2002, Prof Paleker became a permanent member of the UCT Law Faculty.

Prof Paleker specialises in Civil Procedure and the Law of Succession, and he taught succession to undergraduate LLB students until 2016. Currently, Prof Paleker supervises Masters and PhD students in Succession, and continues to teach Civil Procedure to the final-year LLB class. Additionally, he convenes and lectures a final-year LLB research elective, Civil Justice Reform.

Prof Paleker's areas of interest for the purpose of LLM and PhD supervision are succession and trusts, administration of estates, family law, civil procedural law, civil justice, courts, and the administration of civil justice.

Teaching

  • Civil Procedure 
  • Civil Justice Reform  

Awards

In 2012, Prof Paleker received the HELTASA award for teaching. In 2006, he was honoured with the University of Cape Town's Distinguished Teacher’s Award, the highest teaching award that the University can confer on an academic member, and it is only awarded once. In 2005, Prof Paleker received the Merit Award for making a significant contribution to teaching at UCT.

Fellowships, Visiting Lectureships, Professorships 

  • 2022 to date | Max Planck Scholar in Civil Procedure
  • 2015 | Comparative Civil Procedure, Stockholm University
  • 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 | Comparative Tort Litigation, University of Florida

Recent PhD and LLM Supervision

  • Jonty Cogger. Inheritance and redistribution: Exploring the constitutional commitment towards redistribution in the private law of succession, Unpublished PhD thesis (2021), University of Cape Town.
  • Kobus Meiring. A roadmap for implementing online dispute resolution in South Africa, Unpublished LLM thesis (2022), University of Cape Town.
  • Fatima Essop. The intersection between the Islamic law of inheritance and the South African law of succession, Unpublished PhD thesis (2022), University of Cape Town.
  • Maame Efua Addazi-Koom. The use of court-connected mediation in domestic violence contexts in Ghana: a call for model screening protocols, Unpublished PhD thesis (2023), University of Cape Town.
  • Wesley Maraire. Enhancing access to justice in Zimbabwe: an empirical exploration of integrating socially appropriate dispute resolution to overcome barriers within the formal justice system, Unpublished PhD thesis (2024), University of Cape Town.

Publications

  • Mohamed Paleker 'The Initiation of Civil Suits - A Comparative Perspective' in Margaret Y.K Woo & Cornelis H van Rhee Comparative Civil Procedure, 2025, Edward Elgar (https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/comparative-civil-procedure-9781786434401.html)
  • Mohamed Paleker 'The Draft Lower Courts Bill – A Serious Attempt to Transform the Civil Justice System, or Another Window-dressing Exercise'  141 (2024) SALJ 437.
  • Mohamed Paleker Murder and Fraud for Inheritance: Smit v the Master of the High Court, Western Cape 140 (2023) South African Law Journal 465. 
  • Jamneck, Rautenbach, Paleker, Van der Linde, Wood-Bodley Law of Succession in SA,  4 ed, 2023, Oxford University Press.
  • Gys Hofmeyr & Mohamed Paleker Law of Succession in South Africa, 2023, Juta Publishers, Cape Town. Book reviewed in 141 (2024) South African Law Journal 201.
  • Mohamed Paleker – Book Review – The Supreme Court of Namibia by Petrus T Damaseb 139 (2022) South African Law Journal 717.
  • Mohamed Paleker – Book Review – Herbstein and Van Winsen: The Civil Practice of the Superior Courts of South Africa by Mervyn Dendy & Cheryl Loots  140  (2023) South African Law Journal 893. 
  • Mohamed Paleker The South African Sheriffs’ Guide:  Practice and Procedure, 2016, Juta Publishers, Cape Town, Revision Service 1.
  • Jamneck, Rautenbach, Paleker, Van der Linde, Wood-Bodley Law of Succession in SA, 2ed, 2016, Oxford University Press.
  • Mohamed Paleker The South African Sheriffs’ Guide:  Practice and Procedure, 2015, Juta Publishers, Cape Town 1-750.
  • Marius de Waal & Mohamed Paleker (eds) South African Law of Succession and Trusts” – The Past Meeting the Future and Thoughts for the Future, 2014, Juta Publishers, Cape Town.
  • Daniel MacKintosh & Mohamed Paleker “The Grandchild’s Claim to Maintenance from a Deceased Grandparent’s Estate”, 2014, Acta Juridica 41-77
  • Mohamed Paleker “Civil Procedure in the Magistrates Courts of South Africa” (2014) volume 3 Law of South Africa, LexisNexis Butterworths, 1-250.
  • Mohamed Paleker “Fact and Truth-Finding in South African Civil Procedure” in R Rhee & A Uzelac (ed) Truth and Efficiency in Civil Proceedings (2013) Intersentia 189-218
  • Mohamed Paleker “Civil Procedure in South Africa: The Past, The Present and the Future” 2011 (16) ZZPInt 343-368.
  • Jamneck, Rautenbach, Paleker, Van der Linde, Wood-Bodley Erfreg in Suid Afrika (2de uitgawe, 2013, Oxford University Press.
  • Jamneck, Rautenbach, Paleker, Van der Linde, Wood-Bodley Law of Succession in SA, 2ed, 2012, Oxford University Press.
  • Rautenbach et al Erfreg in Suid Afrika, 2009, Oxford University Press.
  • Mohamed Paleker “Succession” in Francois du Bois (ed) Wille’s Principles of South African Law, 9th edition, 2007, Juta Publishers, Cape Town.
  • Mohamed Paleker “Mediation in South Africa: Here But Not All There” in N Alexander (ed) Global Trends in Mediation, 2nd edition, 2006 , Kluwer Publications.
  • Mohamed Paleker “Letters of Demand (Interpellatio Extraiudicialis): Form and Substance” 30:1 (2005) Journal for Juridical Science 68-89, University of the Free State
  • Mohamed Paleker “Bekker v Naude & Others: The Supreme Court of Appeal Settles The Meaning of ‘Drafted’ in Section 2(3) of the Wills Act but Creates a Potential Constitutional Problem” 121 (2004) South African Law Journal 27-33, Juta Publishers, Cape Town.
  • Mohamed Paleker “Court-Connected ADR in Civil Litigation: the Key to Access to Justice in South Africa” 6:3 (2003) Australian ADR Bulletin 48-50, Richmond Publishers, Australia.
  • Mohamed Paleker “The Changing Face of Mediation in South Africa” in N Alexander (ed) Global Trends in Mediation (2003) 301-340, Centrale für Mediation Gmb & Co. KG, Germany).
  • M Paleker “Mediation in the Family Court. Mountains Promised Molehills delivered” (2002) 10 Juta’s Business Law 13-19, Juta Publishers, Cape Town.
  • W Amien & M Paleker “Women’s Rights 1997-1998” South African Yearbook of Human Rights (1997-1998) 321-390, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Natal, Durban.

Professional Associations, Editorships etc

Prof Paleker has trained over 100 aspiring and qualified mediators in court-annexed mediation. He has also served as a reviewer for several law journals, examining Master’s and PhD theses, and as an external examiner for numerous courses at several South African universities. From 2020 to 2022, Prof Paleker worked as an assistant editor of the South African Law Journal. Additionally, he has provided assistance to the Women's Legal Centre and the Gender Commission with advocacy work. He has conducted training for judicial officers (magistrates) on judicial ethics, as well as for court officials in both South Africa and the SADC region.

Law Commissions, legislative drafting and other legal service

  • 2024 - Chairperson of the National Steering Committee on Small Claims Courts 
  • Between 2020 and 2022, Prof Paleker served as an advisory member to the South African Law Reform Commission for Project 100D, which conducted an investigation on the relocation of children and the use of mediation in family disputes.
  • Between 2016 and 2018, Prof Paleker was a member of the Superior Courts Task Team. During this time, he contributed to the drafting of several amendments to the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013, as well as the Uniform Rules of Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal Rules. From 2005 to 2013, he was part of the Ministerial Task Team for Small Claims Courts, whose responsibilities included overseeing the establishment of over 200 small claims courts nationwide, as well as contributing to the public education program and the training of court officials and presiding commissioners. Additionally, the team played a key role in creating training manuals for commissioners and clerks of court. 
  • In the years 2015 to 2017, Prof Paleker was a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for Court-Annexed Mediation. He contributed to the implementation of court-annexed mediation in the courts.
  • From 2012 to 2018, Prof Paleker was a member of the Rules Board for Courts of Law, appointed under the Rules Board for Court of Law Act 107 of 1985. During this time, he served on multiple committees and chaired two of them, and was heavily involved in developing the court annexed-mediation rules for the magistrates’ courts and in establishing processes and procedures for judicial sales in execution. As a member of the board, Prof Paleker proposed numerous amendments to the Magistrates’ Courts Rules and the Uniform Rules of Court, many of which resulted in legislative changes.
  • In 2008, Prof Paleker was appointed as an advisory member to the South African Law Reform Commission for Project 25, which involved revising the South African Statute Book. Prof Paleker's role was to review all the legislation related to the Law of Succession and Civil Procedure.

Conferences and other engagements

2024

2023

  • Presented a comparative law paper on the initiation of civil suits in Maastricht, Netherlands.
  • Presented a comparative law paper on jurisdictional transfer between courts in Luxembourg.   

2022

  • Presented two online workshops to the legal profession, judiciary and other interested parties on collaborative lawyering and ADR in family law disputes. Addressed the advantages, disadvantages and legislative drafting.

2016

  • Presented a seminar to the Cape Law Society on the Interpretation of Wills.

2014-2017

  • Presented conference papers at various civil procedure conferences organised by the Department of Justice in the following areas: ADR, Judicial Case Flow Management, Legal Cost, Access to Justice, and Judicial Sales in Execution.

2013

  • Presented a paper at the Law of Succession and Trusts Conference at the University of Pretoria on the incorporation by reference rule in the South African law of succession

2012

  • Convened and hosted a law of succession and trusts conference at the University of Cape Town and presented a paper on the recognition of a grandchild’s claim for maintenance from a deceased grandparent’s estate.

  • Presented a paper at the Fiduciary Institute of South Africa Conference, Cape Town on the development of maintenance claims against deceased estates: an international perspective

2011

  • Presented a paper on truth and efficiency in South African civil procedure, University of Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

2010

  • Presented a paper on the doctrine of collation in the law of succession, at the University of the Western Cape.

  • Presented a paper at the Ius Commune Conference held in Belgium on Access to Civil Justice in South Africa.

2008

  • Presented a paper at the University of Malaysia on court-connected mediation under the Children’s Act 38 of 2005.

2006

  • Presented a paper at the University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji on court-connected models of alternative dispute resolution in civil matters.

  • Presented a seminar on freedom of testation to members of the faculty and to postgraduate students at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

2005

  • Presented a paper at the Commonwealth Legal Education Conference on customary inheritance practices in a Roman-Dutch legal system informed by constitutional principles.

  • Chaired a session at the Research Unit for Legal & Constitutional Interpretation (RULCI) Conference held at the University of Cape Town.

2004

  • Presented a seminar at the Faculty of Law, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, discussing the impact of the South African Bill of Rights on the law of succession.

2003

  • Presented a paper at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development conference on the reformulation of small claims courts in South Africa.

2002

  • Presented a paper and a poster on ADR in civil litigation at the 16th Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law held in Brisbane, Australia.

  • Sat as a moot judge at the 11th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition held in Cairo, Egypt.