Public Events
The Faculty of Law hosts a number of public events.
At the Faculty we host a number of annual public events, including lectures, seminars, book launches, alumni gathering and student engagements. The regular annual events are listed below.
The Annual Rabinowitz Visitorship
Mr Benjamin “Bennie” Rabinowitz, successful Cape Town-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, has spent his life committed to the cause of social justice in South Africa. He has used his success to promote constructive engagement on social justice issues through the endowment of an annual Rabinowitz Visitorship at the UCT Faculty of Law. Focused on law, democracy, equality and social justice. The Visitorship takes place over three or four days and includes giving the Rabinowitz Annual Public Lecture.
The Ben Beinart Memorial Lecture
Inaugurated in 2003, the annual Ben Beinart Memorial Lecture has provided the Faculty with fantastic opportunities to bring excellent legal minds to UCT Law to share their thoughts and insights on a topic of their choice.
This lecture recognises the life work and contribution to the Faculty of Law by Professor Ben Beinart, who held the WP Schreiner Professor of Law Chair at UCT from 1950-1974, and was known for his deep appreciation of Roman and Roman-Dutch law and principles. Prof Beinart was active in community organisations and played a leading role in the administration of the Law Faculty and of the University of Cape Town. Prof Beinart apparently did everything with gusto - and was a lover of good wine, good food and cigars as well as robust intellectual activity. He was known as a great who was "quick to see the humour which is present in most human predicaments and yet totally without malice". Extracts from Professor Barry Dean, 1976 Acta Juridicta XV.
The lecture is hosted each year, on rotation, by one of the Faculty's three departments - Private Law, Public Law and Commercial Law, and is generously sponsored by Webber Wentzel.