Meet the Dean – Professor André Boraine

André Boraine took up office as Dean of the Faculty of Law on 1 November 2011, with a second term appointment from 1 November 2015.

Prof Boraine was the Head of the Department of Procedural Law from 1999 until the end of October 2011.  He holds the degrees LLB (Pret) LLM cum laude (Wits) LLD (Pret). The title of his LLD thesis was “Die leerstuk van vernietigbare transaksies in die Suid-Afrikaanse Insolvensiereg” (The doctrine of voidable transactions in the South African Insolvency Law).

He was appointed as a full-time senior lecturer in the Department of Mercantile Law at the University of Pretoria in 1985. With effect from 1 January 1995 he was promoted to the position of associate professor and to the rank of full professor on 1 January 1997. He became the Head of the Department of Procedural Law as from 1 September 1999 and he also served as part-time Deputy Dean of the Faculty during that year. 

André is a founding member and former co-director of the Centre for Insolvency, Labour and Company Law (CILC), formerly known as the Centre for Advanced Corporate and Insolvency Law, based at the University of Pretoria. 

Prof Boraine is frequently invited to present papers at national and international conferences and he has published extensively in the field of Insolvency Law.  He is co-author of the third edition of Silberberg and Schoeman’s "Law of Property"and Meskin’s "Insolvency Law".  Both these volumes are regarded as leading textbooks in the respective fields of Property Law and Insolvency Law in South Africa.

Prof Boraine serves on the editorial panel of the International Insolvency Law Review and has acted as referee for numerous articles for national and international journals, as well as for applications for NRF-ratings. He also serves on the management board of the Academics Group of Insol International and is an honorary member of the Association of Insolvency Practitioners of South Africa.

In 2011 the World Bank appointed him as a specialist consultant in conducting a ROSC analysis of the South African insolvency system and he served as a member of the World Bank team in 2013 when it conducted a similar anlaysis of the Nambian involvency system. a diagnostic analysis of the legal framework in South Africa for regulating insolvency law and the rights of debtors and creditors.   In 2013 he served as a panellist at an UNCITRAL conference on insolvency systems for SME’s. A joint paper on the topic followed and was subsequently published in the Insol International Review. 

Over the years André has taught a variety of law subjects at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and provided practical legal training to candidate attorneys and insolvency practitioners. His current research interests include insolvency law, the law of civil procedure, aspects of property law and consumer law. He has published widely and is a co-author of a leading South African insolvency textbook, i.e. Meskin Insolvency Law.

Prof Boraine is currently a B1-rated NRF researcher.

 

Meet the Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning – Professor Birgit Kuschke

1. Position, academic and professional qualifications

Professor Birgit Kuschke obtained the degrees BLC (cum laude) in 1986 and LLB (cum laude) in 1988 from the University of Pretoria. She obtained an LLD degree in 2009 at the University of South Africa for her thesis titled “Insurance against Damage caused by Pollution.”

She was admitted as an attorney, notary and conveyancer of the High Court of South Africa in 1994, and an accredited Poslec SETA Education, Training and Development Practitioner.

Areas of specialisation

Professor Kuschke specialises in insurance law; engineering and construction law; general law of contract; law of delict; environmental law and legal and commercial aspects relating to project management.

2. Academic and professional experience

Professor Kuschke completed her articles in 1991 with Van der Merwe Du Toit (VDT) Attorneys in Pretoria. She was admitted as an attorney, notary and conveyancer of the High Court of South Africa in 1994 and practised for her own account from 1994 until 2005 in association with VDT in Pretoria, specialising in insurance, engineering, construction and professional services contracts.

She was appointed as lecturer in the Department of Mercantile Law in 1991 and as senior lecturer in that Department in 1993. She was appointed as senior lecturer in the Department of Private Law in 2000 and promoted to associate professor in 2010 and is serving as the Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Law of the University of Pretoria from 1 July 2018.

Professor Kuschke lectures on the Law of Contract modules presented in the Faculty on both graduate: KTR 211 (Law of Contract) and postgraduate in the LLM (Law of Contract): GPC 801 Capita Selecta of the General Principles of the Law of Contract; and GPC 803 General Principles of the Drafting of Contracts and Advanced Drafting theory. Prior to 2000 she also lectured extensively on insurance law and on aspects of general commercial law with a focus on tax law and consumer protection law.

She conceptualised and developed the module on Legal Aspects in the Master’s Programme in Project Management (MPM) and the Master’s Programme in Engineering Management (MEM) presented in the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology of the University of Pretoria.

In her capacity as a Legal Education, Training and Development Practitioner of LEAD accredited by Poslec SETA (in terms of the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998), she lectures Drafting of Contracts for candidate attorneys at the Law Schools presented under the auspices of the Law Society of South Africa (2003 – to date).

She presents the module Legal Aspects of Project Management in the Programme in Project management (PPM) presented by CE@UP (Continuing Education at UP) (since its inception in 1997 – to date).

3. Academic and professional memberships

She was nominated in 2012 to act as a Corresponding Member for the drafting of the 2^nd edition of the “Principles of European Insurance Contract Law” (‘PEICL Team’) that was published at the end of 2014.

In 2015 Prof Kuschke was invited to serve as one of the principal drafting members selected from 14 academic institutions in the EU, the US, Japan, Singapore, Brazil and South Africa of the international Drafting Committee of the universal Principles of Reinsurance Contract Law (known as ‘PRICL’).

She has been a member of the International Association for Insurance Law (Association International du Droit Assurances or ‘AIDA’) since 1998, and serves as a Councillor on its Presidential Council since 2009. She is also holds membership in two of its Working Groups: Member of the Working Party on Pollution, Products and New Technologies of the International Association for Insurance Law (1998 – to date) and Consumer Protection and Dispute Resolution Working Group (2010 – date). 

 She designed and implemented the first subject within the Law Faculty to be presented electronically via distance education, namely Legal Aspects of Project Management (ILC 803) that is presented electronically via Click-UP (WebCT). 

4. Research awards and prizes

The book Lloyd’s Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation Burling & Lazarus (Eds) of which Professor Kuschke was one of the co-authors was awarded the British Insurance Law Association (‘BILA’) book prize for 2012/2013.

She also won the prize for Law Lecturer of the year in 2004; 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The Dean’s prize for designing and implementing the first subject in law to be presented electronically for distance education at the University of Pretoria was awarded to her in 2001.