COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Certificate in Paralegal Studies programme was purposefully designed to prepare students for a career as Paralegal Studies, with basic knowledge and skills in the acquisition, processing, presentation, and management of Paralegal Studies data. The programme provides a systematic and coherent introduction to the main theories, basic principles, concepts, data, and problem-solving techniques in the main cognate area, i.e. Paralegal Studies.

The programme will help graduates with the competency to plan, apply, implement and evaluate Paralegal Studies practices in a variety of business and social contexts. In addition, the Certificate in Paralegal Studies will enable students to develop a sense of social responsibility, and an understanding of the role they can play in Paralegal Studies reform and sustainable development both in Namibia and the Southern African Region.

Graduates from this programme should have full regard for achieving knowledge and maintaining the basic standards of ethical conduct in the practice of their profession. Upon completion of the programme, graduates of this programme will be able to contribute significantly to the attainment of national development objectives in the economy by taking up jobs as Paralegal Studies both in the public and private sectors of Namibia.

Members of the Programme Advisory Committee and other stakeholders have expressed support for this programme while academic peers were also consulted for benchmarking purposes.

CERTIFICATION

The Certificate in Paralegal Studies will address the national need for capacity building in the Paralegal Studies cognate area. Graduates will engage in techniques of Paralegal Studies within the field of management and analysis of Namibia’s Paralegal Studies environment within the framework of contemporary national and international business projects that align with Namibia’s development agendas (e.g. Harambee plan, Vision 2030, NDPs), and will produce graduates who are skilled in Paralegal Studies i.e. managing, controlling, planning and organising.

Graduates will be able to make meaningful contributions to the technical development of the Paralegal Studies in their areas of specialisation, and the development of the national economy. This will lead to value-added economic activity which in turn will contribute to the achievement of national and global development goals.

The proposed programme is fully aligned with the Namibian Qualification Framework (NQF) and curriculum framework requirements. The development of this programme was done not only to meet the requirements for national accreditation and certification, but was designed to embrace and align the programme to the WCSI niche areas.

With this programme, we have comprehensively catered for the scope of the core management sciences to capture majority the specialisations within this field, thus ensuring that this programme is a true reflection of all the specialisations within the newly founded College.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Paralegal Professionals; employed by a private or public firm, local authority, or government.
• Legal Secretaries; employed by a private or public firm, local authority, or government.
• Court Clerks; employed by a Lower, Regional, High Court or Supreme Court.
• Legal Assistants; employed by a private or public firm, local authority, or government.
• Law Clerks; employed by a private or public firm, local authority, or government, and
  Other Law functions; employed by a private or public firm, local authority, or government.
• Self-employed; as a Private Law Clerk.