The Faculty awards an annual prize for the ‘Faculty of Law Researcher of the Year’ to encourage staff in their research endeavours and to give formal recognition to those members of staff who have made a contribution in the research area of academic excellence. During the challenging last 2 years of the Covid-19 pandemic, academic staff had to adjust to the changed circumstances, online teaching challenges, and limited time for research. Despite all of this, the recipient of this year’s award still managed to excel on the research front through her research outputs and conference participation. She has written a number of articles and book chapters, with a specific focus on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, lawyers and access to justice. Professor Kruuse has also presented a number of conference papers, often by invitation, ranging from issues of ethics, legal education, and customary marriage disputes. She is also the Review Editor for the South African Law Journal.
Her most recent biggest achievement is the completion of her PhD thesis at Rhodes University in 2021 on Legal ethics and the lawyer-client relationship in South Africa: A proposal for reform using local values. Her thesis has been described as ‘long-awaited’ and ‘...there is no doubt that this [thesis] represents a significant contribution to knowledge in this discipline. It represents a more inclusive, community-based, and historically and culturally rooted conception of legal ethics than any of the major alternative theories currently on offer. I hope to see it published in book form, and would expect that it will attract many readers and be frequently cited’.
Visit Professor Kruuse's full profile here.