In 2005, the Foundation for Human Rights initiated a coalition of concerned funders as part of its efforts to address the financial crisis threatening the sector.  These included Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, International Commission of Jurists – Sweden (ICJ-Sweden), Royal Dutch Embassy, Swedish International Development Aid (SIDA), National Development Agency (NDA), and the Legal Aid Board (LAB). 

The Foundation was concerned that several advice offices had closed down as a result of declining funds, leaving many communities with little or no access to legal advice and related support services. At the same time, ICJ-Sweden, one of the sector’s major funders, announced its decision to terminate its funding by the end of 2006.       

This caused panic amongst many advice offices who were forced to scale down their community programmes or close their doors altogether. The National Community Based Paralegal Association (NCBPA), in its capacity as the national representative body for paralegals and advice offices, was drawn into the discussions to provide context to the situation. It was also concerned about the funding situation and had, amongst other endeavours, been interacting with local and provincial governments and the private sector in a bid to secure funding for advice offices through provincial programmes.

Around this period, the Legal Practise Bill was due to be tabled before parliament for promulgation.  Once enacted, the Bill would, among other things, finally bring formal recognition to paralegals and a limited right of appearance in court on certain legal matters. Another important development was the indication that the National Qualifications Framework was to be accepted by the South African Qualifications Authority. This would put in place minimum qualifications and standards for all paralegals and paralegal training.

But the paralegal sector was fragmented and there were growing fears that should these processes be pushed through, the sector would be in no position to make a meaningful contribution to them. This was particularly important given the fact that the Legal Practise Bill and the National Qualifications Framework would impact directly on paralegals.  As such, there was an urgent need for the sector to come together and discuss how best to address these developments.