Linda (mc) Schoeman-malan

Biography

Professor Linda Schoeman-Malan is a professor of Private Law. She holds the degrees BA (Law) LLB, LLD (UP). She obtained her LLD in 1990. The title of her LLD thesis was Wysiging en Herroeping van Testamente (“Amendment and Revocation of Wills”). She joined the Department of Justice in 1973 as an Administrative Assistant where she was promoted to Prosecutor in 1975 and admitted as Advocate of the High Court in 1978. After being promoted to Magistrate in 1978 she joined the Attorney General’s (National Prosecutor) office in 1979 as State Advocate. She was appointed as senior lecturer in the department of Private Law in 1981 and was promoted to associate professor in 1991 and full professor in 1993. She has acted as assessor in the High Court and Regional Courts on various occasions between 1986 to 2005. As chairperson of the Research Committee (from 1997 to 2002) she played a significant role in liaising with international exchange programs inter alia with the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, Erasmus University in Rotterdam and Charles University in Prague. Over the last 25 years she has visited several Universities and Institutes in Europe and the UK as a researcher and has given a number of lectures overseas. She was seconded to the Department of Student Affairs in 2009 as Deputy Director Student Affairs and seconded to the UP Law Clinic in 2011. She returned to her former position in the Department of Private Law in January 2012. She recently presented a paper entitled “Lost Wills and the duty to care”  at the Law of Succession and Trust Law Conference, University of the Free State on 16 September 2011 and  a paper on “Revocation of Wills” at the Fiduciary Institute of South Africa Conference 15 September 2011 in Bloemfontein.

Research Interest

Her main areas of interest are Private Law especially the Law of Succession, the Law of Trusts, Administration of Estates and the Law of Persons. She is especially interested in Public Law in the fields of Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law and the Law of Evidence.