Recognising the rapid evolution of environmental law within South Africa in recent years and with the aim of encouraging young law students to specialise in this field, Garlicke & Bousfield, leading Durban law firm, has once again presented a University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) student with the coveted Garlicke & Bousfield Environmental Law Award.

Proud recipient of the 2013 Award, Mr Caleb Joel Tudor Jones, also received the Abel Torf Prize for best overall LLB student, the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society Prize for best LLB student and the Phatshoane Henney Group Honour Medal for graduating summa cum laude.

Caleb was born and raised in Durban. He matriculated from Hillcrest High School and immediately enrolled at UKZN for his LLB. “I have always been a logical thinker and thoroughly enjoy constructing arguments. Studying law played to my strengths and to what I enjoy,” says Caleb. “I am passionate about many things in life but the outdoors is one of my greatest joys. I would take the bush and wilderness over anything else out there. This was a strong factor behind me choosing environmental law as a subject. Protecting the little we have that hasn't yet been tainted by human intervention, is equally as important as economic and social development. Environmental law provided me with the foundations of the progressive legal platform that can be used to protect our environment. Again, this leads into my reasons for choosing law; I feel that knowledge of the legal system that controls our society places the power of change in the hands of those who attain such knowledge.”

“Caleb is an outstanding student who applied himself seriously towards his studies,” says Devina Perumal, UKZN School of Law Senior Lecturer. “He sets high goals for himself and achieves them. His grades clearly single him out as top of the class. His approach to his studies always embraced a critical stance, which distinguished him from his peers. He demonstrated advocacy and argumentative skills which is a rare find amongst undergraduate students. He has an incredibly bright and successful future ahead of him, and judging by his current academic performance, approach and discipline, the world is his oyster.”

Caleb does not have any firm plans in place for his future. He is currently taking the year off to travel and “put his feet up” for a while before commencing his articles. “The short term plan will be to complete my articles and then see where I wind up after that.”

In direct response to his Environmental Law Award, he says, “I think that it is a great initiative by Garlicke & Bousfield to sponsor awards for students who excel academically. Incentivising students is a very effective way to acknowledge hard working students and to spur them on to greater heights. I would like to thank Garlicke & Bousfield for sponsoring this award and for their generosity.”