Fields of Green for ALL has fought and won many battles over the years. Of course, we have always relied on those with the will, the skill, and the power of the quill to reform policy to unleash Cannabis for ALL.
BA LLB (Pretoria) Advocate Mahon is a member of the Johannesburg Bar who specialises in Commercial Litigation in South Africa. He is a member of the Association of Arbitrators of Southern Africa and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. With an impressive repertoire of challenging cases under his belt, Adv Mahon has taken on The Dagga Couple’s case with fervor. He has the legal insight required to map out the complex path towards Cannabis legalisation for responsible adult use.
BProc LLB (UPE) Advocate Carelse is a member of The Johannesburg bar who completed his pupilage under Advocate Mahon. After more than 15 years experience as an attorney, Advocate Carelse was admitted to the bar in 2013. Chris is a competent strategist capable of developing innovative litigation plans and activities designed to facilitate a competitive edge. With a Post Graduate Diploma in Labour Law Practice and a certificate in Leadership Development from the University of the Witwatersrand, he brings excellent litigation, communication and negotiation skills to The Dagga Couple’s case.
Established in 1997 and based in Cape Town, Cullinan & Associates Inc. is the oldest specialist environmental and green business law firm in South Africa.
With legalisation processes underway for Cannabis development steadily gaining momentum, Cullinans established a dedicated Cannabis and Natural Medicines branch in 2021.
Comrades old and new, the Cullinans Cannabis Team is the fighting force ensuring a Human Rights approach is central to realising the Constitutional Rights of ALL South Africans to engage with and participate in the Cannabis sector.
BA, BA (Hons), LLB (Natal), LLM (Environmental Law) (London)
Director of Cullinan & Associates, Cormac has worked in over 20 countries in the past two decades, developing environmental and governance expertise few can rival.
Cormac’s Cannabis expertise lie in reviewing the regulatory framework for medicinal Cannabis as well as conducting legal compliance audits for facilities in Lesotho; analysing the legal requirements for cultivating Cannabis and manufacturing Cannabis products locally; and developing an online compliance management system to assist compliance with the applicable laws and SAHPRA requirements.
BA, LLB (Rhodes)
Paul-Michael (aka PM) was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, with right of Appearance since 2013 when he accepted our brief to assist us – The Dagga Couple – in decriminalising the use, possession, and trade of Cannabis. He has headed our legal team since 2014.
Our relationship with PM started back when we read one of his early academic papers discussing Cannabis decriminalisation within South Africa (2009). Since our initial introduction, we have walked alongside PM, overcoming challenges and marking some great milestones – most notably the 2018 ConCourt ruling.
PM joined Myrtle at the UN in Vienna at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs 66 (2023). He spoke on the need to take a Human Rights centred approach to Cannabis, and by extension, Drug regulation.
LLB (NMU), Certificate of Customary Law
Ricky, our very own Brother Green, has been with us since 2012. Myrtle and Jules met him at a community presentation hosted at a dingy bar in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) while on their very first roadshow as The Dagga Couple. He joined the Cullinans team in May 2021.
Ricky’s legal focuses span public and private sectors, environmental and marine law matters, public procurement, and administrative law.
However, Ricky is best known for his work in Cannabis. He has pioneered legal advisory services, helping to end the aerial crop spraying of Landrace Cannabis crops with glyphosate – a known carcinogen – in the Umzimvubu region on behalf of the indigenous amaMpondo people.
Ricky is also part of the legal team behind the Trial of the Plant.
BA (Political Science), LLB (Cum Laude), LLM (Environmental Law) (Wits) Certificate in Advanced Commercial and Contract Law (UCT)
Divina Naidoo, senior associate with Cullinans, is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa. With a background in Environmental Law, Divina has developed expertise in energy and mining law, with particular focus falling on coastal, renewable energy, and biodiversity matters, all of which are integral to developing a sustainable and capable Cannabis Sector.
LLB (UFS)
Lesai joined Cullinans this year as a junior associate with a particular focus on ecological sustainability and environmental law. Since the start of his legal career, Lesai has cultivated expertise in various environmental matters. Lesai’s early legal days in Johannesburg saw him assist in bail applications for Cannabis-related arrests. These things, paired with his current assistance in major High Court litigation, makes Lesai the perfect addition to an already fierce team of legal minds.
Victoria Keichel – Paul-Michael’s awesome wife – is a part of our family. Victoria constantly inspires us to approach things from different angles. She has become an invaluable member of our team and continues to bring a new perspective to the various obstacles we face in correcting the controls on Cannabis.
Director at Boqwana Burns with extensive experience in environmental protection law, Ricky has been instrumental in the work to eradicate Cannabis crop spraying in South Africa and the legal challenge successfully live streaming of The Trial of The Plant. We look forward to continuing our work with him.
BComm (Stellenbosch) LLB (UJ) With experience in criminal law and commercial litigation, Kyle contributed a great deal of time and professional service to The Dagga Couple case while he was a Senior Associate at Schindlers. Kyle was instrumental in the process of Schindlers Attorneys taking on the case as a firm. He has left to pursue other options. His knowledge of technology and its integration into the legal process is crucial for a high profile case such as this. We look forward to continuing our work with him.
David is a Partner at Schindlers Attorneys and he supervised the process of registration for Fields of Green for ALL. He and his team made sure that all was in order for the formation of South Africa’s first Cannabis legalisation Non-Profit Company.
Simon is a personal friend of The Dagga Couple. He held their hands in the early days, attending meetings to make sure everything was understood and on track. After leaving the ProBono Organisation, Simon established Delaney Attorneys, a niche law firm specialising in legal and consulting services to civil society. Over the past 10 years Simon Delaney has been involved in cutting edge human rights law in South Africa. He is a committed, passionate and highly strategic legal activist and dedicated to supporting grassroots struggles. A true asset to our cause.
ProBono.Org is a young, dynamic NGO that works with the private legal profession to provide pro bono legal services to the poor. They harness the enormous skill, might and strength of the South African private legal fraternity to cases and clients that they identify. The Dagga Couple approached the organisation for help with the registration of Fields of Green for ALL and their sound advice led to the organisation being given the green light by the Law Society of South Africa and this set in motion a process which shifted The Dagga Couple case into top gear. On the strength of the approval of The Law Society, Schindlers Attorneys started the registration process and went on to take on the case in its entirety. The Cannabis legalisation campaigns in South Africa are grateful to The Probono Organisation for their pivotal role on the road to legalisation.
When The Dagga Couple first decided to challenge the Cannabis laws in South Africa, they presented their unorthodox idea to Ferdi Hartzenberg. He understood that this is a Human Rights issue and for two years he guided Julian and Myrtle through the process. He proved to be a formidable figure in the early days at the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court and administered the process whereby the case was struck off the roll at the Magistrate’s Court and transferred to the North Gauteng High Court. After two years Ferdi advised The Dagga Couple that their case needed the pro bono assistance of a larger law firm. Julian and Myrtle are very grateful to Ferdi for his role in getting through the first steps of the process.
The legalisation cause in South Africa is also grateful for the guidance of Advocate Rudolph Jansen. We were very sad to hear of the untimely passing of Adv Jansen in November 2017. He gave us very sound legal advice in the beginning and created the foundations for our campaign by submitting our affidavit that summonsed the government to answer to charges of enacting unlawful laws. He brought it to our attention early on in the process that we would need to build a large social activist network and form a non-profit company in order to manage the formidable task of changing a law. Thank you Advocate Jansen.
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Fields of Green for ALL NPC
Bank Name: First National Bank
Branch code: 251655
Cheque Account Number: 62443493458
Swift Code: FIRNZAJJ
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