MEET THE DISABILITY-20 RESEARCHER: Dr Letitia Pienaar

Championing Justice Through Lived Experience and Legal Expertise

Dr Letitia Pienaar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal and Procedural Law at the University of South Africa (UNISA), where she brings together three decades of legal practice, academic scholarship, and lived experience as a person with a visual impairment to advance disability rights and mental health law reform in South Africa.

Her journey from Prinshof School for the Blind and Visually Impaired—where she served as Head Girl, chaired the debating society, edited the school newspaper, and represented her school on the Pretoria Junior City Council—to becoming a leading voice in medical law demonstrates her commitment to dismantling barriers. As an admitted attorney and scholar whose research shapes policy and legislative reform, Dr Pienaar embodies the principle that those who navigate systemic exclusion daily are best positioned to dismantle it.

In her role with the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), Dr Pienaar contributes legal expertise to research and advocacy promoting the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Her work extends globally through the Disability-20 engagement platform of the G20, where she ensures disability perspectives shape international policy discussions on equality, justice, and sustainable development.

Academic and Legal Foundation

Dr Pienaar holds an LLB from the University of Johannesburg, an LLM in Medical Law from UNISA, and an LLD focused on therapeutic responses to mental illness in the criminal justice system. She received a prestigious research grant to conduct doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany.

Her qualifications are complemented by postgraduate certificates in Child Law and Medicine and Law, plus advanced training in Disability Rights in an African context. This interdisciplinary foundation allows her to bridge law, medicine, ethics, and human rights in meaningful ways.

Legal Practice and Early Career

Before joining academia, Dr Pienaar practised as an attorney at Hofmeyr Herbstein & Gihwala, specialising in Family Law and Commercial Litigation. She later served as legal advisor for First Rand Bank. These years gave her insight into how legal systems operate and often fail vulnerable populations.

A turning point came in 2005 when she was appointed to chair one of the first Mental Health Review Boards in Gauteng. Witnessing the intersection of mental illness and justice sparked her defining research focus: how South Africa’s legal framework treats persons with mental health conditions and disabilities.

Research and Scholarly Contributions

Dr Pienaar’s research sits at the intersection of Mental Health Law, Disability Law, and Criminal Procedure, challenging systems that prioritise control and detention over the rights and dignity of mental health care users.

Her 2025 publication in LAWS, “The Evolution of Mental Health Legislation in South Africa: Towards a Rights-Based Approach,” traces the country’s legislative journey from detention-focused policies to progressive frameworks centring human rights. The research highlights advances under South Africa’s constitutional democracy and persistent challenges, including the Life Esidimeni disaster, where mass deinstitutionalisation led to preventable deaths.

Her scholarship on medical negligence has been influential. In her 2016 article “Investigating the Reasons Behind the Increase in Medical Negligence Claims,” published in the Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, she examined factors driving the surge in malpractice claims. Her work considers legal liability alongside patient rights, communication breakdowns, and systemic failures in the healthcare system. This work, as well as her publications on mentally ill persons in the South African criminal justice system, has been widely cited by, among others, the South African Law Reform Commission.

Dr Pienaar has contributed to international research, including a Delphi study on mental health and substance use in sub-Saharan African prisons through the University of Washington, reflecting her commitment to evidence-based policy reform addressing incarceration and mental health across Africa.

Recognition and International Leadership

Dr Pienaar’s contributions have earned recognition across multiple platforms. She received the Best Paper Award at the 2015 Emerging Researcher Conference and the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 10th International Conference on Disability and Rehabilitation in 2025.

She serves on the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services, advancing global standards for treating persons with mental health conditions in forensic settings. She is affiliated with the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and the South African Medico-Legal Association.

Dr Pienaar serves as legal representative on SACAP’s Research Ethics Committee, ensuring research meets rigorous ethical standards. She previously served as associate editor of the South African Journal of Comparative and International Law. She regularly reviews articles for national and international peer-reviewed journals on topics related to mental health law.

Through serving as the disability representative on the employment equity committees at her current and previous employers, she voiced the concerns and challenges of those with disabilities, encouraging understanding of various types of disabilities. She emphasises the need for person-specific reasonable accommodation to enable employees with disabilities to reach their true potential.

Teaching and Mentorship

At UNISA, Dr Pienaar lectures in Medical Law and Legal Research Methodology, guiding students through complex questions about law, medicine, and human rights. She supervises postgraduate students working on Medical Law, Criminal Procedure, and Mental Health Law topics.

Her teaching is informed by both extensive research and her lived experience navigating legal and educational systems as a person with a disability. This dual perspective allows her to mentor students in legal doctrine and understanding law’s real-world impact on marginalised communities.

A Vision Rooted in Experience

Dr Pienaar’s commitment to disability rights and mental health law reform is deeply personal. Her formative years at Prinshof School taught her about both barriers and possibilities. Leading the debating society and serving on the Pretoria Junior City Council gave her the tools to advocate for others facing systemic exclusion.

This lived experience informs her work, from the formulation of research questions to student engagement. She understands legal reform is not about abstract principles but about whether a person with mental health conditions receives treatment rather than punishment, whether patients with disabilities can access medical records, and whether families receive dignity and due process.  Her approach to the law is practical, aiming to use it as a therapeutic agent to achieve meaningful change.

Through her work with NCPD and the Disability-20 platform, Dr Pienaar intensifies research in disability law while building partnerships across disciplines and borders. She thrives on collaboration, recognising that effective advocacy happens when legal experts, healthcare and other professionals, persons with disabilities, and policymakers work toward shared goals.