Jurisprudence - The Historical developments in South Africa
22 views 0 purchase
Course
JUR110 (JUR110)
Institution
University Of Pretoria (UP)
Book
Beginner\'s Guide for Law Students
Understanding; the importance of legal history, the historical influences on the development of the South African Legal System, the importance of legal history, the historical influences on the development of the SA legal system, the different ways of conceiving of the history of SA and why SA law ...
Summary on Chapter 1 The legal profession (Topic 1) from the beginner's guide for law students fifth edition
Beginners guide for law students chapter 4
Introduction to Law 171 Study Notes
All for this textbook (12)
Written for
University of Pretoria (UP)
JUR110 (JUR110)
All documents for this subject (15)
Seller
Follow
MBanks
Reviews received
Content preview
JURISPRUDENCE
Unit 5
The Historical developments in South Africa
Chapter 2 summary
Outcomes
Understand
- The importance of legal history
- The historical influences on the development of the South African Legal System
- The importance of legal history
- The historical influences on the development of the SA legal system
- The different ways of conceiving of the history of SA
- Why SA law may be considered as a product of conquest
Why legal history?
- Past explains our present
- How change happened and how it can happen
- More than one story/ history
- Our legal history is a living law
o Common law/ customary law
o Uncodified/ codified
- Links us to other countries
- South African law is dynamic
Three approaches to understand legal history
1. Empty land
- Cape
o No one living a civilised life or government structure
- Dutch arrived here first and there was nothing
- White conservationist
- Terre nullius – Latin term for empty land
2. Africanist
- Actually everything was happening but all that started was a history of conquest and through military force,
took what didn’t belong to them
- Predominantly black
o Initially there – Indigenous
- Already systems in place but that started was a history of conquest and through military force, took what
didn’t belong to them
3. Freedom Charter of 1951
- Fundamentalist approach
- Idea that SA belongs to all that are living here
- Non-racial theory
- South Africa belongs to all that are living here
o Preamble
o 96th Constitution
Introduction
- Customary/ indigenous law
o African people in South Africa live according to their own traditional customs and practices
- South African law
o Roman-Dutch law
o Mixture of two legal systems
, 2.1 Importance of Legal History
- Law is not static
o South African law has gone through many changes
▪ New political dispensation
▪ New constitution
▪ Various new social structures
- South African common law
o Living law which is applied in courts
o Same as customary law → it is still applied
▪ Reason: uncodified legal system
• Our legal system is not in its entirety written down in a single code
• Codification of law is a comprehensive version of the law in writing that has the force
of legislation
o AKA an authoritative reading of the law
• Our law is found in various sources
o Two of which are customary law and common law
o This means: lawyers cannot turn to only one source of the law when they
search for answers to legal problems
- South African legal system links South Africa to various countries – Britain and others
o Reason: South African legal system shares a common legal history with these countries
▪ Because it developed from the same roots
▪ Because it was influenced by the same historical factors
▪ Because these systems influenced the South African legal system
o South African legal system shares many common characteristics with other countries
o Certain legal rules are frequently the same in different legal systems
▪ Fact is important in light of growing tendency towards globalisation
o Legal comparison
▪ Turning to other legal systems for guidance and solutions
- South African history seems to start with the arrival of colonists – Jan Van Riebeeck
o View that the frank recognition should be made that people with functioning legal systems before
colonists
▪ Indigenous/ First Nations peoples
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller MBanks. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.34. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
