Summary American Institute For Chartered Property Casualty Underwrtiters Aicpcu

CLA1501 1. The South African Legal System Law is a social science. South African Law is not codified: recorded in one comprehensive piece of legislation. Origin: • Indigenous legal systems applied at the southernmost tip of Africa before 1652. • Jan van Riebeeck arrives in Cape Town in 1652 and the adoption of Roman-Dutch law as a legal system to the Cape. 1.1 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LAW • Unlike most European continental legal systems, SA law is not codified: o It is drawn from various authoritative sources o Such as statutes (legislation) and decided cases o Occasionally also Roman and Roman-Dutch law. Roman Law • 735BC to AD658 • The Law of the Twelve Tables of 449BC were the cornerstone of the future development of Roman Law • Attempts to codify the law led to the Corpius Iuris Civilis (body or civil law) which is still the primary authoritative source or Roman Law. Roman-Dutch Law • Roman Law was revised in the Netherlands during the 15th and 16th centuries and became mixed with the existing Dutch customary law. • Some great Roman-Dutch Jurists: o Hugo de Groot “Father of Roman-Dutch Law” o Johannes Voet o Dionysius Godefridus van der Keesel o Johannes van der Linden English Law • After 1814, English Law began to seep into the existing Roman-Dutch system: o A jury was introduced o New legislation e.g. criminal often drew on English law o A number of statutes in existence today are squarely based on English legislation e.g. Bills of Exchange Act. 1.2 SOURCES OF LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA • Some are authoritative: courts are bound by authoritative sources • Others have merely persuasive authority: serves to convince a court to apply or interpret a rule in a particular way.