legal system

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legal system

South Africa has an uncodified legal system. This means that there is not only one primary source where the law originates and can be found. South African law has more than one source:

Legislation
Case Law (court decisions)
Common Law
Custom
Old writers / authors
Indigenous Law

South African Law

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Case Law

Courts are institutions…
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Indigenous Law

Many black communities…
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Human Rights

Sections 181 (1)…
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South African Law

Human Rights Commission

Sections 181 (1) and 184 of the Constitution make provision for the establishment of the Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights...

Democratic South Africa inherited a system of courts that reflected an apartheid dispensation which provided for the Republic of South Africa and the four "independent" states or homelands (Transkei, Bophuthatswana,...

Indigenous Law

Many black communities live according to indigenous law, which also takes on the form of written or unwritten customary law. Indigenous law is applied in the ordinary courts. The Evidence Amendment Act,...

Common Law

When a specific matter is not governed by legislation, common law usually applies. South African common law is mainly the 17th and 18th century Roman-Dutch law that was transplanted to the Cape. This forms...

Customary Law

Customary law is generally unwritten law. It is fixed practices in accordance with which people live because they regard it as the law. Customary law therefore does not concern all customs or practices,...

Case Law

Courts are institutions that apply the law on daily basis. Judges and magistrates, like all lawyers consult legislation and rules of common law and custom applying to the particular case before them. Courts...

Legislation

Legislation is law laid down by an organ of the State which has the power to do so. These laws are embodied in writing and are known as statutes (or acts). In South Africa, Parliament is the highest organ...

legal system

South Africa has an uncodified legal system. This means that there is not only one primary source where the law originates and can be found. South African law has more than one source: Legislation Case...