Welcome to Foundations of South African Law 2011

Dear Students,

Welcome to Foundations of South African Law, one of the most exciting subjects of your entire career. In this class you will get an overview of most of the private law subjects that you will learn through your Law School journey. In continental law we call this CIVIL LAW, because it is the law to be applied for the relationships between civilians/citizens. By the end of the course you should be able to understand the structure of private law in ancient Rome, which will lead you to understand the structure of private law in modern South Africa

We are about to embark in a journey through the roots of our private law. We will travel in time and do a trek throughout history following the steps of the law from Rome before Christ, to South Africa today. In that trip we will witness the birth of South African Law and its most fundamental principles, which are still the backbone of our legal system. 

This experience, if you own it, will leave you with a structured idea of the private law in South Africa, and it will give you tools to structure your mind towards working with the law in the search for justice. It will help you become Jurists rather than mere technicians of the rules. It will also imprint your minds with a history that is sadly repeated over and over in modern society , only knowing it will we be capable of getting over it. 

I leave you with a piece of Cicero’s thought, so you get a taste of what I am referring to:

"The budget should be balanced; the Treasury should be refilled,
public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should
be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands
should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.  People must again
learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

--Cicero, 55 BC

FIAT LUX

To get you started, take a look at  this link about FAQ of Roman Law: http://archiv.jura.uni-saarland.de/Rechtsgeschichte/Ius.Romanum/RoemRFAQ-e.html