CLA1501

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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 RomanDutch 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 Keese [Show More]

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