Chapter 1&2: Defining words and concepts

Question 1

What is a person in legal terms?

Answer 1

A person is someone or something that can have legal rights and duties

The terms ‘person’ and ‘legal subject’ are synonymous.

Question 2

What is legal personality?

Answer 2

Legal personality or legal subjectivity is the quality of being a person, emphasizing the legal aspects of a person’s activities and duties.

Question 3

What are the two main classes of legal subjects?

Answer 3

• Natural Persons
• Juristic Persons

Question 4

Define Natural Persons.

Answer 4

All human beings, irrespective of age, mental condition, or intellectual ability, recognized as legal subjects.

Question 5

What are Juristic Persons?

Answer 5

Entities or associations that enjoy an existence independent from their members or the natural persons who created them.

Question 6

Give examples of Juristic Persons recognized in South African law.

Answer 6

• Banks
• Companies
• Co-operatives
• Universities
• Semi-government organizations

Question 7

What is a key characteristic of a juristic person?

Answer 7

Must have a continuous existence irrespective of the fact that its members may vary.

Question 8

Is a partnership considered a juristic person?

Answer 8

No, the individual partners are responsible for partnership debts out of their private funds.

Question 9

What is a legal object?

Answer 9

Anything to which a legal subject may have rights.

Question 10

What are physical things in legal terms?

Answer 10

Physical, material things which are susceptible to human control and which are of value to people.

Question 11

What type of right is associated with physical things?

Answer 11

Real right.

Question 12

What is a personal right?

Answer 12

A right that operates primarily against a particular person regarding human acts.

Question 13

What are personality rights?

Answer 13

Rights related to a person’s good name, reputation, physical integrity, bodily freedom, dignity, and privacy.

Question 14

What is an immaterial property right?

Answer 14

The right to an immaterial object, such as an artist’s right to their painting or an inventor to their invention.

Question 15

What is the supreme law of the country?

Answer 15

The Constitution.

Question 16

What does capacity refer to in legal terms?

Answer 16

What a person is capable of doing in terms of the law – their legal abilities and competencies.

Question 17

What is passive legal capacity?

Answer 17

The capacity merely to have legal rights and duties.

Question 18

What is active legal capacity?

Answer 18

A person’s ability to do things in a legally recognized manner.

Question 19

What are juristic acts?

Answer 19

Voluntary human acts to which have intended legal consequences.

Question 20

What distinguishes a void juristic act from a voidable one?

Answer 20

A void juristic act is void ab initio, while a voidable juristic act is valid until nullified.

Question 21

What is required to hold someone accountable for wrongdoing?

Answer 21

A blameworthy state of mind in the form of intention or negligence.

Question 22

What is locus standi in judicio?

Answer 22

The capacity to be a party to a lawsuit as plaintiff or defendant.

Question 23

What does status refer to?

Answer 23

A person’s standing in the eyes of the law.

Question 24

What affects a person’s status in legal terms?

Answer 24

• Age
• Mental disability
• Domicile
• Marriage

Question 25

Define contractual liability.

Answer 25

An agreement between two or more persons that can be enforced by law.

Question 26

What are the elements of delict?

Answer 26

* Conduct * Wrongfulness * Fault * Causation * Damage

Question 27

What is unjustified enrichment?

Answer 27

When one person's estate is increased at the expense of another without legal cause.

Question 28

What is rei vindicatio?

Answer 28

The owner's remedy to recover physical property from anyone in possession without cause.

Question 29

What is condictio?

Answer 29

Used to recover money when one person has been unjustly enriched at another's expense.

Question 30

What is the doctrine of estoppel?

Answer 30

Precludes a deceiver from raising the true facts if another acted to their disadvantage.

Question 31

What is restitutio in integrum?

Answer 31

A legal remedy to restore parties to the status quo ante.

Question 32

What is a curator?

Answer 32

A person who manages another person’s affairs on behalf of the latter.

Question 33

What is negotiorum gestio?

Answer 33

The administering of another’s affairs to his or her advantage, without knowledge.

Question 34

Define obligation.

Answer 34

A juristic bond where one person has a right to a performance and another has a duty to render performance.

Question 35

What is an irrebuttable presumption?

Answer 35

An assumption that cannot be rebutted by proving contrary facts.

Question 36

What is a rebuttable presumption?

Answer 36

An assumption that can be rebutted by proving the contrary.

Question 37

What is a civil obligation?

Answer 37

A civil obligation is legally enforceable while a natural obligation is unenforceable. ## Footnote Natural obligations may arise from moral or ethical considerations but do not have legal enforcement.

Question 38

Define 'presumption' in legal terms.

Answer 38

A presumption is an assumption made by the law on the basis of the available facts. ## Footnote Presumptions can influence legal outcomes based on established facts.

Question 39

What is an irrebuttable presumption?

Answer 39

An irrebuttable presumption cannot be rebutted by proving facts to the contrary; it is a legal rule requiring acceptance of certain facts. ## Footnote This type of presumption is often used in legal contexts where certainty is required.

Question 40

What distinguishes a rebuttable presumption?

Answer 40

A rebuttable presumption is an acceptance that can be rebutted by proving the contrary. ## Footnote This allows for flexibility in legal arguments and can be challenged in court.

Question 41

What does succession refer to in legal terms?

Answer 41

Succession is a private law matter concerning the property of a deceased person (an estate). ## Footnote It involves the transfer of rights and obligations upon a person's death.

Question 42

What is intestate succession?

Answer 42

Intestate succession is when the law determines how and on whom a person’s estate devolves when he or she dies without a valid will. ## Footnote This process follows statutory guidelines to distribute the deceased's assets.

Question 43

Define testate succession.

Answer 43

Testate succession occurs in terms of a valid will. ## Footnote The distribution of the estate follows the wishes expressed in the will.

Question 44

Who is referred to as a testator?

Answer 44

A testator is the person who writes the will. ## Footnote The testator's intentions guide the distribution of their estate upon death.

Question 45

When does the estate vest in succession?

Answer 45

The estate vests on the day of the deceased’s death. ## Footnote This timing is crucial for determining rights and obligations related to the estate.

Question 46

What is a legal/juristic fact?

Answer 46

A legal/juristic fact is a fact to which the law attaches consequences. ## Footnote These facts can influence legal rights and duties.

Question 47

What age defines 'majors' in legal terms?

Answer 47

Majors refer to persons older than 18 years old (the age of majority since July 2007). ## Footnote Previously, the age of majority was 21 years.

Question 48

Define 'minors' in legal context.

Answer 48

Minors are children under 18 years old. ## Footnote Minors have limited legal capacity and rights compared to majors.

Question 49

What do the terms mondig and onmondig signify?

Answer 49

Mondig indicates a person is legally capable of conducting their own affairs, while onmondig indicates the opposite. ## Footnote These terms help assess an individual's legal capacity.

Question 50

What is an extra-marital child?

Answer 50

An extra-marital child is also called an illegitimate child, but extra-marital is the preferred term. ## Footnote This term encompasses all children not born to legally married parents.

Question 51

Define a marital child.

Answer 51

A marital child is a child born from parents who are legally married at the time of its conception, birth, or any intervening time. ## Footnote It may also include children from a putative marriage.

Question 52

What characterizes a putative marriage?

Answer 52

A putative marriage is a void marriage where one or both parties are bona fide unaware of the defect invalidating the marriage. ## Footnote This type of marriage can have legal consequences as if it were valid, while the parties remain unaware of its status.