Topic 2 - History of South African Law

Question 1

Indigenous or customary law

Answer 1

Unwritten customs passed on orally from generation to generation. Law typically regulates the relationship between individuals not individuals and the state.

Question 2

International Law (used for occupation of a territory)

Answer 2

1. Territory was res nullius (no previous owners)
2. State had the intention of colonizing it.

Question 3

Roman-Dutch Law

Answer 3

Combined principals of ancient Roman Law with Dutch customary Law. It serves as the foundation of South Africa’s legal system.

Question 4

Customary Law

Answer 4

Legal norms and practices that has formed over time based on the customs, traditions and social values of a specific community.

Question 5

Law of thing (ius rerum)

Answer 5

Legal principals governing the ownership. It’s address property rights, how they are acquired, transferred, and lost.

Question 6

Law of the Barbarians (Leges Barbarorum)

Answer 6

Compilations made of Germanic customary law.

Question 7

Gladsators

Answer 7

Jurists of the twelfth century who wrote glosses (glossa) or brief descriptive notes between the lines in the text of the Corpus Iuris Civilis

Question 8

Canon Law

Answer 8

Legal and normative rules issued by the Roman Catholic Church to regulate matters peculiar to the church, matters arising from relationships between the church and the state, and matters relating to relationship between the church and the secular sphere.

Question 9

English Law

Answer 9

Legal system developed by England.