Legal System

South African Law

Also Known As Roman-Dutch South African Law · Law of South Africa

Mixed and Hybrid Legal Systems

South Africa has a hybrid or mixed legal system woven from several distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous African communities, with many variations depending on tribal origin. Since the end of apartheid the country has operated under constitutional supremacy, meaning every other source of law is subordinate to the Constitution of South Africa. English influence is strongest in criminal and civil procedure, company law, constitutional law and the law of evidence, while Roman Dutch common law governs contract law, the law of delict, the law of persons, the law of things and family law, and South African law, especially its civil and common law elements, also underlies the legal systems of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe, introduced there during colonization. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

South African law is a mixed or hybrid legal system built from three inherited traditions: Roman-Dutch civil law from Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope beginning in 1652, English common law from the British takeover of the Cape in 1806, and the customary law of indigenous African communities. The two colonial layers divide unevenly by subject: English law dominates criminal procedure, civil procedure, company law, constitutional law and the law of evidence, while Roman-Dutch law dominates the law of contract, the law of delict (the Roman-Dutch equivalent of tort), family law and property. The Union of South Africa formed as a British dominion in 1910; the post-apartheid Constitution of 1996 established constitutional supremacy over all three inherited traditions, with a Constitutional Court at the top of a hierarchical court structure, and gave customary law formal constitutional recognition alongside the common law. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts

Disputed

Origin Year

1652

1652, Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope that introduced Roman-Dutch law, is taken here as the origin of the civil law component; English common law layered on only after the 1806 British takeover of the Cape, and the system as a genuinely mixed one did not take its present shape until later still, so which date counts as origin depends on which layer is meant, the same choice already recorded for the origin year of civil law in this atlas.

Example Jurisdictions

South Africa 1

Example Jurisdictions

South Africa. 1

Primary Source of Law

Roman-Dutch civil law governing contract, delict, family law and property; English common law governing procedure, company law, constitutional law and evidence; and customary law, given formal recognition under the 1996 Constitution particularly in family, property and inheritance matters. 1

Classification

Legal Family

Mixed Legal System 1

Connections

In Legal Family

Mixed Systems

In Legal System

Mixed Systems

Named as one of the mixed-systems family, among its own worked examples (Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law and customary law blended in one jurisdiction).

Includes

Yvonne Mokgoro

Source Wikipedia: Yvonne Mokgoro

Zak Yacoob

Source Zak Yacoob (Wikipedia)

Zukisa Tshiqi

Source Zukisa Tshiqi (Wikipedia)

Showing 51 to 53 of 53 in Includes, page 2 of 2.

In the Other Atlases

Found In

Africa

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Law of South Africa (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 2

Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article

South Africa has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system, formed by the interweaving of a number of distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous Africans (often termed African Customary Law, of which there are many variations depending on the tribal origin).

Sources

1. Law of South Africa (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia, Law of South Africa, Classification and Historical Development sections
a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous Africans
South Africa has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system, formed by the interweaving of civil law, common law and customary law
South Africa has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system
Introduction, jurisdictions using it
South Africa has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system, formed by the interweaving of a number of distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous Africans.
Duplicate-merge alias: Law of South Africa (w-law-legalsysdedupe-0928)
Law of South Africa