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Historical Foundations of law

Classifications of law
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Classification of the law
What does this mean?
Law is classified into different parts
The tradition of classifying the law into different
disciplines/branches comes from Roman Law
The classification of law is not perfect/ not always necessary
Classification of the law can be helpful/necessary
Classification of South African Law

SA law

International
National law
law

Substantive Commercial
Private Law
law law
Classification of South African Law

Constitutional
Law

Law of
Family Law
Persons

Administrative Law of Intellectual

law property Property law
Classification of the law
Law of
Succession

Law of Law of
contract obligation

Criminal Law of Law of

law contract delict
Classification of South African Law

Procedural law

Law of
evidence Civil
Procedure

Criminal Legal
Jurisprudence
Procedure interpretation
Difference between substantive and
procedural law
Our law is divided into two systems:

Procedural and substantive (material) law

Substantive law deals with the content and the meaning of different rules (legal principles)

For example; describes what a crime is and determines which human acts are against the law

Basically deals with the substance of our law

e.g substantive law will determine how a person can obtain a driver’s license.
Procedural law
Also known as adjective law
Regulates the enforcement of substantive law
Thus: it determines how a rule should be enforced.
e.g regulates how a murder should be dealt with
Provides the process of how a person who has murdered should be
dealt with
Procedural law
Divided into 2:
Law of criminal procedure- provides rules by which people
who have been accused of a crime should be prosecuted.
Law of civil procedure- provides rules on what procedure a
person should follow if she/he has an issue with another
person. e.g what do you do if someone owes you money
Law of Evidence
Area of law that deals strictly with evidence
It determines the rules regarding which evidence can be
accepted in a court of law
It deals with rules regarding how evidence should be
legally collected
Deals with how witnesses should give evidence in court
Public law
Regulates how the state should be organised
Deals with the relationship between the
different state organs
The state and the people
Private Law
Regulates the law between individual people
Deals with the different right that people have over another
Sometimes the state can be involved in matters involving private
citizens
When people enter into contracts and one person fails to do their
part- matter of private law
Divisions of Private Law
Family Law
Law of Property
Law of Succession
Law of obligation/delict
Law of intellectual property
Commercial law
Supplementary disciplines
Private international law- marital issues between people from
different states
Jurisprudence/ legal philosophy
Legal Interpretation
Comparative law (legal comparison)
Legal history
Scenario
Suzan’s daughter who is 2 years old chokes on a piece of meat and struggles to breathe. Suzan then
puts her daughter into the car and drives to hospital. On the way to the hospital she doesn’t stop at the
traffic lights which were old red (meaning she was required to stop before driving). She makes it to the
hospital and her daughter is assisted by the doctors and recovers and they both go home. A week later
Suzan gets a letter for a fine of R2000 for not stopping at the robots.

Which classification of law applies to this matter?

Types of Constitution
PAGE 158 PRESCRIBED TEXTBOOK
Types of Constitution
 What is a constitution- body of rules which govern the exercise of politi
Written Constitution- usually made up of one written document
 Written constitution is difficult to amend/change

However, some constitutions are made up of a collection of conventions and customs

For example; the UK does not have a written constitution
England does not have a Constitution
These countries have an ‘uncodified constitution’
Types of Constitutions
Flexible or inflexible

Flexible constitution- can be easily amended

Inflexible Constitution- cannot be easily amended- e.g South African Constitution

Unitary or Federal- concerns the level of government

Some state have one central government for the whole state (e.g France, Namibia)

Federal Constitution– exercise of power is divided amomg national, provincial and local
government
Types of Constitution
Sovereign or Subornate-
Sovereign- a Constitution that is the highest authority in the land (i.e
South Africa)
Subordinate- a document that merely sets out the structures of
government thus Parliament is supreme law/highest law