The Department of Jurisprudence presents the following modules:

 

JUR 110 (Introduction to Law and Legal Skills)

The module has both a theoretical and skills component. All elements described below will encompass conceptual knowledge combined with practical application.

Underlying jurisprudential aspects of law/The law in general

(a) A first-year definition of law / the Law

(b) The relationships between law and society, law and history, law and politics, law and language

(c) Being a law student or lawyer in South Africa

(d) Introduction to different perspectives on the law

The South Afrfican legal system and its historical development sources of South African Law and their historical development

(a) Introduction to characteristics and components of the South African legal system 

(b) Mixed legal systems

(c) The South African Constitution and its historical development

(d) Customary law and its historical development

(e) Common law and its historical development

(f) Primary and other sources of modern South African law

(g) Applying the sources of law to a set of facts and relying on the sources of law to answer a jurisprudential question.

The above content forms the basis of the skills component (incorporating academic literacy skills) which consists of:

(a) Conducting research in the library

(b) Finding, reading and applying the sources of law

(c) Reading, understanding and summarising texts on topics of law

(d) Analysing, criticising and improving (“edit”) a piece of writing on the law in a theoretical sense; and

(e) Writing a well-constructed essay or paragraph on legal problems and topics of law or legal history.

 

JUR 120 (Introduction to Law and Legal Skills)

Basic principles of the:

(a) Law of obligations (contract and delict)

(b) Criminal law

(c) Law of civil procedure;

(d) Law of criminal procedure; and

(e) Law of evidence.

Access to Justice:

(a) Courts and alternative dispute resolution;

(b) Legal profession; and

(c) Access to justice and its promotion in South Africa (the idea, problems, representation in criminal matters, role of different organisations, etc).

The above conrtent forms the basis of the skills component (incorporating academic literacy skills) which consists of:

(a) Drafting a simple contract based upon a set of facts (law of contract)

(b) Reading, understanding, summarising a case on the law of delict and applying the principles of legal argument and logic to it

(c) Summarising, analysing, criticising and improving (“edit”) a piece of writing on the law of evidence

(d) Understanding and applying the principles of examination in chief, cross-examination and re-examination to a concrete set of facts with a view to participation in a “moot court” or debate.

 

JUR 310 (Legal Philosophy)

An overview of the most important jurisprudential approaches amongst others natural law, positivism, realism, critical legal theory, modern and post-modern approaches. The theoretical and practical value of these approaches are investigated within a post-apartheid context.

 

RHP 320 (Research Methodology)

The module includes the following:

(a) How to plan a research project

(b) Reading strategies and techniques

(c) Broad theoretical approaches and methodologies (Sociology of law, Legal pluralism, Legal history, Comparison)

(d) Citation, ethics of citation, presentation and language

(e) How to write a research proposal and general drafting (As this module is a prerequisite to register for SKY 410, attendance at all the sessions and a mark of at least 50% for the submitted research proposal are required in order to obtain the prescribed credits)

 

Law and Transformation 410 (AMR 410)

Introductory debate on the universality and cultural specificity of human rights and a historical overview of human rights in Africa. The module focuses on the notion of transformation and explores its theoretical content as well as practical implications.  Students will be expected to investigate and develop a transformative jurisprudence/ a jurisprudence of transformation. Issues to be considered include:  human rights and democracy; constitutional sovereignty in South Africa; the notion of transformative constitutionalism; critical engagements with transformation; instantiations of transformation.

 

Jurisprudence 420 (JUR 420)

The module focuses on various jurisprudential approaches including philosophical perspectives; critical theory; and other inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives on law and their response and relation to contemporary issues.

 

The practice of human rights and constitutionalism in law and life 420 (LLB 493)

(a)   Theoretical and philosophical approaches to law, human rights and constitutionalism

(b)   Litigation as a tool to solve disputes; repair or break lives; and rule society

(c)   How do judges decide?

(d)   Good and bad lawyering; identifying, preparing and arguing a case

(e)   Constitutional attitudes: from reluctant acceptance, via blind faith, to scepticism or rejection

(f)    Selected topics from court cases, eg.:

• Can the Constitution heal history?
• Language and labels in law
• Business, credit, contracts, tenders and the Constitution
• Poverty and the Constitution
• Constitution in the bedroom?

 

Law and the Community 420 (CLW 420)

This module has a theoretical and community engagement component.

Theoretical

(a)   Different notions of community

(b)   The impact of law on the everyday lives of people and communities

(c)   The influence of law and society / sociology of law / Street Law

(d)   The South African context.

Community Engagement

(a)   Involvement in local community projects

(b)   Presentation of seminars with legal themes at schools, factories, prisons and other local communities

(c)   Drafting of information booklets and conducting research on topics of law for local community bodies.