News and Commentary
Law of Persons Sourcebook by Trynie Boezaart
Reviewed by Louis Rood. The law relating to persons in South Africa, in all its complexity, diversity and intricacy has undergone significant constitutional reform, and continues to develop and...
Book Review: Criminal Procedure Handbook by J.J. Joubert
Reviewed by Louis Rood. This comprehensive introduction to the fundamental principles and values underlying the rules that apply in criminal cases is an indispensable guide to this area of law. The...
Book Review: Property in Minerals and Petroleum by E van der Schyff
Reviewed by Louis Rood. This book is a ground-breaking and comprehensive evaluation of the entire sphere of mineral and petroleum law as it has evolved and been reformed in South Africa. The...
Book Review: Criminal Procedure Casebook by Kemp, Watney and Terblanche
Reviewed by Louis Rood. First published in 2010, this second edition of Criminal Procedure Casebook combines in an essential toolkit a selection of 102 of the leading judgments of our courts that...
Book Review: Law of Persons by T Boezaart
Reviewed by Louis Rood. Every individual person is unique in personality, humanity, and being. Yet we all have much in common. We are conceived, we are born, we live and we die. This book, now in...
Book Review: Commercial Mediation, A User’s Guide by Brand, Steadman & Todd
Reviewed by Louis Rood. Many litigants can testify bitterly to the costs, complexity, risks, uncertainty and unforeseen consequences of traditional litigation. Particularly in commercial disputes...
Book Review: The Law of Landlord and Tenant by Sue-Mari Viljoen
Reviewed by Louis Rood. Despite its title, this book encompasses far more than the traditional common law contractual relationship between landlord and tenant. The provision of housing, shelter, and...
Book Review: Indigenous Knowledge & Intellectual Property by C Ncube and E du Plessis
Reviewed by Louis Rood. The 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has brought to the fore the rights of indigenous peoples to the protection of their knowledge and...
Real Security Law by R Brits
Reviewed by Louis Rood. It has been said that although South Africans achieved freedom under the Constitution of 1996, they nevertheless remain in bondage. Progress, for example through investment...
Book Review: The Law of Servitudes by A.J. van der Walt
Servitudes are limited real rights in the property of another person. They have their origins in ancient systems of feudalism. That is why many servitudes are agricultural in nature – a right of way...
VAT – an introduction by M Botes
Reviewed by Louis Rood. Globally, Value Added Tax (VAT) has become the most common indirect transaction tax system, since France implemented the first version of a VAT system in 1948. VAT in South...
Book Review: Civil Society and International Criminal Justice in Africa by H Woolaver & S Williams
Reviewed by Louis Rood. The theme of this collection of 13 essays is the contribution of African civil society organisations to international criminal justice mechanisms. This includes the...
Book Review: Principles of Criminal Law by J Burchell
Reviewed by Louis Rood. This established work on criminal law incorporates major judicial pronouncements in recent cases on important aspects of the subject, including treason, common purpose...
Book Review: Principles of Evidence (4th Ed) by P.J. Schwikkard & S.E. Van der Merwe
Reviewed by Louis Rood. The law of evidence is fundamental to the effective functioning of a judicial system in a constitutional state. The authors of this magisterial book set the context: "Courts...
Book Review: The New Derivative Action under the Companies Act by Maleka Cassim
Reviewed by Louis Rood. What is a derivative action? A company is a juristic person capable of suing and being sued in its own name. Consequently, when a wrong is done to a company, the action is...
No Luck for Lucky Star at the SCA
Last year the Western Cape High Court heard a matter between Lucky Star and Lucky Fish whereby Lucky Star, who used its registered trademark in respect of canned fish goods, alleged that Lucky Fish...
The sting of the “Green Scorpions” in tackling environmental crime
The National Environmental Management Act seeks to protect the Constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to one's health or wellbeing. The Act recognises that everyone has the right...
Just over 1 week remains for the submission of applications and nominations for the Office of the Public Protector
At 16h00 on 24 June 2016, the opportunity to submit nominations for the next Public Protector closes. Those eligible include attorneys, advocates, judges, and those with relevant knowledge and...
New credit provider registration threshold set at nil as from 11 November 2016
Under the National Credit Act, credit providers that have a total principal debt owed to them exceeding R 500 000.00, under all outstanding credit agreements (other than incidental credit...
Adwords battle comes to an end
The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed security fencing company Cochrane Steel's appeal to overturn the high court judgment on South Africa's first Google Adwords case last week confirming that the...
Protecting yourself from that pesky online harasser
In today's digital age, experiencing online harassment and cyberbullying is as common as catching a cold during winter. The Protection Against Harassment Act provides recourse to individuals who...
Cartel conduct now a criminal activity
The South African Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel, announced last month that any cartel conduct, including price fixing, market allocation and collusive tendering, now constitutes...
Draft International Arbitration Bill Published – could South Africa become the venue for international arbitrations?
On 28 April 2016, the Government Gazette published the draft International Arbitration Bill and its explanatory memorandum. The Bill is due to be introduced to Parliament and if it becomes an Act,...
Contract: Court confirms that silence where there is a duty to disclose may amount to misrepresentation
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently handed dealt with the requirement to disclose material and relevant facts when entering into a contract, and expanded upon the notion that silence may - in...