You are a company director. Surely you are free from any liability incurred by the company? A company is a separate legal person, distinct from its shareholders and directors. From the date that the company has been registered, it has all the legal powers and capacity of an individual, except to the extent that a juristic person is…

The subjective feeling of injustice in context of a client’s legal position An experienced legal practitioner will recall ample experiences where they had to explain that a client’s subjective feeling towards a matter or towards the opposing party is not the most significant consideration to determine the merits of their…

The lens of positivism in post-constitutionalism South Africa Any law student is formally exposed to various schools of thought and paradigms. These enable students to grow into jurists that can approach and apply different sources of law in South Africa in various ways. One of the legal paradigms available to…

How does the law protect me against abuse? In my practice I often encounter matters where women need protection against abusive men. I also often represent these women at court to obtain life-long interdicts against the abusers. You are afforded protection against an abuser or threatening behaviour by means of…

No win, no fee: Is it legal and what is or is not allowed? On 01 November 2020, Carte Blanche (the investigative journalism programme on MNET) ran a story about a company named Employment Law Experts. The said company has a website on which it markets itself as labour law…

Regulation of the Executive Leg of Government in terms of PAJA In the case of Minister of Defence and Military Veterans v Motau & Others [CCT133/13], the Constitutional Court found the Minister of Defence’s decision to dismiss two SANDF employees to be executive action rather than administrative action. The Minister…

Legal costs During consultations, clients regularly raise the point that they feel the opposing side should pay their legal costs as this is only fair and/or the other party has no valid claim. The issue of legal costs is by no means a matter of logic as many laymen believe…

Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide: The Current Legal Position Health practitioners generally have the greatest regard for life and the right to life. The entire scope of health practitioners’ training is aimed at preserving or improving health and life. A topic which is naturally contentious, not only in general terms but…

The powers of school-governing bodies and its possible correlation to the pending religion in schools case During 2015, an entity known as “OGOD” commenced with a court application against six South African public schools. The application prays (no pun intended) that the South Gauteng High Court, in Johannesburg, make a…

The risks of an agreement that was copied and pasted: The whole agreement or non-variation clause Many agreements, whether referring to lease agreements, employment agreements, agreements of purchase and sale, service level agreements or other types of agreements include boilerplate clauses. A boilerplate clause is a clause that appears in…

The Effect of Non-compliance with Section 34 of the Constitution on Courts’ Decision-making Powers Section 34 of the Constitution: “Anyone has the right to have any dispute resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent impartial tribunal or…