LAW OF PERSONS 110
Spend 7 hours a week
National (objective) law
Substantive law adjective law
Public law Private law
- Regulates the relationship between legal subjects/ persons
Law of persons family law
Chapter 1
Private law
- Involves weighing and distinguishing the interest of individuals
- Most important components
o law of persons
o family law
o property law
o law of personality
Public law
- revolves around the state in its authoritative capacity
- the state plays a key role
- objective law involves public law
Law of Persons
- part of objective law
- Regulating
o coming into being
o private-law status
o coming to an end of a natural person/ legal subject
- who/ what are legal subjects (persons)
- the coming into being and the coming to an end of legal subjects (natural persons)
- the private law status of legal subjects (natural persons)
- That part of the national law (objective/procedural law) that regulates the
o coming into being
o private law
o status
o coming to an end of legal subjectivity
Objective law
- national law
- described as a norm complex/ system of legal rules
o legal norms allocate juristic capacities
▪ include … to all the individuals (legal subjects) in a particular society at a particular time
- legal capacity
- capacity to act
- capacity to litigate
- the existence and extent of these capacities are of particular interest to each individual
o determine his/ her statues/ standing in legal contact
, Subjective sense
- concerns itself with the regulation of the relations between individuals
o this is important when it comes to their subjective rights concerning certain objects
▪ because each claim which a legal subject has to a particular legal object (subject-object
relationship) requires other individuals to acknowledge the existence of that claim (subject-
subject relationship)
Legal objects
- Real (corporeal)
o Buildings
o Land
o Vehicles
o Money
o Tangible objects with value and capable of human dominion (authority)
- Acts and Performances
o Conduct by which something is given, done or not done
- Intellectual property
o Intangible creations/ products of human intelligence
o Content of a book/ discovery
- Personality property
o Aspects of a person’s personality
▪ Physical integrity
▪ Good reputation
▪ Honour
▪ Dignity
Object Subjective Right Practical Example
Real thing Real right Property right
performance Personal right The right to claim payment
Intellectual right Intellectual property right Copyright
Personality property Personality right The right to a good reputation
Each of these subjective rights is given certain entitlements (privilege/ concepts of principle) on the legal subject
- E.G. the rightful owner of a property right is by law entitled to claim the use, enjoyment and alienation of the
property he/she owns.
- The nature of the entitlement depends on the subjective right
o E.G. Personality right does not include entitlement for alienation
Legal subjects
- Defined as the bearer of juristic capacities, subjective rights (including the appropriate entitlements) and legal
duties
- Natural persons
o human beings
- Juristic persons
o Social entities
Natural persons
- In South African private law, every person is a legal subject
o In other nations, this is not the case
▪ E.G. Roman law
- treated a slave as a legal object
- Denied that harshly deformed people (monstra) were called legal subjects
- Prisoners of war stopped being legal subjects immediately after capture
o Marriage of the soldier was terminated
▪ Germanic law
- Criminal or found to be guilty of a crime was similar to roman law
- In South Africa no one has ever been denied that they are not legal subjects
- All human beings are legal subjects but not all legal subjects are human beings
Spend 7 hours a week
National (objective) law
Substantive law adjective law
Public law Private law
- Regulates the relationship between legal subjects/ persons
Law of persons family law
Chapter 1
Private law
- Involves weighing and distinguishing the interest of individuals
- Most important components
o law of persons
o family law
o property law
o law of personality
Public law
- revolves around the state in its authoritative capacity
- the state plays a key role
- objective law involves public law
Law of Persons
- part of objective law
- Regulating
o coming into being
o private-law status
o coming to an end of a natural person/ legal subject
- who/ what are legal subjects (persons)
- the coming into being and the coming to an end of legal subjects (natural persons)
- the private law status of legal subjects (natural persons)
- That part of the national law (objective/procedural law) that regulates the
o coming into being
o private law
o status
o coming to an end of legal subjectivity
Objective law
- national law
- described as a norm complex/ system of legal rules
o legal norms allocate juristic capacities
▪ include … to all the individuals (legal subjects) in a particular society at a particular time
- legal capacity
- capacity to act
- capacity to litigate
- the existence and extent of these capacities are of particular interest to each individual
o determine his/ her statues/ standing in legal contact
, Subjective sense
- concerns itself with the regulation of the relations between individuals
o this is important when it comes to their subjective rights concerning certain objects
▪ because each claim which a legal subject has to a particular legal object (subject-object
relationship) requires other individuals to acknowledge the existence of that claim (subject-
subject relationship)
Legal objects
- Real (corporeal)
o Buildings
o Land
o Vehicles
o Money
o Tangible objects with value and capable of human dominion (authority)
- Acts and Performances
o Conduct by which something is given, done or not done
- Intellectual property
o Intangible creations/ products of human intelligence
o Content of a book/ discovery
- Personality property
o Aspects of a person’s personality
▪ Physical integrity
▪ Good reputation
▪ Honour
▪ Dignity
Object Subjective Right Practical Example
Real thing Real right Property right
performance Personal right The right to claim payment
Intellectual right Intellectual property right Copyright
Personality property Personality right The right to a good reputation
Each of these subjective rights is given certain entitlements (privilege/ concepts of principle) on the legal subject
- E.G. the rightful owner of a property right is by law entitled to claim the use, enjoyment and alienation of the
property he/she owns.
- The nature of the entitlement depends on the subjective right
o E.G. Personality right does not include entitlement for alienation
Legal subjects
- Defined as the bearer of juristic capacities, subjective rights (including the appropriate entitlements) and legal
duties
- Natural persons
o human beings
- Juristic persons
o Social entities
Natural persons
- In South African private law, every person is a legal subject
o In other nations, this is not the case
▪ E.G. Roman law
- treated a slave as a legal object
- Denied that harshly deformed people (monstra) were called legal subjects
- Prisoners of war stopped being legal subjects immediately after capture
o Marriage of the soldier was terminated
▪ Germanic law
- Criminal or found to be guilty of a crime was similar to roman law
- In South Africa no one has ever been denied that they are not legal subjects
- All human beings are legal subjects but not all legal subjects are human beings
