LJU4804 Portfolio Exam 2026 - Distinction | Due 19 October 2026

LJU4804 Portfolio Exam 2026 - Distinction | Due 19 October 2026 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS October/November 2026 LJU4804 Private International Law Portfolio 80 marks Duration 12 – 19 October 2026 First examiner: Prof MM Wethmar-Lemmer Second examiners: Dr NS Siphuma and Mr SD Mabaso External examiner: Prof E Schoeman (University of Pretoria / University of Canterbury) INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TAKE-HOME EXAM. READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 1. This paper consists of 10 pages and counts 80 marks 2. It consists of 4 questions. Answer ALL of the questions. 3. The portfolio runs from 12 – 19 October 2026. This portfolio must be submitted before 08:00 (AM) on 19 October 2026 (CAT). Students have to submit this portfolio via myUnisa, therefore no e-mailed portfolios may be accepted. No extensions will be granted. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the file submitted is not corrupted and can be opened for marking. No scanned portfolios may be submitted. 4. You must therefore submit this portfolio as Assessment 3 via myUnisa. When you receive the portfolio, check whether your submission portal is open/available and let your lecturers know immediately if your submission portal is not open. 5. This is a research portfolio and as such, an open-book examination. When answering questions, students are expected to make use of the learning units as well as all prescribed readings relevant to the question. The learning units must also be referenced. Page 1 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 6. The Declaration of Academic Honesty button must be clicked when submitting the portfolio examination. 7. Proper footnote referencing must be used. This entails that every argument or idea taken from another source, or any piece of information utilised from another source, needs to be provided with a separate footnote reference. Please note that in-line referencing in the text may NOT be used. 8. PLEASE DO NOT COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS FROM ANY SOURCE. When answering the questions, you must provide footnote references to the relevant source(s) for every statement made. You must make use of the Unisa School of Law referencing style. Guidelines are available under Additional Resources on myUnisa. Do not make use of long quotations, rephrase the arguments in your own words. When you have to provide a case discussion, refer to the relevant page and paragraph numbers of the case in corresponding footnotes for every statement made. It is imperative to refer to the prescribed sources, where relevant. Unreferenced portfolio content will not be credited with marks. 9. As a guideline, a 5 mark question should be at least a ½ typed page (1.5 spacing with standard margins); a 10 mark question should contain at least 1 full typed page answer; a 15 mark answer should be about 2 typed pages long and a 20 mark question should be about 3 typed pages. The portfolio should therefore not contain more than 12 pages of substantive content. In addition to the 12 pages of content, you should add the title page and a full bibliography. Note: You do NOT have to attach the Declaration of Academic Honesty in your portfolio document. 10. Use proper language and grammar and make use of full sentences. 11. Note that all portfolios will be scrutinised for plagiarism through the use of Turnitin. Any information provided that is not in your own words and properly referenced, will be flagged by Turnitin. Be reminded that Turnitin also compares all student assignment submissions with each other and instances of academic dishonesty or students copying from each other, will also be identified. Instances of AI writing are also detected by Turnitin. Cases of plagiarism or Page 2 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 academic dishonesty will be dealt with in accordance with the University's policies. 12. Keep a copy of your portfolio, as well as proof of your successful submission. 13. Keep in mind that it is your responsibility to submit the correct document, in the correct file format, before the deadline for the portfolio. You are in charge of your own learning and your own examinations. No excuses will be accepted for failure to submit on time, or for submitting an incorrect or incomplete document. 14. You may only resubmit your portfolio twice. The myModules system will not allow you to resubmit more than twice. Also, once you have submitted your portfolio and the marking has started, you will not be able to replace it with another document via the RESUBMIT tool. Please note that when the RESUBMIT option is no longer available to you on myModules, you cannot resubmit, and your lecturers are not in a position to change this. Therefore, please make sure that you submit the correct document. 15. Please note that you cannot add to your submission. If you wish to change anything about your submission, you must resubmit your portfolio if the system allows you to do so. When you resubmit, the new document replaces the original document. 16. Please include the following in your portfolio submission: a. A cover page containing your name and surname, student number, the module name and code, and the due date of the portfolio examination. 17. You will be submitting your portfolio online on the myModules platform. 18. Portfolios MUST only be submitted online; lecturers cannot and will not accept portfolios submitted via email, fax or in any other format. The myModules system will close at 08:00 (AM) on the due date. If you cannot submit your portfolio in time, you will be required to re-register again for the module regardless of the reasons for failing to submit the exam on time. This is why you are given enough time to prepare for and submit the examination. 19. Take note of the following: Page 3 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 a. BEFORE submitting, make sure that you submit the correct document, containing all the pages you wish to submit. b. Important: Please do not wait until the last minute to submit. The system may be down, and you will fail your examination if you are unable to submit in time. c. We advise you to submit your completed portfolio as early as possible. We recommend that you attempt to submit your portfolio at least a day or two before the deadline. That way you will have sufficient time to resolve any potential technical problems that come up. d. Should you have submission challenges, please refer these to . Please note that feedback to such a request may take a day or two, so please do not submit at the last minute. Rather submit early so that you have time to resolve any technical or administrative challenges that may arise. 20. You must submit your examination answers as a single document in PDF format. Please take note of the following: a. The document may not be submitted as an encrypted pdf document or as a file with security restrictions under the “protect/secure document” option. This also means that you may not submit a password-protected file. Security restrictions interfere with the electronic marking program used. b. Do not include an electronic signature in the document as this affects the online marking. c. Do not submit copies of your study guide, tutorial letter, ID document, application form, bank statement, assessment for another module, your second assignment, or any other irrelevant document as your portfolio submission. We are not allowed to contact you to ask that you resubmit the correct document, since this is against UNISA’s Assessment Policy. We mark what we receive and if the submission does not answer the questions, a mark of zero will be awarded. This is an exam. d. Do not submit a document in corrupt file format; you will be awarded a mark of 0%. This applies whether you corrupted the document purposefully or accidentally. We are not allowed to contact you to ask Page 4 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 that you resubmit the document in the correct file format, since this is against UNISA’s Assessment Policy. We mark what we receive. If we cannot open the document, you will receive zero. e. Do not take pictures of your hand-written or printed pages with your smart phone and then use an app to convert these photos into a pdf document. The quality of these photos may interfere with the marking of the document and using Turnitin. All queries regarding problems with online submissions of portfolios MUST BE DIRECTED TO: ; or . Please cc the module leader: Unfortunately, your lecturers CANNOT assist you with submission, technical or administrative challenges. Page 5 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 QUESTION 1 Instructions: Read the set of facts below and answer the questions that follow. In December 2015, Mr Singh married his girlfriend whilst on holiday in Hawaii. At the time of entering into the marriage, both parties were domiciled in England. Mr Singh was a British citizen and the new Mrs Singh a seventeen-year-old South African citizen. The newlyweds returned to England on a cruise liner, the MS Sovereign, sailing under a Spanish flag. Mr Singh executed a will while on board the vessel, nominating Mrs Singh as his sole heir. In this will he also granted her a power of appointment of a final beneficiary. In January 2016, Mr and Mrs Singh relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he took up a senior marketing position at an international retailer. The parties bought property and established a domicile in South Africa. Two children were born from the marriage and Mrs Singh stayed at home to look after them, forsaking her international modelling career. Upon discovering Mr Singh’s infidelity in February 2025, Mrs Singh instituted divorce proceedings in a South African High Court. Her lawyers also advised her to claim for future maintenance in terms of section 7 of the Divorce Act 70 of 1979 to achieve a clean break between the parties. 1.1 Which legal system governs the material validity of the Singhs’ marriage according to the rules of South African private international law? (2) 1.2 Would your answer to 1.1 be different if it emerged that the parties got married in Hawaii to evade the requirement of English law that parental consent is required for persons below the age of eighteen to get married? Discuss. (6) 1.3 Which legal system applies to the formal validity of Mr and Mrs Singh’s marriage in terms of the South African rules of private international law? (2) Page 6 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 1.4 Which legal system applies to divorce matters in terms of the rules of South African private international law? (2) 1.5 Mr Singh’s will is formally invalid in terms of English and South African law, but indeed formally valid in terms of Spanish law. Will a South African court regard Mr Singh’s will as formally valid? Discuss. (Note: refer to the relevant provision(s) of section 3bis of the Wills Act 7 of 1953). (3) 1.6 Mrs Singh executes the power of appointment in a will that is executed in Italy. Her will is found to be formally invalid in terms of all its possible testing systems, but formally valid in terms of Spanish law. Is the execution of the power of appointment valid in terms of South African law? (Note: refer to the relevant provision(s) of section 3bis of the Wills Act 7 of 1953). (3) 1.7 Assume for purposes of question 1.7 only that the Singhs’ were married in December 1982. Will Mrs Singh be able to claim for future maintenance in terms of section 7 of the South African Divorce Act if the decision in Esterhuizen v Esterhuizen 1999 (1) SA 492 (C) is followed? Note: You do not have to provide a full case discussion, only discuss the court’s reasoning on this specific point. Remember to provide footnote references to the relevant page and paragraph number of the case for every piece of information provided. (5) 1.8 Name two international conventions that protect the rights of children in international matters and that South Africa is a member state of. (2) [25] QUESTION 2 In the matter of Pringle v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others (2468/2024) [2026] ZAWCHC 343, the long-standing common law connecting factor for determining the law applicable to the proprietary consequences of marriage, was declared unconstitutional. The court made a finding in respect of replacement of the discriminatory rule. At the same time, the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) Project 100E Reform of Aspects of Matrimonial Property Law (2023) is ongoing and pp 28 – 41 of Discussion Paper 160 also makes recommendations in this regard. Page 7 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 You are required to provide a discussion of the Court’s determination in respect of the replacement of the lex domicilii matrimonii- rule in the Pringle-case as well as the SALRC’s recommendations. Your discussion must include an analysis in respect of the retrospectivity of the new rules. Note: You should not provide a full case discussion of the Pringle-case. [15] QUESTION 3 A German company (buyer) and a South African company (seller) conclude an international sales contract. The contract includes an arbitration clause directing that all disputes arising from the contract must be referred to arbitration, to be administered by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). Question: If the German company were to obtain an arbitral award in its favour from the LCIA, what are its chances of having it recognised and enforced against the seller in South Africa? Instructions: - Make use of numbered headings and sub-headings and provide footnote references for every statement made. - From a content perspective, consult chapter 3 of the International Arbitration Act 15 of 2017 and the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (incorporated as Schedule III to the Act). [20] QUESTION 4: Instructions: Read the set of facts and answer the questions that follow. Fashion First (Pty) Ltd (FF) is a company incorporated in South Africa with its central administration and principal place of business in Durban. Mode GmbH (Mode) is a company incorporated in Germany with its central administration and principal place of business in Hamburg. Page 8 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 FF and Mode conclude an international sales contract in terms of which FF purchases a large consignment of leather shoes and handbags from Mode for the purchase price of € 300 000. Payment had to be effected by means of a documentary letter of credit issued by RMB in Durban and into Mode’s bank account held at Deutsche Bank in Hamburg (Germany). The goods had to be sent CIF (ICC Incoterms 2020) from the harbour in Hamburg to the Durban harbour. The contract was concluded during July 2025 by duly authorised representatives of the company while attending a conference in France. Delivery and payment had to take place in October 2025. The contract included an arbitration clause assigning all disputes arising from the contract or matters connected thereto to ad hoc arbitration in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, no choice of law clause was included in the contract. Delivery took place as per the agreement, but FF refused to pay the purchase price, arguing that the leather shoes were defective. Mode insisted that the shoes complied with the description in the contract. On 3 February 2026, Mode sent a request to FF to refer the dispute to arbitration. 4.1 How would the arbitral tribunal determine the proper law of the contract? (3) 4.2 Explain what the CIF INCOTERM entails. Note: Your discussion must be based on your prescribed reading material by Van Niekerk and Schulze. (5) Germany is a CISG contracting state. Assume for questions 3.3 and 3.4 below, that the CISG is found to be applicable. 4.3 Discuss the remedies of the buyer under the CISG in the case of non-conformity of goods. (7) 4.4 Would Fashion First be able to claim interest on sums awarded under the arbitral award? Refer to the relevant provisions of the CISG. (5) [20] Page 9 of 10 CONFIDENTIAL LJU4804 Oct/Nov 2026 TOTAL: 80 MARKS © UNISA 2026 Page 10 of 10