PVL 1501 LAW OF PERSONS QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026/2027
What criteria are applied in our law to determine when a person is legally
dead?
Prior to the coming into operation of section 1 of the National Health Act 61
pf 2003, South Africa lacked a legal definition of "death". When the
legislature enacted this Act, it adopted the criterion of brain death as the
legal standard in so far as the provision of health services, donation of
corpses or specified tissue in corpses, post-mortem examinations are
concerned. This is in keeping with the prevailing vies in modern medical
practice on when death occurs. However, keep in mind that the definition of
death in the national health act applies only to the specific matters
governed by the act. if the act does not apply, the courts may, as in the
past rely on medical evidence
Proof of death
important for two reasons:
- presenting a certificate that has been issued by a medical practitioner- if
death was due to natural causes the certificate will indicate so
- if death was due to unnatural causes the certificate will not state the death
name the two different procedures in terms of which presumption of death
orders may be granted
common-law procedure
Statutory procedure
A legal remedy by means of which the former position is restored, that is
the return of whatever has been performed in terms of a contract.
study unit 2
Explain what Law of persons is?
Private law must be grasped before going on to the next law. Law of
Persons is a subsection of private law therefore it is a person's "first law". It
is a law that governs his or her relationships with fellow human beings.
Concepts and institutions are being encountered which are basic to all the
other branches of the study of law
The law of persons determines which beings are legal subjects
, how legal subjects originates and comes to an end
what legal status involves
what effect various factors have on a person's legal status
Conscious meeting of minds (consensus ad idem) between two or more
persons. An agreement creating obligations is known as a contract.
Capacity to act:
The capacity to perform valid juristic acts.
Capacity to litigate: The capacity to appear in court as a party to a
suit.
Capacity to litigate:
The capacity to appear in court as a party to a
suit.
Contract:
An agreement entered into with the intention of creating an obligation or
obligations.
Curator:
A person who manages another person's affairs on behalf of the latter
because he or she is not capable of doing so. A curator ventris acts, in
general, on behalf of an unborn child,
A curator ad litem acts on behalf of another only for the purposes of
litigation and a curator bonis administers another's property.
Damages:
The amount which a person can claim as compensation for actual
patrimonial loss he or she has suffered as a consequence of delict or
breach of contract. See also ''reparation'' infra.
Delict:
A delict is a wrongful and intentional or negligent act as a consequence of
which another suffers a loss.
''Wrongful'' is a term with speci c connotations that will be dealt with in the
module on the law of delict. In short, this term signi es the infringement of a
right (subjektiewe reg) or the non-ful lment of a legal duty.
Enrichment:
Unjusti ed enrichment occurs when one person obtains a patrimonial bene t
at the expense of another without a valid legal ground existing for the
transfer of the benefit.
Estoppel:
ANSWERS 2026/2027
What criteria are applied in our law to determine when a person is legally
dead?
Prior to the coming into operation of section 1 of the National Health Act 61
pf 2003, South Africa lacked a legal definition of "death". When the
legislature enacted this Act, it adopted the criterion of brain death as the
legal standard in so far as the provision of health services, donation of
corpses or specified tissue in corpses, post-mortem examinations are
concerned. This is in keeping with the prevailing vies in modern medical
practice on when death occurs. However, keep in mind that the definition of
death in the national health act applies only to the specific matters
governed by the act. if the act does not apply, the courts may, as in the
past rely on medical evidence
Proof of death
important for two reasons:
- presenting a certificate that has been issued by a medical practitioner- if
death was due to natural causes the certificate will indicate so
- if death was due to unnatural causes the certificate will not state the death
name the two different procedures in terms of which presumption of death
orders may be granted
common-law procedure
Statutory procedure
A legal remedy by means of which the former position is restored, that is
the return of whatever has been performed in terms of a contract.
study unit 2
Explain what Law of persons is?
Private law must be grasped before going on to the next law. Law of
Persons is a subsection of private law therefore it is a person's "first law". It
is a law that governs his or her relationships with fellow human beings.
Concepts and institutions are being encountered which are basic to all the
other branches of the study of law
The law of persons determines which beings are legal subjects
, how legal subjects originates and comes to an end
what legal status involves
what effect various factors have on a person's legal status
Conscious meeting of minds (consensus ad idem) between two or more
persons. An agreement creating obligations is known as a contract.
Capacity to act:
The capacity to perform valid juristic acts.
Capacity to litigate: The capacity to appear in court as a party to a
suit.
Capacity to litigate:
The capacity to appear in court as a party to a
suit.
Contract:
An agreement entered into with the intention of creating an obligation or
obligations.
Curator:
A person who manages another person's affairs on behalf of the latter
because he or she is not capable of doing so. A curator ventris acts, in
general, on behalf of an unborn child,
A curator ad litem acts on behalf of another only for the purposes of
litigation and a curator bonis administers another's property.
Damages:
The amount which a person can claim as compensation for actual
patrimonial loss he or she has suffered as a consequence of delict or
breach of contract. See also ''reparation'' infra.
Delict:
A delict is a wrongful and intentional or negligent act as a consequence of
which another suffers a loss.
''Wrongful'' is a term with speci c connotations that will be dealt with in the
module on the law of delict. In short, this term signi es the infringement of a
right (subjektiewe reg) or the non-ful lment of a legal duty.
Enrichment:
Unjusti ed enrichment occurs when one person obtains a patrimonial bene t
at the expense of another without a valid legal ground existing for the
transfer of the benefit.
Estoppel:
