by Chantelle | Aug 1, 2015 | Strategic Legal Writing
Case No. CCT 74/14, Western Cape Division, Cape Town, 24 April 2011
Hearing date: 28 August 2014
Judgment date: 11 December 2014
Majority author: Froneman J
Vote: Unanimous
By Duncan Wild on 11 December 2014
This is a case seeking to expand the South African common law to recognise a claim for “wrongful life”, or what the applicant calls “wrongful suffering”. Historically, such claim have arisen where a medical professional is alleged to have failed to inform parents that there is a high risk that a foetus may be born with abnormalities, and had the parents been informed, they not have permitted the foetus to be born. The applicant sought to cast the claim as one for “wrongful suffering”, seeking to emphasise that it is not claim with the basis that it would have been better for the child not be born, but that in failing to give the accurate information, the physician caused the suffering of the child once it was born. At present neither of these claims exist in South African law, and the applicant sought to have such a claim recognised. (more…)
by Chantelle | May 13, 2015 | Strategic Legal Writing
Dear Students
In feedback received from last year, you expressed an interest to see updates on the Legal Writing blog of “live” trials. I can imagine that the Oscar trial sparked a lot of interest (and debate!) in this regard, it being the first South African criminal trial that was broadcasted live. However, except for the Oscar and Dewani trials, not many trials are broadcasted “live” in South Africa. We will therefore borrow from various other jurisdictions to give you a taste of trial lawyering. (more…)
by Chantelle | May 11, 2015 | Strategic Legal Writing
Law terminology / lsigama somthetho / Regsterminologie [click to download]
PREFACE
This trilingual list on Law Studies terminology aims to promote isiXhosa and to support Xhosa-speaking students who sometimes struggle with difficult Law terms. The terminology list, therefore, is an initiative to support and assist these students. It aims to widen the scope of understanding, so that these students are afforded the opportunity to learn and understand these Law terms through their mother tongue. One of the direct outcomes of this endeavour is the intention to elevate isiXhosa to the status of a language of learning in higher institutions. This terminology list is also one of the strategies for highlighting the fact that Stellenbosch University is committed to the promotion of isiXhosa, which is one of the three official languages in the Western Cape. (more…)
by Chantelle | Apr 27, 2015 | Strategic Legal Writing
Over the next several weeks, we will be publishing breakdowns of legal documents explaining each in plain language followed by an example of each document. We are starting the series off with the Letter of Demand.
– Melandie Buitendag
LETTER OF DEMAND – BACKGROUND (more…)
