media law and ethics

• Media censorship infringes on the public's right to know and limits freedom of expression.
• sources of south african law: constitution, legislation, judicial precedent, common law, customary law and international law
• legislation is written down and is an authoritative source of law
• authoritative law is binding, and is a primary source of law for example international law
• persuasive law is a secondary source of law and is not legally binding for example foreign law.
• stare decisis - stand by previous decisons
• 3 examples of primary(authoritative) sources of law: constitution, legislation and international law
• 3 examples of secondary (persuasive) sources of law: foreign law, academic writings and policy documents
• two forms of customary law- official and living
• official customary law- law that has been documented in legislation, case law and textbooks
• living customary law- the law which is practised, capable of evolving and changing with society's values.
• what are the different types of alternative dispute resolutions- negotiation, mediation, arbitration and conciliation.
• negotiation takes place when the parties in dispute speak to each other over the issue
• mediation takes place when the two disputing parties ask someone to help them, this is usually a mediator
• arbitration takes place when the two disputing parties sign a contract, the stipulates arbitration will take place when a dispute happens
• conciliation is when a commissioner is appointed to facilitate the matter between the two disputing parties
• section 36 - limitations clause
• s v Makwayane and another- death penalty case and section 277 of the CPA was ruled unconstitutional due to the fact that the limitations clause didn't apply to the right to life and dignity
• section 16- Freedom of expression
• chapter 11 of the constitution- national defence force, police and intelligence service
• common law- is a set of rules originating from social customs, and is derived or developed by judges through the application of case law
• civil law- is a written codification of laws that are clear and available to all.
• international law- the law that regulated the relationships between sovereign states, such as treaties and conventions prepared by the UN
• what is south African national law subdivided into?

  substantive and adjective law
• what is substantive law?


  it sets out rights and responsibilitiess
• what is adjective law?

  it sets out the practices and procedures that regulate how substantive laws are enforced.
• judicial precedent is based on what?

  stare decisis
• a court is only bound by what?

  ratio decadendi
• obiter dicta- a judge's opinion or remarks made in passing during the matter or in the judgement
• what is jurisdiction in court?

  the authority or the competence of a particular court to hear a matter that has been brought before it and to grant a relief in respect of that matter