CLA1501

• Attachment is a strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver

  
• Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study on attachment:

  • Aim: identify stages of attachment / find a pattern in the development of an attachment between infants and parents
  • Participants: 60 babies from Glasgow
  • Procedure: analysed interactions between infants and carers
  • Findings: babies of parents/carers with 'sensitive responsiveness' were more likely to have formed an attachment
• Freud's superego is the moral component of the psyche, representing internalized societal values and standards
• In a court case between National Sorghum Breweries Ltd and Corpcapital Bank Ltd, the issue was whether a cession of a lease agreement was valid

  
• The court held that the cession was not valid because it did not comply with the requirements of the Sale and Lease Agreement
• South African law is drawn from various authoritative sources, including statutes and decided cases
• Roman law and Roman-Dutch law are recognized sources of South African law
• English law exerted a considerable influence on Roman-Dutch law in South Africa
• The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, is the most important source of law in South Africa
• The Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa confirms democratic values of human dignity, equality, and freedom
• National Sorghum Breweries Ltd v Corpcapital Bank Ltd case in the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa involved the interpretation of a contract to determine if a subsequent cession of rights constituted a variation of the earlier agreement

  
• First-generation rights include rights to equality, human dignity, life, and various freedoms like religion, expression, movement, and trade
• Second-generation rights encompass the right to housing, healthcare, food, water, social security, and education
• Rights can be limited in special circumstances, following specific criteria such as being by law of general application, reasonable, justifiable in an open and democratic society, and considering all relevant factors
• Customary law develops from community habits and is carried down from generation to generation
• For a customary rule to be recognized as a legal rule, it must be reasonable, have existed for a long time, be generally recognized and observed by the community, and have certain and clear contents
• Judgments of Dutch courts before 1652, Cape Council of Justice before 1827, and South African courts after 1910 form an important authoritative source of law known as case law
• South African courts are divided into superior courts like the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the High Court, and lower courts like magistrates' courts and small claims courts
• The Constitutional Court is the highest court in all matters in South Africa, consisting of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice, and nine other judges
• The Supreme Court of Appeal is a court of appeal for the High Court and its various divisions, with unlimited appeal jurisdiction except for matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court
• The High Court in South Africa is a single court with various divisions constituted under the Superior Courts Act
• National Sorghum Breweries Ltd v Corpcapital Bank Ltd was a case in the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, involving the interpretation of a contract and whether a subsequent cession of rights constituted a variation of the earlier agreement

  
• The Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 established a single High Court in South Africa with various divisions, including Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, and Western Cape Divisions
• Each division of the High Court consists of a Judge President, Deputy Judge Presidents, and as many judges as necessary, approved by the President
• The High Court has original jurisdiction to hear matters like divorce proceedings, mental capacity, sequestration of estates, liquidation of companies, and the validity or interpretation of wills
• Important officers in a High Court Division include the Registrar, Family Advocate, sheriff of the court, directors of public prosecutions, and the state attorney
• Legal practitioners in South Africa are divided into advocates and attorneys, with advocates mainly appearing in higher courts and attorneys dealing with non-litigious matters and magistrates' courts
• Magistrates' courts have limited jurisdiction compared to superior courts, and small claims courts aim to resolve minor civil claims promptly without legal representation for parties
• The doctrine of stare decisis means 'the decision stands,' where courts are bound by previous decisions, ensuring legal certainty but sometimes at the expense of a fair decision
• Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study on attachment aimed to identify stages of attachment and find a pattern in the development of attachment between infants and parents
• Participants in the study were 60 babies from Glasgow, and the findings showed that babies of parents with 'sensitive responsiveness' were more likely to form an attachment
• Stare decisis in South African law means that courts are bound by earlier decisions unless there are exceptional circumstances that render it possible to override a legal opinion
• Courts in South Africa follow a middle course regarding stare decisis, neither strictly adhering to past decisions nor ignoring them
• Courts in South Africa are bound by the decisions of a superior court within their area of jurisdiction, unless the decision is based on an obvious error
• Statutory interpretation in South Africa involves determining the meaning of an Act of Parliament or another piece of legislation using various theoretical rules and methods
• The Constitution of South Africa influences the interpretation of statutes by providing guidelines to determine if a statute conflicts with the Constitution
• The Interpretation Act 33 of 1957 in South Africa applies to the interpretation of every law, providing general definitions of terms frequently used in legislation and rules about gender, numbering, time calculation, and more
• The most important part of a court judgment is the ratio decidendi, which is the reason for the decision and is binding, subject to the doctrine of stare decisis
• The ratio decidendi of a court case is the conclusion reached by the judge based on the material facts of the case, excluding the immaterial ones
• Statements outside the ratio decidendi in a court case are known as obiter dictum and are not binding on subsequent courts