key to the study guide - Name

8
South Eastern Cape local division, the Natal Provincial Division, the
Durban and Coast local division, the Northern Cape provincial
division, the Orange Free State provincial division, the Transvaal
provincial division, the Witwatersrand local division, the Venda high
court, the Ciskei high court and the Bophuthatswana high court.
Schedule 6 of the Constitution provides that all courts, including their
structure, composition, functioning and jurisdiction, must be
rationalised in order to establish a judicial system that meets the
requirements of the Constitution. It is therefore expected that in the
future our high court system will be changed to reflect the country's
division into nine provinces. It is likely that each of the nine provinces
will have at least one division of the high court. The Interim
Rationalisation of Jurisdiction of High Courts Act 41 of 2001 is the
first step in the process of rationalising the high courts in the country.
In terms of this Act, the relevant Minister may change the area over
which a high court may have jurisdiction by including therein or
excising therefrom any district or part thereof. The Act also empowers
a high court to transfer any civil proceedings instituted in that court
to another high court. This will be the case where the civil proceedings
should have been instituted in the last-mentioned court or would be
more conveniently or more appropriately heard or determined in the
last-mentioned court.
The high courts of appeal and other courts with the status of superior
courts are each instituted in terms of one or other Act.
The magistrates' courts presently consist of the civil courts, the
criminal courts and the regional courts established in terms of the
Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944.
The other courts with the status of lower courts are also each
instituted in terms of one or other Act.
(4) The works of the old authorities on Roman-Dutch law. The works of the old
writers on Roman-Dutch law (such as those by Van Leeuwen, Van der
Keesel and Grotius) are an important authoritative source of the law.
(5) Roman law. Roman law, too, especially as codified in the Corpus Iuris
Civilis, still applies as a source of our law in so far as it was received in
Holland after the Middle Ages. In this regard the commentaries of the
old authorities (such as Voet, who wrote a commentary on the Pandect
part of the Corpus Iuris Civilis) and of modern writers on Roman law
(such as the German authors Windscheid and Von Savigny) are of
importance.
(6) Modern textbooks and other academic works. Modern textbooks and other
academic works enjoy no authority as sources of law but are often
quoted because they help the researcher to determine what the
existing law is.
(7) Foreign law. As a last resort, one may refer to foreign law (ie the law of
other countries) even though it is not really an authoritative source of