Co-existence and harmonisation of different legal traditions in South Africa

Abstract

This essay introduces a contemporary description of the mixed jurisdiction of South Africa. It depicts how in South Africa co-existence, harmonization and resistance are found in different fields of law and identifies both pitfalls and benefits of mixity. Several components are introduced: civil law, English common law, local customary law, the Bill of Rights and international legal instruments. The successful harmonisation of civil and common law is ascribed to introduction of the English administration of justice. The British institutions, structure and process placed the focus on legal procedure and succeeded to avoid conflict between different legal cultures as economic transactions ignored different value systems and doctrine. The same model was, however, not applied in respect of indigenous customary law, where from the onset choices between values and doctrine were cast in stone with the consequent conflicts. The new constitution of 1996 is transformative and the courts are instructed to develop common law and indigenous law to promote the rights, values, spirit and purport of the Bill of Rights. Thus, in all fields of private law court decisions attempt to realise such transformation by harmonising constitutional values with legal tradition while strong impetus has been provided by legislation. As it appears that the need for harmonisation between civil and common law is experienced mainly in the commercial field, the question arises whether civil law jurisdictions can transform themselves into a mixed jurisdiction by way of legal transplants to facilitate the global market. Mixed legal systems developed mostly as the result of colonial history. Civil law and common law were able to mix because the common law court system and procedure made it possible for English trained judges to successfully merge certain areas of private law, primarily in the commercial field. This means that the court system and the law of procedure, but especially training, qualification and selection of judges are of paramount importance.