SCL1501/201/2/2019

Tutorial letter 201/2/2019

SKILLS COURSE FOR LAW STUDENTS

(SCL1501)
Semester 2

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
This tutorial letter contains important information
about your module.

Open Rubric
Dear student
This tutorial letter contains feedback or comments on Assignments 01 and 02 of the second
semester.

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FEEDBACK ON ASSIGNMENT 01 (UNIQUE NUMBER: 756898)

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PART A

Question 1

1.1 Section 26(1) of the Act, provides for “practical vocational training”. It provides that “Any
person intending to be admitted and enrolled as a candidate legal practitioner must - serve
under a practical vocational training contract for a period of twelve months after that person
has satisfied all the requirements for a degree referred to in sections 26(1)(a) or (b) of the
Act.

The concept of “community service” has been introduced in the Act, and will be refined in the
rules to be drafted by the transitional National Forum. This can include a minimum period of
recurring service by legal practitioners on which continued enrolment is dependent or, simply
put, mandatory pro bono.

1.2 An “ombud” is an official who is charged with representing the interests of the public by
investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or a violation of rights.

The President is responsible for appointing an “ombud”. Only a judge who is discharged from
active service in terms of the Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act, 2001
is eligible for such an appointment.

Powers and functions of an ombud are governed by sections 47 and 48 of the Legal Practice
Act. Those powers and functions include the following, amongst others:

”In addition to the other powers and functions conferred on or assigned to him or her in this
Act, and for the purposes of achieving the objects referred to in section 46, the Ombud is
competent to investigate, on his or her own initiative or on receipt of a complaint, any
alleged— (i) maladministration in the application of this Act; (ii) abuse or unjustifiable exercise
of power or unfair or other improper conduct or undue delay in performing a function in terms
of this Act; (iii) act or omission which results in unlawful or improper prejudice to any
person…”

Question 2

2.1 A by-law refer to a rule made by a local authority or municipality to regulate its own affairs
and the services it provides within its area of jurisdiction. The difference between a by-law
and an Act of Parliament lies in the fact that an Act of Parliament refer to laws made by the

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legislative wing of government, such laws bind all citizens in the country, unlike by-laws which
are only applicable in those specific municipalities.

2.2 A by-law is a law that is passed by the Council of a municipality. In terms of the Constitution
the executive and legislative authority of a municipality is exercised by the municipal council',
and one of the methods by which this is done is by passing by-laws. A municipality may only
make by-laws on matters that it has the right to administer.

2.3 Read Sec 25(3) of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 in this regard. It provides that:

“An attorney who wishes to appear in the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal or the
Constitutional Court must apply to the registrar of the Division of the High Court in which he
or she was admitted and enrolled as an attorney for a prescribed certificate to the effect that
the applicant has the right to appear in the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal or the
Constitutional Court and which the registrar must issue if he or she is satisfied that the
attorney…”

Question 3

3.1 Social contract relates to the relationship between all members of the society (all
citizens) resulting from an agreement on a system of law and order. It is through a social
contract that all citizens are deemed to have agreed to a set of rules or laws in order to create
peace and order.

A State is an abstract, non-physical or conceptual entity where a nation (people with common
identity) belongs. It ideally remains unchanged Therefore, the extract illustrates the idea that
citizens do play a role in the preservation of law and order in a democratic state. The basis
for this role is the notion of a “social contract” which all citizens are deemed to have signed or
agreed to in order to determine how they will live with one another, and thus create a sense
of order, certainty and protection. The rule of law is therefore the basis upon which the social
contract is premised.

3.2 Although there is a difference between the terms ‘state” and “government”, often, these
terms “state” and “government” are used interchangeably. “State” refers to an abstract, non-
physical or conceptual entity where a nation (people with common identity) belongs. A state
may also refer to an organised political community where a government can exercise its
powers.

A government on the other hand, is the system or group of people governing an organized
community, often a state / a group of people that governs a community or unit. The South
African government is divided into three parts, the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

Question 4

The form of irrelevance in argument applicable is the argumentum ad hominem. This refer
to an aspect of irrelevance in argumentation, which comes about when the criticism is based
on the person or arguer, rather than the argument. The words “your argument is totally
unacceptable because you are still young, from a rural Province and have never been to
America…” indicates/reflects a personal attack on the arguer.

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Question 5

Item/service Fees Costs/Expenses

Letters received R1,729

Letters written R2,937
Stamps/Postage R118.91
(R103.40 + vat @15%)
Summonses R3,132
Affidavit R1,112
5 pages : 5xR69.50 =R347.50
2½ pages: 3xR69.50= R208.50
7½ pages: 8xR69.50= R556
Telephonic consultation R630
28 min: 2xR157.50= R315
19 min: 2xR157.50= R315
Consultation R5,632.20
33 min: 2xR938.70= R1877.40
1h32min: 4xR938.70=R3754.80
Advocate’s fees R4,336.08
(R3770.50 + vat @15%)
Medico Legal Report R9,062.58
(7,880.50 + vat @15%)
Total=R15,172.20 Total=R13,517.57

Vat @ 15% R2,275.83

= R17,448.03
+ Expenses R13,517.57
TOTAL DUE R30,965.60

Question 6

6.1 Your Worship, my name is Jabulani Bantu from Bantu attorneys. I represent the plaintiff/Peta
Teanet. This is a divorce matter in terms of which the plaintiff seeks a divorce from his
spouse, the defendant (Mma-Kheropole). I will call a witness, Kwapa, a Social Worker from
the Tzaneen area.

6.2 Wherefore, the Plaintiff prays for:

1. A decree of divorce
2. Division of the joint estate
3. Any other relief deemed just by this honourable court
4. Costs of this application.

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PART B: COURT OBSERVATION

This part of your Assignment 01 required you to personally visit a court of law and observe a real
court case. The purpose of this part of the assignment is to expose you, as a law student, to a
real court environment. There is no single answer or response that was expected from you in
dealing with the set questions because individual students observed different matters in various
courts across the country, or even across the world! We will not mark this part of the
assignment if the last page of the observation sheet is not completed by the clerk of the
court (or the Registrar) as instructed: signature, date and the stamp.

However we want to make the following remarks in relation to the various questions:

5. Here, with reference to the court case you have observed, you have to give reasons why you
think the case is a criminal or civil matter (depending on your response for question 4).

6. Here you must indicate who were the parties the in dispute, state who was a plaintiff and
defendant or appellant and respondent or State/prosecutor and defendant.

7. Here we expected you to give a short description of what the matter or issue before the
court was. It will not be sufficient for you to merely say: “theft” or “bail”.

8. As regards this item, pay attention to the meaning of “legal actors” as discussed in Learning
Unit 5 of your study guide.

9. “Non-verbal communication” is discussed in Learning Unit 4 (see item 4.2 on pp 57-59) of

your study guide. In answering this question you could, for instance, have referred to how the
defence attorney used eye contact and facial expressions when emphasizing a point or trying
to persuade the presiding officer (judge/magistrate).

10. For explanations on the various aspects or stages of the litigation process, please refer to
item 4.6 (pp. 70-73) of your study guide. What is important here is what you have observed in
court especially with regard to how these aspects were conducted by different legal actors.

11. There are those cases that might have not been concluded on the day(s) you went for the
observation. Here, you have to state what the magistrate / judge decided on that particular
day. For example, “the magistrate postponed the matter to enable the state to gather more
evidence etc.”

12. Here we expected you to comment on the performance of the legal actors. We further
expected you to provide personal reflections/analysis on your experience (perhaps on
something that you found interesting or unexpected, or boring), including a commentary on
whether your expectations from the course readings were changed or confirmed.

13. Any comment relating to the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014.

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FEEDBACK ON ASSIGNMENT 02 (UNIQUE NUMBER: 889890

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Question 1. The correct statement is option 3. Read the introduction portion of your study guide.

Question 2. The incorrect statement is option 3. Read the “the concept of law” under item 1.2
(page 7) of your study guide.

Question 3. The correct statement is option 1. Read the “the concept of law” under item 1.2
(page 7) of your study guide.

Question 4. The correct statement is option 4. Read item 2.2.3 (pp 16-17) of the study guide.

Question 5. The correct statement is option 2. Open question. This question relates to item 5.2.2
(pp 78-79) of your study guide.

Question 6. The incorrect statement is option 4. Open question. See item 5.2.2 (page 81) of your
study guide.

Question 7. The correct statement is option 3. Open question. This question relates to item
3.4.2.1 (pages 41) of your study guide.

Question 8. The correct statement is option 4. Read under item 5.2 (pp 76-77) of your study
guide.

Question 9. The correct statement is option 3. Open question. Read under item 3.4.2.1 (page 41)
of your study guide.

Question 10. The correct statement is option 3. Read item 3.4.3 (viii) (page 49) of your study
guide.

Question 11. The correct statement is option 3. See item 3.4.2.5 (page 43) your study guide.

Question 12. The correct statement is option 4. Open question. Read the order of the court under
item 3.4.3 (ix) (page 50) of your study guide.

Question 13. The correct statement is option 3. See item 4.6 (b) (page 71) your study guide.

Question 14. The correct answer is option 3. Read item 2.2.3 (pp 16-17) your study guide

Question 15. The incorrect statement is option 3. See item 3.3.2 (a) (page 38) of your study
guide.

Question 16. The correct statement is option 3. Refer under item 3.4.2.5 (page 43) your study
guide.

Question 17. The correct statement is option 2. Read under item 4.5.1 (c) (pp 67-68) of your
study guide for guidance.
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Question 18. The correct statement is option 2. See activity 6.3 (page 88) of your study guide.

Question 19. The correct statement is option 4. Read item 6.7, example 2 (page 95) of your
study guide.

Question 20. The correct statement is option 2. Read item 6.12 (page 98) of your study guide.

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FORMAT OF YOUR EXAMINATION PAPER

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As indicated in paragraph 8.1 of Tutorial Letter 101/3/2019, the total marks for the SCL1501
examination will be 100, which mark will be adapted to 80. The paper comprises five sections, to
cover all the learning units in this module. There are no so-called “multiple choice” questions.
However, the paper takes a fill-in format, in which sense you are expected to write your answers
on the spaces provided in the examination book. Thus, the examination book comprises the
question paper and the answer sheet. The mark allocation for the various sections is as follows:

 Section 1 (Law and study skills): 25 marks

 Section 2 (Numeric skills): 15 marks
 Section 3 (Communication/Litigation skills): 25 marks
 Section 4 (Legal actors): 15 marks
 Section 5 (Reading legal texts): 20 marks

Best wishes

FRANS MAHLOBOGWANE (Mr) PRETORIA