south african law of delict

Someone else must see you in a worse light than before; otherwise your reputation has not been diminished. Money is considered an adequate replacement for the lost patrimony. If an intention to shock is established, intention limits the ambit of the claim. The Law of Contract in South Africa D. Hutchison, C. Pretorius. A delict is constituted by the infringement of any legally recognised interest of another party, excluding the non-fulfilment of a duty to perform by a contractual party. The test for intention is subjective. In respect of a claim in terms of the lex Aquilia, there is only one function: to restore the plaintiff's patrimony and, as far as possible, to place him in the position he would have occupied in had the delict not been committed. The elements of liability under the actio iniuriarum are as follows: Under the actio iniuriarum, harm consists in the infringement of a personality right: Infringements of a person's corpus include assaults, acts of a sexual or indecent nature, and wrongful arrest and detention. One will be held responsible for the intentional results of one's conduct even if it is occasioned by an unintended method (although this is subject, of course, to the presence of the other elements of liability). Public disclosures concerning private life (by the defendant to others). The dissertation seeks to establish whether the legislative reform of the South African law of delict through the creation of such a fund is justified and appropriate. 1 - General introduction. Because it is such a wide concept, its infringement must be serious. Specific forms of delict. The purpose of an award under the actio iniuriarum is to provide solace and assuage wounded feelings. "[1] JC Van der Walt and Rob Midgley define a delict, "in general terms [...] as a civil wrong," and more narrowly as "wrongful and blameworthy conduct which causes harm to a person. Fault: blameworthiness in the form of intention or negligence. One therefore cannot invoke the justification of self-defence when acting in the interests of another person, but it is possible to invoke the justification of private defence when acting in one's own interests. The South African law of delict engages primarily with "the circumstances in which one person can claim compensation from another for harm that has been suffered. To do so, the dissertation analyses the historical background and policy bases of other significant instances of legislative reform of the South African law of delict. The injured party must be foreseeable. the gravity or seriousness of the possible harmful consequences that are risked. The reasonable person is placed in the position of the defendant. Labour law rules! The plaintiff must plead and prove that he is the person defamed. Access study documents, get answers to your study questions, and connect with real tutors for PVL 3703 : Law of Delict South Africa at University Of South Africa. Causation: factual causation and legal causation. It is, for present purposes, always assumed. The classic remedy for a delict is compensation: claiming damages, in other words, for the harm caused. In Joubert The Law of South Africa vol 8 title “Delict” (by Prof J C van der Walt) paras 47-49, the terms ‘factual causation’ and ‘legal causation’ are used to denote the concepts underlying these two enquiries. There are four basic considerations in each case which influence the reaction of the reasonable person in such situations: If the magnitude of the risk outweighs the utility of the conduct, the reasonable person would take measures to prevent the occurrence of harm. An omission will be considered wrongful only if there was a duty to act positively to prevent harm to the plaintiff. DEFINE: Delict = 5 Elements: Act Wrongful Fault Causation Damage 3 Delictual Actions (Legis Aquiliae, actio iniuriarum & action for pain and suffering) Delict & Breach of contract Delict & Crime Delict & Constitution (Carmichele-case) – NB! One must distinguish between. (Any element of attachment or affection for a damaged article, for example, is excluded.) The following are examples: Falsity is not essential in defamation cases; the truth, indeed, may be defamatory. The existence of a legal duty to act positively depends on the legal (rather than the moral) convictions of the community. In some instances, the possibility of harm resulting, even if serious, may be so slight that precautions need not be taken at all. Constitutional Law in Context D. Brand, C. Gevers. 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