Overview
This lecture introduces the Law of Persons, focusing on the legal status, capacities, and classification of persons as legal subjects or objects in South African law.
Law of Persons: Definition and Scope
- The law of persons regulates the beginning, status, and end of legal subjectivity of natural persons.
- It is part of objective law, determining rights, duties, and capacities of individuals.
Core Legal Capacities
- Legal capacity: ability to bear rights, duties, or office.
- Capacity to act: ability to perform valid legal acts (juristic acts).
- Capacity to litigate: ability to bring or defend an action at law or act as applicant/respondent/plaintiff/defendant in civil matters.
- Delictual accountability: ability to distinguish right from wrong and act accordingly.
Legal Subjects and Objects
- Only legal subjects can hold rights, duties, and participate in legal interactions.
- Four categories of legal objects:
- Corporeal things (e.g., car, book)
- Intellectual property (e.g., patent, copyright)
- Performance (e.g., payment, delivery)
- Personality property (e.g., reputation, dignity)
Rights Related to Legal Objects
- Corporeal thing: real right (e.g., ownership)
- Intellectual property: intellectual property right (e.g., patent)
- Performance: personal right (e.g., claim to payment)
- Personality property: personality right (e.g., right to dignity)
Legal Subjectivity and Legal Objects
- Animals are legal objects, not subjects, but are protected by legislation and moral considerations.
- Not all humans were always recognized as legal subjects; slaves were considered legal objects under common law until abolition.
Juristic Persons in South African Law
- Associations established in legislation (e.g., Eskom, universities)
- Associations incorporated via enabling legislation (e.g., companies, banks)
- Associations meeting common law requirements (e.g., church, trade union)
Key Questions and True/False Clarifications
- Law of persons regulates termination of legal subjectivity and forms part of objective law.
- Not all natural persons have always been recognized as legal subjects in South Africa.
- Capacity to alienate is not a legal capacity but concerns substantive rights over objects.
- Juristic acts are voluntary human actions with intended legal consequences.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Legal subject — entity able to bear rights and duties.
- Legal object — entity over which rights are exercised.
- Juristic act — voluntary action intended to have legal consequences.
- Real right — right over a physical thing.
- Personal right — right to claim performance from another.
- Personality right — right concerning a person's status, dignity, or reputation.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review examples of legal objects and subjective rights.
- Prepare for questions distinguishing legal subjects and objects.
- Understand categories of juristic persons with relevant examples.