This is a list of the heads of state of South Africa from the foundation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 to the present day.. From 1910 to 1961 the head of state under the South Africa Act 1909 was the Monarch, who was the same person as the Monarch of the United Kingdom and of the other Dominions/Commonwealth realms.The Monarch was represented in South Africa by a Governor-General. 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’. 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). Is the harm sufficiently closely connected to the conduct? The following are examples: Falsity is not essential in defamation cases; the truth, indeed, may be defamatory. The object of damages in South African law is to put the claimant, as far as money makes it possible, in the same position as he/she would have been in if the damage-causing event had not occurred. ‘For conceptual clarity’, suggest the academic authorities, ‘it is always important to remember where we are going along the problem-solving route towards the intended destination’.[11]. It is possible for a person to suffer various forms of harm at the same time, which means that a person may simultaneously claim remedies under more than one action.[29]. Publication of true information about public figures is usually for the public benefit. As a general defence, it can take two forms: There are five requirements for the defence of consent: Necessity is conduct directed at an innocent person as a result of duress or compulsion, or a threat by a third party or an outside force. An omission will be considered wrongful only if there was a duty to act positively to prevent harm to the plaintiff. In the alternative, it must be negligently inflicted. The mores of the society as a whole are relevant in determining whether or not a statement is defamatory. [18] An important case here is Smith v Leach Brain.[19]. The objective-reasonableness test may be satisfied by looking at the foreseeability of such an injury. Liability only arises in special circumstances: There is no general legal duty to prevent harm. For patrimonial loss to be actionable in the case of emotional shock, it must have been intentionally or negligently inflicted. It requires a balancing of the parties' and of society's interests. The purpose of obtaining solatium is to provide reparation for the wrong; the award does not have a punitive purpose. Privileged occasion is a defence against wrongfulness and is assessed objectively. Some of these are aimed at showing that the conduct was not unlawful. Association of Sout/1 Africa: In re ex parte President of Republic of South Africa 2000 (2) SA 674 (CC); 19. There is no general legal duty to prevent harm. Comparisons between the facts of the case which has to be resolved and the facts of other cases in which a solution has already been found can obviously be useful and of value, and sometimes decisive, but one should be careful not to attempt to distill fixed or generally applicable rules or principles from the process of comparison. 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. One must, Intention should not be confused with malice or motive. The violence used in defence must not exceed what is reasonably necessary to avert the threatened danger: An act of necessity may be described as lawful conduct directed against an innocent person for the purpose of protecting an interest of the actor or of a third party (including the innocent person) against a dangerous situation, which may have arisen owing to the wrongful conduct of another or the behaviour of an animal, or through natural forces. The sort of circumstances, however, which the Courts often look to in cases such as this in deciding what degree of foreseeability must be proved by the plaintiff before a defendant can be held responsible for the resultant damage are these: The magnitude of the risk created by the defendant (point 1. above) comprises two elements: If the likelihood of harm is relatively great, or the consequences serious, the possibility of harm will normally be reasonably foreseeable. Damages under the Aquilian action do not serve to assuage wounded feelings or to compensate for inconvenience or discomfort or annoyance. Invasion of privacy is ‘wrongful and intentional interference with another's right to seclusion’. There are, however, certain requirements: Damages in respect of non-patrimonial loss do not serve a compensatory function, for such loss does not have an economic or pecuniary value. This page was last edited on 8 September 2020, at 01:04. Damages for non-patrimonial loss, or solatium, do not serve a compensatory function, for such loss does not have an economic or pecuniary value. the gravity or seriousness of the possible harmful consequences that are risked. You must either prove that you have a contractual claim against that person because of breach of contract on his or her part; or that you have a civil claim against that person, because of a delict being committed against you. For liability under the actio iniuriarum, the general elements of delict must be present, but specific rules have been developed for each element. The court exercises its own judgment in the matter and strives to determine awards which will be fair to the plaintiff and the defendant, as well as to the public at large, since such awards also serve to guide future awards. But an injuria or an infringement of a right of privacy could still be present. There must be some relationship or proximity between him and the injurer, or else some special knowledge on the part of the latter. This also includes. General damages are a head on their own. It is important to remember that there is a distinction between the question of absence of voluntariness of conduct and that of accountability. Instead the emphasis is on providing satisfaction or solace to the plaintiff in so far as it is possible for an award of money to do so. Similarly, joint wrongdoers are jointly and severally liable for the loss they have caused. whether or not the person has the ability to distinguish between right and wrong (that is, the nature of his insight and understanding); and. Unlike the last-mentioned action which developed in Roman-Dutch law, the first two remedies had already played an important role in Roman law. No distinction is made between the libellous (written) and the slanderous (spoken) forms of defamation. harm, in the form of a violation of a personality interest (one's. The question to be answered is whether or not an ordinary, decent, right-thinking person would consider such conduct to be insulting. The defendant can oppose defamation with a right of opinion, if his opinion is sincere and based on facts (see Freedom of speech in South Africa). There are six established principles: A distinction should be drawn between defences aimed at the wrongfulness element and defences which serve to exclude fault. A relevant question is whether the defendant's wrongful conduct caused, or materially contributed to, the harm sustained by the plaintiff.[35]. The courts scrutinise such cases very carefully, as special factors need to exist for liability to arise. Causation has two elements: factual and legal. As has been pointed out, however, In contrast to the casuistic approach of the Roman law of delict, the South African law of delict is based [...] on three pillars: the actio legis Aquiliae, the actio iniuriarum and the action for pain and suffering. The principles are the same as those applicable to the Aquilian action. There must be no compulsion, in other words, and it must not be a reflex action. After filing heads of argument the parties have argued their respective positions. If the actor fails to take such measures, he acts negligently. the degree or extent of the risk created by the actor's conduct; the gravity of the possible consequences if the risk of harm materialises; the burden of eliminating the risk of harm. Dignitas is a generic term meaning ‘worthiness, dignity, self-respect’, and comprises related concerns like mental tranquillity and privacy. The most common and important item of general damages is the award for pain and suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA). The element of fault, introduced below, is one such. where one has control of a potentially dangerous object or animal; where there is a contractual assumption of responsibility; where there exists a statutory duty (although this is also contingent on its nature); and. It does, however, serve to reduce the damages award. [4] The Plaintiff’s damages were computed and set out under the following heads of damages: Fault must be in the form of intention. The plaintiff must plead and prove that he is the person defamed. These are determined by the nature and consequences of the conduct: An omission, as noted previously, is not prima facie wrongful, even when physical damage is caused. The existence of a legal duty to act positively depends on the legal (rather than the moral) convictions of the community. A plaintiff may sue one or all of them. Unless this standard of accountability is secured, he will not be accountable for his actions or omissions. The defence must have been necessary to protect the threatened interests. If this harm takes the form of patrimonial loss, one uses the Aquilian action; if pain and suffering associated with bodily injury, a separate action arises, similar to the Aquilian action but of Germanic origin; finally, if the harm takes the form of injury to a personality interest (an injuria), the claim is made in terms of the actio injuriarum. In cases of necessity and private defence, the question is this: Under which circumstances would the legal convictions of the community consider it reasonable to inflict harm to prevent it? an item of loss, injury, or damage etc in a legal claim. It was adopted in England as well as South Africa, ... State fully, the head of damages and its total value that Brad would be able to claim against the wrongdoer to get his vehicle repaired. Causation, for example, is seldom in issue, and is assumed to be present. It is important to prevent it from becoming a disruptive factor in an economic sense. by balancing the interests of the parties; by looking at the relationships which exist and the consequences of the defendant's conduct; and. [15], Rigidity, the court held in Smit v Abrahams,[16] is inconsistent with the flexible approach or criterion in South African law, whereby the court considers on the basis of policy considerations whether there is a sufficiently close connection between act and consequence. In order to succeed with your claim, you must prove one of two things. The role of the person against whom the defensive conduct is directed is an important factor in determining whether defence or necessity is being pled. Although delict may be described as at the bottom a system of loss allocation, it is important to note that not every damage or loss will incur liability at law. One has to determine whether or not the plaintiff's personality right was infringed in an unlawful way and without justification. It must be a wrongful and overt act. Consent to injury, or Volenti non fit injuria, is a full defence; if successful, there is no delict. They are practical examples of circumstances justifying a prima fade infringement of a recognised right or interest, according to the fundamental criterion of reasonableness. Where harm admits of exact monetary quantification, the plaintiff must produce sufficient evidence to make an accurate assessment. It is a comprehensive exposition of the law of damages in South Africa and a valuable addition to any litigator's library. The various heads of damages will be addressed in detail, they are: Past Hospital and Medical Expenses; Past Loss of Earnings; Future Hospital, Medical and Supplementary Expenses; Future Loss of Earnings and Interference with Earning Capacity; General Damages, Loss of Amenities of Life and Disfigurement. Conduct is usually wrongful if it causes harm to person or property. Conduct in the law of delict is usually divided into factual and legal causation. Road Accident Fund: general damages for pain and suffering. NOT OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES. It is the same as dolus in criminal law. The reasonable person is placed in the position of the defendant. Privacy can be invaded in various ways: One's fama, to revise, is one's reputation or good name; it is other peoples' general opinion, the esteem in which one is held by others.[42]. If an intention to shock is established, intention limits the ambit of the claim. and Claims involving a fatality—heads of damage for what can be claimed under LR(MP)A 1934 and FAA 1976. The concept of punitive damage, which is the damages system of the United States (US) and so often dramatised on television, is not part of the South African law of damages. sed onBa the knowledge at ... 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