Topic: General

Duty of lateral support applies to reasonably built-on land

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on March 6, 2019 Posted in General

The Western Cape High Court found that the common law duty to provide lateral support to a neighbouring property falls within the law of neighbours where the guiding principle is reasonableness. The duty of lateral support relates to contiguous pieces of land even where the land has been built on, provided the buildings have not … Continue reading

UK regulator to drop general counsel from accountability

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on March 6, 2019 Posted in General

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority intends to drop plans to hold heads of legal departments at banks and insurance firms responsible for ignoring misconduct because it would hamper lawyers from giving independent legal advice. General counsels will be excluded from the new accountability regime for senior managers. Binding legal counsel to the accountability provisions would … Continue reading

The elements of defamation

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on February 27, 2019 Posted in General

The Johannesburg High Court discussed the balance between the constitutional right to freedom of expression and the required respect for inherent dignity ‘to all human beings’. The defendant in Mostert v Nash argued the allegedly defamatory statements made about the plaintiff were true and in the public interest. It is for the defendant in a … Continue reading

Buyer beware – new competition laws restricting dominant firm purchases

By Rosalind Lake (ZA) on February 14, 2019 Posted in General

The Competition Amendment Act was signed into law on 13 February 2019. The Act’s aim is to ‘open up new opportunities for many South Africans to enter various sectors of the economy and compete on an equal footing’. This sentiment is the spirit throughout the Act and the draft regulations that are undergoing an extensive … Continue reading

Draft Expropriation Bill published

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on January 25, 2019 Posted in General

On 21 December 2018 the government published their Draft Expropriation Bill 2019 for comment by 21 February 2019. As the laws will affect all of us you should read it and consider commenting. The Bill only relates to registered rights and will therefore mainly affect land rights and mineral rights. The government has said that the law … Continue reading

Prescribed rate of interest is 10.25% from 1 January 2019

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on January 25, 2019 Posted in General

The prescribed rate of interest has been changed with effect from 1 January 2019 to 10.25% per annum. The previous rate was 10%. According to the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, interest on debts where no rate is prescribed is calculated at the repo rate plus 3.5%. The prescribed rate of interest applies to all debts … Continue reading

Damages not recoverable for raising IVF conceived child born without father’s informed consent

By Natasha Naidoo on January 24, 2019 Posted in General

The England Appeal Court has held that a father’s claim against a clinic for breach of contract for damages suffered as a result of raising his child who was born by IVF to his estranged wife without his consent were not recoverable due to legal policy. The child was conceived via IVF using the gametes … Continue reading

Terms of sale can be implied by law – Meaning of ‘ex-warehouse’

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on January 21, 2019 Posted in General

Section 59 of the Customs and Excise Act 1964 provides that the seller of goods may recover the amount of duty paid on the goods in addition to the contract price ‘in the absence of agreement to the contrary’. The fact that the sale in Starways Trading v Pearl Island Trading was said to be ‘ex-warehouse’ … Continue reading

Public participation in South African law-making process is essential

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on January 13, 2019 Posted in General

South Africa is a participatory democracy and where legislation is passed without facilitating public participation, especially by those members of the public most affected, the law is invalid. The Veterinary Association was successful in having the word ‘veterinarian’ severed from an amendment to the Medicine and Related Substances Act because of lack of consultation regarding … Continue reading

Test for a simulated transaction avoiding the payment of tax

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on December 21, 2018 Posted in General

A transaction is not necessarily a disguised one because it is devised for the purpose of avoiding liability for tax. If the parties honestly intend the contract to have the effect stated in the contract then the only question is whether there is liability for the tax or not. The court will ascertain the intention … Continue reading

Protection of Personal Information Act – Regulations published

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on December 17, 2018 Posted in General

The Regulations to the Protection of Personal Information Act have been published by the Information Regulator. They will commence on a date to be determined. The regulations are fairly short, but contain a raft of forms relating to the processing of information, for example: a form for objecting to the processing of personal information; requests … Continue reading

Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill published for comment

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on December 12, 2018 Posted in General

In case you are wondering what your holiday reading is, the draft Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill has been published by the National Treasury for comment. Comments will be accepted until 1 April 2019. The suite of documents includes the Bill itself (188 pages), the COFI Bill Policy Paper (90 pages), and the Socio-Economic Assessment setting … Continue reading

Extinctive prescription: When is a debt due?

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on December 7, 2018 Posted in General

The Constitutional Court reaffirmed that a debt becomes due when it is immediately claimable or recoverable. Where the purchase price was not receivable under the Alienation of Land Act 1981 until the contract was recorded at the Deeds Office, prescription did not start to run until the recording of the contract took place. It is … Continue reading

Damages for denying gender-confirming medical care (US)

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on November 25, 2018 Posted in General

A jury in Wisconsin awarded damages to two transgender women who were denied gender-confirming medical care by a state health plan. The state’s health insurance excluded procedures, services and supplies ‘related to surgery and sex hormones associated with gender reassignment’. The court found that the exclusion is unconstitutional because it ‘entrenches the belief that transgender … Continue reading

Administrative law: Legal status of departmental Directive

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on November 19, 2018 Posted in General

The Department of Home Affairs issued an Immigration Directive which required departmental functionaries to refuse all applications for temporary or permanent residence visas made by the holder of an asylum seeker permit. The court found that the directive was treated as binding by the departmental officials tasked to implement it and it was therefore open … Continue reading

Hospital receptionists owe duty to inform patients accurately regarding available medical assistance

By Sandra Sithole (ZA) on November 12, 2018 Posted in General

A judgment of the English Court of Appeal which we called ‘bizarre’ and ‘peculiar’ has been predictably overturned by the UK Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that the hospital run by the NHS Trust is liable to a patient with a head injury who had been given misinformation by the hospital receptionist that he … Continue reading

Private equity firm not liable for investing in competing company (US)

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on November 4, 2018 Posted in General

A Delaware court dismissed a claim that a private equity firm and its affiliated funds had misappropriated trade secrets acquired from a portfolio company via their directors on the board of the company and misused the information by investing in a competitor. The court found that no reasonable inference of misappropriation could be drawn because … Continue reading

Administrative law: Obligation to exhaust internal remedies

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on October 29, 2018 Posted in General

The Constitutional Court re-examined section 7(2) of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act which creates an obligation on applicants for the court review of an administrative decision to exhaust all internal remedies first. The obligation to exhaust internal remedies should not be rigidly imposed nor used by administrators to frustrate an applicant’s efforts to review the … Continue reading

One hundred and eighty day period for court review not extended

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on October 26, 2018 Posted in General

The supreme court of appeal refused to extend the 180 day period for court review proceedings to challenge administrative action by the Free State Gambling and Liquor Authority because there was no reasonably satisfactory or acceptable explanation for the delay. In the absence of any proper explanation for the delay the court refused to grant … Continue reading

Fraudulent misrepresentation defeats voetstoots clause in sale

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on October 21, 2018 Posted in General

Where a seller had fraudulently failed to disclose a defective roof and sewerage system covered by buildings constructed without required statutory approval he was successfully sued in delict for fraudulent misrepresentation and fraudulent nondisclosure. Because the conduct was fraudulent the delictual claim defeated the voetstoots clause in the deed of sale as well as the … Continue reading

Termination of employment is only grounds for eviction if agreed

By Jonathan Jones on October 17, 2018 Posted in General

The Extension of Security of Tenure Act 1997 (ESTA) distinguishes between individuals whose right of residence arises solely from the employment agreement and those whose right arises from the general consent of the owner of the land. Only in the former instance can the right of residence be terminated on termination of employment. In the … Continue reading

Amazon has no product liability for third party product warehoused and shipped (US)

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on October 15, 2018 Posted in General

A New Jersey court found that Amazon is not liable for a defective laptop battery it sold that caused a home to burn down. The plaintiff bought a laptop battery using an Amazon account which was sold by a Hong Kong company. She left the battery charging on her bed and the house burnt down … Continue reading

Companies Tribunal to adjudicate BEE referrals in proposed Companies Act amendments

By Kaede Wildschut on October 4, 2018 Posted in General

In the first proposed amendments to the Companies Act 2008 since coming into force in 2011, it is proposed that the Companies Tribunal be given the power to adjudicate matters referred to it by the BEE Commission. This amendment would enable the BEE Commission to refer matters to the Tribunal, particularly where complaints and reported … Continue reading

Appeal court reluctantly finds a once-off loan requires registration as credit provider

By Riccardo Petersen (ZA) on October 3, 2018 Posted in General

The appeal court has found that the requirement to register as a credit provider is applicable to all credit agreements once the prescribed threshold is reached (currently zero), irrespective of whether the credit provider is involved in the credit industry and irrespective of whether the credit agreement is a once-off transaction. The appeal court reluctantly … Continue reading