Faculty of Law
Department of Legal History, Comparative Law and Jurisprudence
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
Research was conducted to explore the challenges of teaching a course on Roman law and the history of South African law to students who are often both under-prepared and negative in their attitude towards such a course.
The aims of the study were to ascertain whether the course still had a place in the University’s LLB program, to determine the reasons for students’ resistance, and to examine alternative options for presenting the course.
It was found that, although the course remains an essential aspect of training for the legal profession, the manner in which it is implemented often fails to engage students: they are not encouraged to make connections between past and present or to contemplate the broad underlying principles of Roman law that are still to be found in modern legal codes, including the Constitution.
Historical factors (in particular, the fact that Roman-Dutch law was used as an instrument of oppression by colonial powers) also contribute to students’ negative attitudes.
Based on these findings, it was recommended that the curriculum be modified so as to embody a theme-based approach in which various issues relevant to modern South African Law are identified and their origins traced back to Roman law.
A further recommendation is that the curriculum should create more opportunities for students to acquire proficiency in reading, writing and research.
Such a modification would, however, necessitate the allocation of additional human resources to monitor not only students’ course-based knowledge but also the development of their language skills.
Prof CMA Nicholson
Legal History, Comparative Law and Jurisprudence
+27 (0) 12 420 3628
caroline.nicholson@up.ac.za
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