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LCP, Attorney
Category: South Africa Law
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Experience: BCom (Stell) LLB LLM
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How does federal or de jure law apply in South Africa in relation

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How does federal or de jure law apply in South Africa in relation to de facto law? In the USA, a sheriff, operating on federal law, has more say on things than the police who enforce de facto law, and can in some cases even supersede de facto enforcement.

in South Africa, we also have Sheriffs but barely anyone knows they exist here never mind what authority they have or their role. The reason I ask this is actually to get better understanding of the nature of law itself in South Africa, because it seems that laws are passed which are not in line with de jure law, but nevertheless accepted as law because its qualified de facto. Some of these have no legally enforcable basis for even legal prosecution, if viewed from de jure law. So how do the differences in these two systems implicate the legality of de facto and isn't it completely based on an accused consent to be enforcable instead of common law?

Submitted: 1 year ago.
Category: South Africa Law
Expert:  Fran-mod replied 1 year ago.

Hi, I’m a moderator for this topic and I wonder whether you’re still waiting for an answer. If you are, please let me know and I will do my best to find a professional to assist you right away. If not, feel free to let me know and I will cancel this question for you. Thank you!

Customer: replied 1 year ago.

Hi,

I am impressed by your follow-up. Thank you. No I have not been helped yet but I'm not sure whether my question is properly phrased or understood. Perhaps the problem is that its not a straightforward clear question on a specific application of law, but a general question on the nature of law in South Africa.

On the other hand, I think that this is an important question to ask and understand the answer to - because the implications of it is quite astounding when it comes to the enforcement of laws surrounding licenses, fees, permits etc. up to the application of "case law" as it is called, and even the laws etc. passed which are then exploited for private business ventures by certain officials.

Expert:  Fran-mod replied 1 year ago.

Sometimes, finding the right Expert can take a little longer than expected and we thank you greatly for your understanding. We’ll be in touch again shortly.

Customer: replied 1 year ago.

Yeah it can be a little frustrating but this is not just any common cookie-cut question, so I actually expect that even an appropriate expert will probably like to do some research before answering. This rabbit-hole is not shallow :)

I can provide additional information and references to my question to help an expert get a better angle of what I'm interested in finding out.

Perhaps a quick look at the unlawfulness of income tax in the USA is a good starting reference point for the de facto vs de jure understanding that I'm looking for. 2 minutes of googling interviews with IRS Special Agents that get asked for legal basis by USA citizens for paying income tax when getting audited will reveal how the IRS agents can't find any, and end up resigning and not paying income tax themselves, without any legal consequences. This is all legitimate, real, and very important to understand thoroughly. The purpose was never obstruction of justice, merely applying the law correctly and recognizing that the only legal basis for being taxed was personal consent. It requires comprehensive investigation in a South African context because if I make mistakes in legal procedures and inappropriate application of law used to circumvent unlawful statutes, acts, etc. then it is on the basis of that inappropriateness that I could land myself in jail.

I need to understand the nature of South African law better in order to apply it better here, and the specificity of my question lies in the BASIS (de jure vs de facto application) for many extraneous laws that are only put in place for profiteering and has nothing to do with lawfulness or justice as the layman understands it.

Hope this will help!

Keep in touch.

Expert:  Fran-mod replied 1 year ago.

Thank you for your patience, your business is very important to us, we are waiting on a professional with the right expertise to come online. Feel free to let us know if you would like us to continue searching for a professional or if you would like us to close your question. Thank you for your understanding!

Customer: replied 1 year ago.

Hi, I noticed that my item has been closed yet without any answer. May I accept that no help is available pertaining to my question and that I could ask a refund on my credit card?

Expert:  Fran-mod replied 1 year ago.

Please understand that it’s rare when we cannot find the right professional. Nevertheless, because you are entitled to your money back with no questions asked, we will process your refund immediately at your request. Please accept our sincere apology. We hope you’ll think of us again when the need arises.

Customer: replied 1 year ago.

Thank you for your response. I actually understand it because I don't believe that people are legally trained for this sort of work, because it undermines the usefulness of the law for profiteering. If people were straightforwardly trained in law schools to understand and apply these questions / investigations, then we wouldn't have such injustices in our legal system as we do today.

Although, if someone is willing to launch an investigation, the materials are available and accessible to produce an answer. But its not one that any qualified legal practitioner can just answer out of their head.

Unfortunately this online service looks to be a cookie-cutter Q&A solution and not appropriate for the kind of inquiry that I have.

I am still impressed by the responsiveness and the professional attitude that you portray leaves me with the impression that you provide a reliable service - for more "usual" legal service requirements that is.

If my initial query was badly communicated, please let me know if there's someone that can help me phrase it better. It is possible that the lack of response is due to the difficulty in the communication of the question. I will leave you with that one in case its a feasible alternative than a straight refund.

Expert:  LCP replied 1 year ago.

Dear Customer, it is difficult to answer your question, because you do not refer to the specific de facto laws (or acts?) in the South African law that are passed. It is indeed that some conduct are directed purely because of fact and some conduct are regulated de jure, but in South Africa, for a matter to be successfully prosecuted, there must be

1. A crime
2. A sanction.
If the act/law does not prescribe conduct to be a crime with a sanction for that crime, then a matter cannot be prosecuted. And then, further for something to be a crime, it must be unlawful. So when an act is promulgated and conduct needs to be regulated, the act would specifically refer to the conduct and how the commission of the conduct or the omission of the conduct results in a crime and then what the sanction for the crime would be. Thus the conduct must be prohibited or prescribed by act for it to be unlawful if not complied with. I trust this answers your question.
LCP41050.6314148958

Customer: replied 1 year ago.

Thank you for the insightful reply, may I gain some better understanding of some of the legal terminology that you refer to?

You distinguish acts from laws. What is the difference between the two?

You also mentioned that I didn't use a specific example of de facto to illustrate my inquiry. Lets use the example of reflective yellow strips that must be on all heavy transport vehicles and large passenger vehicles. A few years ago this was never an issue. I question the 'legality' of it because it seems that the basis for its enforcement is not for safety but for business opportunity. How does the enforcement of this relate to de jure understanding of law? Perhaps this helps clarify my query.

In my original question I also referred to the role of Sheriffs because my understanding is that they do not play a role in de facto enforcement, which is a reference for investigation into understanding the nature of law in our country. Why are Sheriffs not used to enforce laws/acts like police are? How is the legal structure they operate under different, and why is there this difference? The aim of this question is not to understand details on sheriffs and police but the nature of law in our country. I use this as a reference for understanding my original query.

Expert:  LCP replied 1 year ago.

With acts I refer to written acts, like the National Road Traffic Act, 93 of 1996 and the regulations that go along with these acts. With laws I refer to common law. Crimes like murder and rape are common law crimes.

If there is no provision in the National Road Traffic Act, 93 of 1996 or another act, it might be that it is used by everybody because a judge in a case said that the owner of a company did not do enough to make his truck visible and was thus negligent and committed a delict (a wrongful act sued for by another person on a civil basis, not a criminal basis and prosecuted by the state). (Common law is formed, but not a common law crime.)
Further, in South Africa sheriffs are officers of the court and get appointed by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. They do not fall under the Minister of Safety and Security and they do not have any executive powers to enforce law. They fall under the judicial branch of government (see separation of powers of government).
I trust this answers your question.
LCP41052.5337577546

LCP, Attorney
Category: South Africa Law
Positive Feedback: 100 %
Satisfied Customers: 21
Experience: BCom (Stell) LLB LLM
LCP and other South Africa Law Specialists are ready to help you

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