Course Synopses

L182-6 Customary Law

An introduction to the nature and social organisation of the Basotho society and such traditional institutions as chieftaincy, the village, the family etc and their role in Sesotho law; nature and sources; Sesotho law of contracts, delicts, property etc; application of Sesotho law in courts; judicial recognition of Sesotho law, jurisdiction of courts, repugnancy clauses; adjudication procedures in the Basotho courts and institutions.

L281-6 Law of Contract

Formation of a contract; offer and acceptance; justa causal; intention to create legal relations; formal requirements; terms, exemption clauses; misrepresentation, fraud, mistake, duress; illegality; conditions, termination of contracts; impossibility of performance; breach; remedies.

L282-6 Family Law

Principles and rules of Roman-Dutch Law concerning engagement, capacity to marry, formalities of marriage, the consequences of marriage, the parent-child relationship, divorce, separation and annulment.

L283-6 Delict

Definition and nature of a delict, distinction from contract and crime; purpose and function of Law of Delict; general principles of liability under the aquilian action and the action injuriarun; defences; remedies.

A selection of specific wrongs including personal injury, emotional shock, pure economic loss, defamation, privacy, seduction, adultery etc. will be discussed from Roman-Dutch and Sesotho Law system (s).

L381-6 Law of Property

Fundamental concepts of property; classification and terminological problems; time share and condominium and derivatives; socio-economic background to Lesotho Law of property; customary land tenure and its statutory modification; control over land; modes of acquisition and extinction of interests in land; rights of persons in property; registration of leases, mortgages, mining rights; administration and control of land use in urban and rural areas; and land law reform.

L385-6 Special Contracts

Hire-purchase, agency, sale of goods including international sale of goods and suretyship

L483-6 Insurance and Banking

a) Banking and negotiable instruments: History and evolution of banking; the regulatory regime of banks and other financial institutions; the banker/customer relationship; rights and obligations of parties; securities in banking; bills of exchange, cheques and promissory notes.

b) Insurance Law: History and evolution of insurance contracts; nature and scope of insurance contracts; classification and construction of insurance contracts; extent of insurance cover; doctrine of insurable interest; doctrine of non-disclosure; the principle of indemnity and other collateral doctrines and claims in insurance law.

L581-6 Labour Law

The contract of employment: capacity, terms of the contract, express and implied. Termination of contract and remedies for wrongful terminations. Protection of wages and wages regulations machinery. Hours of work, rest periods, holidays and maternity benefits. Labour migrants: regulation of recruitment, deferred pay; Trade Unions: History of the Legal right to organise; internal structure; recognition; external activities. Collective bargaining and collective agreement. Industrial disputes B dispute resolution including compulsory arbitration, statutory immunity, civil liability arising from industrial action; strikes, lockouts and picketing; Industrial Safety, Accident Compensation and Welfare: Health requirements at the work place; Registration and control of Factories; liability for negligence and breach of Statutory duty; Workmen's Compensation; Redundancy and retirement benefits.

L582-6 Law of Business Associations

Attributes of various types of business associations companies, co-operatives, partnerships, sole and proprietors. A comparative perspective on close corporation.

(a) Companies: formation, incorporation, flotation, organs and management, directors and their duties, company securities; protection of creditors and investors, winding up.

(b) Partnerships, definition, formation, power of partners to bind the firm, rights and duties of partners inter se, dissolution.

L583-6 Legal Aspects of Economic Development

Meaning of development and economic development; role of law and lawyers in development; law and agricultural development (land tenure, land use, agricultural marketing); law and industrial development (GATT/WTO, SACU, incentives for private investment, industrial property); international commercial arbitration particularly ICSID.

L592-3 Law of Export Trade

Nature of export transactions; special terms used in export trade; cif and fob contracts; financing export trade (bills of exchange, documentary letters of credit, export credit guarantee, bank and other guarantees); MIGA rules; the system of counter trade; the Hague Visby rules and the Hamburg Rules; carriage of goods by sea (bill of lading; charterparties; the carriers’ liability); carriage of goods by air and land; liner conference system; multi-modal transport of goods; export insurance.

L594-3 Conflict of Laws

Internal conflicts: historical foundations of dualism in Lesotho; jurisdiction of courts; general considerations in solving the choice of law problem; statutory directions; particular problems in the fields of family law, delict and inheritance; possible avenues of reform.

L595-3 Insolvency Law

The course will cover both individual and corporate insolvency. The notion of insolvent estate; Voluntary surrender of estate; compulsory sequestration; effects of sequestration; hire-purchaser’s and landlord’s hypothec; voidable dispositions; role of creditors; composition; liquidation accounts and distribution; rehabilitation; cross-border insolvency including UNCITRAL model law.

L598-3 Gender and Law

Gender issues in the law; development of feminist jurisprudence; constitutional aspects of sex discrimination; legal regulation of the reproductive process; legal constraints facing women in socio-economic development; natural and international legal instruments governing gender inequality.