Basic legal educational programme
Download the Faculty of Law Handbook 2010 in PDF format from the UCT website.
General outline and guidelines for intending students
The LL.B degree provides students with a sound knowledge of the general principles of the South African legal system, and an ability to use legal materials effectively. Graduates should be able to assess critically, interpret and apply the law and have the historical, comparative and jurisprudential background that is essential for a thorough and critical understanding of law and legal institutions.
The degree is offered in three streams:
- a three-year postgraduate LLB stream;
- a five- or six-year combined Law and Humanities or Law and Commerce LLB stream; and
- a four-year undergraduate LLB stream.
The courses taken for the LLB are:
| Administrative Law | African Customary Law |
| Civil Procedure | Commercial Transactions Law |
| Comparative Legal History | Constitutional Law |
| Corporation Law | Criminal Law |
| Criminal Procedure | Evidence |
| Foundations of South African Law | International Law |
| Interpretation of Statutes | Jurisprudence |
| Law of Contract | Law of Delict |
| Law of Persons and Marriage | Law of Property |
| Law of Succession | and optional and research components |
Prospective lawyers are encouraged to include courses in the national languages in their curricula.
In each stream the courses are graded into three levels.
- At the preliminary level the courses acquaint students with both the background and the foundations of the South African legal system, with the method of legal thinking and analysis, and with an understanding of the role and function of law. In addition, particular attention is paid to reading and writing skills required for the senior courses.
- The intermediate level courses provide instruction on a more advanced level in a broad range of core subjects.
- The final level completes the degree and students are able to specialise by choosing from a range of optional courses.
Each level of the LL.B degree curriculum includes a skills component which forms part of the degree programme and cumulatively teaches students generic practical skills such as problem solving, analysis, research and communication skills, as well as practical legal skills such as drafting particular kinds of legal documents, and legal argumentation, both written and verbal. In particular, at the final level, there is a compulsory integrated assessment project which draws on elements of the skills component and courses studied in the earlier parts of the curriculum. Law students are encouraged also to make constructive use of the knowledge and skills they acquire by contributing to the community through Legal Aid, Shawco, Rape Crisis, Parliamentary Monitoring Group, or similar outreach activities.
Please read the Admission and Curriculum Rules for LLB Degree Streams in the Faculty Handbook.
Three-year postgraduate LL.B stream
Students enter this stream after having completed a Bachelor's degree without law subjects. The Faculty regards this as the best way to approach the study of law; it considers a broad education in the Humanities, Commerce or Sciences as an indispensable part of legal training. Students who have done a full degree in another discipline will have had the greatest opportunity to develop their critical and analytical skills in a non-legal environment, and therefore will be equipped to benefit from legal studies.
Five- or six-year Law and Humanities or Law and Commerce LL.B stream
Students enter this stream with the intention of following an undergraduate programme in Law and Humanities OR Law and Commerce, leading to a BA or a BCom/BBusSc and thereafter a two-year postgraduate LL.B. The objective of a broad-based education is achieved in this stream by including cognate courses which ensure that the student has a thorough grasp of at least one discipline outside of Law.
Four-year undergraduate LL.B stream
Students enter this stream as matriculants (provided they meet the entrance requirements) and complete the LL.B degree in four years. Humanities courses are included in the curriculum so as to fulfill the objective of providing UCT law graduates with a well rounded, broad-based legal education. This stream includes an extended curriculum for the purpose of accommodating particularly students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.
A Motivation in support of your application for admission to the Faculty of Law for study towards the LLB degree is to be submitted on the prescribed form, available both in MS Word format and in PDF format on this website. Please download and complete the form and attach it to the University's application form. All documentation should then be sent to the Admissions Office, as instructed in the Application form.
Get the entire Faculty of Law Handbook 2010 in PDF format.
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