What You'll Cover
Here is every compulsory module in the UNISA LLB, year by year, with what each one covers. These are the modules our advocate-led Saturday sessions are built around. South African law is the same wherever you study, so contact-university students are welcome too.
First Year (NQF Level 5)
9 compulsory modules.
The foundation module: what law is, how it works, and the basic concepts and sources you build everything else on.
Who the law recognises as a person, and how legal personality begins, ends and is affected by status.
The practical study, reading and writing skills you need to succeed in the LLB and in practice.
The South African context you will work in: the legal and criminal justice systems and how justice is administered.
Where South African law comes from: the indigenous African, Western and human-rights traditions.
The accounting a legal practitioner must know, including the rules and treatment of trust money.
Metaphysical, ethical and political problems in cross-cultural debate about African philosophy.
Language, culture and communication in South Africa's diverse society, for better cross-cultural understanding.
The basic research skills and tools for finding and working with sources of law.
Second Year (NQF Level 6)
10 compulsory modules.
How the law controls the exercise of public power, through the right to just administrative action.
The building blocks of criminal liability that apply to every crime.
The specific offences in South African law, built on the general principles from CRW2601.
How state power is organised: Parliament, the executive, the courts and the supremacy of the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights: how courts protect dignity, equality and freedom, and how to litigate rights.
The principles of customary law and their transformation under the Constitution.
How to read and interpret legislation, and the Constitution, using established rules and principles.
The law of business enterprises, so you can advise on the right business form.
The law of marriage, its consequences, divorce, and parent-child relationships.
How property passes on death, through wills and intestate succession, and how estates are wound up.
Third Year (NQF Level 7)
10 compulsory modules.
What happens when individuals and companies cannot pay: sequestration, winding-up and business rescue.
The law of the workplace: employment, fairness, dismissal and collective labour relations.
The general principles of the law of things: ownership, possession and real rights.
The general principles of contract: how agreements are formed, what makes them valid, and what happens on breach.
When one person is liable to compensate another for harm: the elements of a delict.
Recovering value where someone is unjustifiably enriched at your expense, plus the doctrine of estoppel.
How a civil case runs: jurisdiction, the steps of litigation, and appeals and reviews.
What evidence is admissible in court, and how its weight is assessed.
How a criminal case moves through the courts, from arrest to verdict, sentence and appeal.
Advanced legal research skills, building towards the fourth-year research report.
Fourth Year (NQF Level 8)
8 compulsory modules.
The law between states: its sources, subjects and principles, and its place in South African law.
The theories behind the law: what law is and what makes it just.
Ethical decision-making in legal practice, including the rules that govern the profession.
The law governing companies under the Companies Act 71 of 2008.
An advanced, critical study of indigenous law and its transformation under the Bill of Rights.
How loss is conceptualised and quantified, from patrimonial loss to pain and suffering.
The capstone: an independent, supervised research report demonstrating your legal research and writing.
The capstone practical module: the applied skills of litigation in civil and criminal courts.