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Whose duty is it anyway?
Under our current constitutional dispensation, and in light of the Constitutional Court judgement in Barkhuizen v Napier (2007 (5) SA 323), it was generally accepted that our courts, by virtue of public policy, have the power to refuse to give effect to the implementation of contractual provisions which it regards to be unreasonable, unfair or in bad faith. |
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Law firm Adams & Adams appointed exclusive legal consultant to MTN SAMA Awards
Bob Marley wrote - “Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights”. And that’s just what intellectual property law firm Adams & Adams has been doing for the past 100 years. Protecting the rights of those in the entertainment industry, from musicians, and composers, to artists, authors and film makers. |
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Product liability - beware of the CPA
Many franchise systems involve the manufacturing of products or the sale of those products to the public. Sometimes, something goes wrong in the process and the products cause harm to consumers. Both franchisors and franchisees need to consider what the implications will be if that happens. Such harm can lead to significant claims against franchisors or franchisees and steps must be taken to deal with the risks involved. |
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NGO Molteno Institute in amicable settlement with National Lotteries Board
The National Lotteries Board has acted swiftly in responding to proceedings instituted by NGO Molteno Language and Literacy Institute, represented by law firm Adams & Adams last week. |
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Concern voiced over AG findings’
The findings of the Auditor General's annual government audit are “scandalous” and heads should roll, trade unions and the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. |
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To rescue or not to rescue, that is the question
With the introduction of the new Companies Act (“the new Act”), the phenomenon of business rescue has come to the fore. |
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Fraud in companies by directors and CEO's
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently had to decide under which circumstances non-disclosure by two joint chief executive officers of a company of certain financial interests which they had, resulting in substantial profits being secured from such interests, should be disclosed to the board of the company on which they served. |
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Second Proposed Amendments are Highly Welcomed by Software Developers
The second proposed amendments (introduced during October 2011) seem to provide more clarity on most of the provisions which govern the research and development (R&D) tax incentive as compared to the first proposed amendments (introduced during June 2011). |
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Fulfillment of Contractual Terms: Exactly how much effort is required?
An important term to a commercial contract which is often overlooked is the term relating to the level of effort required from a party in fulfilling its obligations under the contract. While good faith will always be implied in commercial contracts, the issue of whether sufficient “effort” was made by a party to fulfill an obligation arises when such party has failed to fulfill the obligation in question. The question is usually: how much effort was required? “best effort”? “reasonable effort”? “commercially reasonable effort”? “best endeavour”?, etc. Unless the relevant level of effort required is adequately defined in the relevant contract, it is usually difficult, under South African law, to ascertain with certainty what the parties intended.
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Are Proposed Amendments to Section 11D Providing Clarity?
The current section 11D of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act) provides for research and development (R&D) incentives which include a 150% deduction of operating expenses and accelerated depreciation of any building or part thereof, machinery, plant, implements, utensil or article. |
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Re-launch of .com.ru domains (Russia)
The Russian registry suspended registrations in the .com.ru domain extension for the past few years, but has now decided to accept new registration requests. There are no restrictions or requirements for the registration of a .com.ru domain name so this is an opportunity for companies who do business with Russia to register a domain name in that country. |
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Comparing Apples with Pears – the SA pharmaceutical market is not the same as the US one!
A recent report by the American Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”, the equivalent to South Africa’s competition authorities) on the short- and long-term effects of authorised generics sparked an article in the Business Report on Friday, 14 October - “Delay in generics robbing SA’s sick”. |
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Electronic cross-border contracting, is that “proper law”?
The continuous development in international communication media together with the never ending expansion of the global trade arena have impacted both positively and negatively on international contractual dispute resolution. It is common cause that once a dispute has been characterised as of a contractual nature and the lex fori has been established, the next step is to ascertain which law is the lex causa or so called “Proper Law” of the agreement. |
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RICA in the spotlight again
Recent comments by the Deputy Minister of Communications cast the spotlight on RICA again. The Deputy Minister suggested the need for specific legislation that will allow the interception of messaging services. However, this need is already regulated by section 30 of RICA which requires that telecommunication service providers must provide services that are capable of being intercepted. |
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Is it a question of control?
The Competition Act (1998) regulates mergers. A merger is said to occur when one or more firms directly or indirectly acquire or establish direct or indirect control over the whole or part of the business of another firm. |
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.
