Self-study
P1
With the elimination of the apartheid system, South Africa now confronts the transition to a rights-based legal system in a constitutional democracy. ███
Intro topic ·
South Africa's transition to a rights-based legal system
Concern ·
New system is less rule-bound, and more interpretative
A constitutional court will hear arguments on whether laws passed by p arliament are constitutional. This has never happened in South Africa before, so there is uncertainty.
P2
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Elaborate on concern ·
May be difficult to foster rights-based culture
Society is multiracial, with a wide range of political beliefs. The constitution's bill of rights is described very generally, and there's no legal precedent to help determine its meaning.
Use of international law ·
Can look to other countries' legal precedent, but need to be careful
Some scholars think that SA judges might blindly follow other countries' interpretations of their own constitutions. But, scholars are optimistic that SA judges will develop their own precedent over time.
P3
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Additional source of difficulty ·
SA citizens suspicious of law
Law in SA has traditionally been tool of oppression, so citizens break and oppose laws.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
21.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
a
Following the elimination ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ █████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ █████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███ ██████ █ ███ ███ ██████ █████ ███████
Too narrow. The citizens’ opposition to law is merely one of the problems described in the passage (in P3). But there are other problems, too.
b
If the new █████ ██████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ██ ████████ ████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ████ █████ ██ █████████ █████████████ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ██ ███ ███ █████████████
Although the author brings up the potential for citizens to challenge administrative decisions, the author doesn’t suggest that lawyers, judges, and citizens “must learn to challenge parliamentary decisions.” The author’s point isn’t about the need to challenge decisions; it’s about the various problems the new legal system will face.
c
Whereas in the ████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ███████ █████ ███ ███ ████████████ █████ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █ ██████████████ ██████
This is too narrow. The main point should capture the problems presented by the passage. The author’s point isn’t merely to inform the reader that the new arbiter of laws in South Africa is the constitutional court.
d
Despite the lack ██ ████████ █████ ██████████ ███ ███ ████████ ████████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ █ █████ ██████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ███ █████████ ██ █ █████████████
This is the best answer. It’s the only one that isn’t too narrow and that doesn’t say anything unsupported. The lack of relevant legal precedents captures the point of P2. the public’s antagonistic relation to the law captures the point of P3. The move from parliament as final authority to a constitutional system captures P1.
e
While South Africa's ██████ ████ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███████████████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ██████████ ██ ████ ███████ █ ████ ██ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███ █████████
Too narrow. Although the author mentions that South African courts will look to other countries to help interpret the constitution, and that the courts need to develop precedent that addresses the needs of South African citizens, this is only mentioned in P2. (E) ignores the problem of citizens’ opposition to law in P3.