The South African legal system is similarly based to that of the United States. The democracy in South Africa is fairly new and was established in 1994. Both were developed from common law, which were previous decisions of the superior courts and rules that were set down. Statutory law also helped define both legal systems (South Africa & U.S.A.) as those were acts of the national and provincial legislatures, and governmental regulations. The United States have a federal and state structure while South Africa has a superior and lower court system with the Constitutional Court being the supreme law of the land. The superior courts deal with constitutional issues and the lower courts handle the civil and criminal proceedings. The Constitutional Court is equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court, both are the most powerful court in their respected regions. It is South Africa's first democratic constitution. It serves to guarantee the basic rights and freedoms of all persons. Since 1994, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa has been the supreme law. It consists of 11 judges, 9 men and 2 women. They may serve for a non-renewable term of 12 years, but must retire at the age of 70. The Constitution requires that a matter before the Court must be heard by at least 8 judges. Decisions of the Court are reached by majority vote and each judge must justify their reasoning. The reasons for the decision are then published in a written judgment. They virtually have complete control over the case they hear. When interpreting the Constitution , the Court is required to consider international human rights law and may consider the law of other democratic countries. The Court was one of many bodies created by the Constitution to defend the rights of citizens and deal with matters concerning the constitutional principle. The ordinary courts, on the lower level, (Small Claims Court, Magistrates Courts) deal with day-to-day disputes between citizens and between citizens and the state.
