🇿🇦 Pro course · 16 lessons · Go deeper
South African Legal Research with AI
A Pro course for careful South Africa-grounded research using primary sources, court hierarchy, SAFLII, LawLibrary, legislation, cases, and authority tables.
Your first win: Build a South Africa-grounded authority table with verified cases, statutes, and caveats.
Every lesson below has a free preview. Pro unlocks the full lessons with live AI practice, quizzes, the coach, and spaced reviews.
1. The South African legal source map
Know where to look: Constitution, Acts, regulations, gazettes, cases, rules, regulators
2. Court hierarchy and precedent
Authority depends on court level, issue, and whether a decision binds or persuades
3. Use SAFLII safely
Search, open, read, and cite South African cases from primary sources
4. Use LawLibrary safely
Search judgments, legislation, gazettes, and recent legal materials
5. Legislation currentness
Acts change; check amendments, commencement, regulations, and version dates
6. Read a judgment like a researcher
Identify facts, issue, rule, reasoning, order, and paragraphs worth citing
7. Ratio, obiter, and outcome
Not every sentence in a judgment is the legal rule
8. Binding vs persuasive authority
Higher courts bind; similar, lower, or foreign decisions may persuade but need caution
9. The authority table
Every legal claim must connect to a source, paragraph, and verification status
10. Validate an AI legal answer
Break AI output into claims and verify each claim independently
11. Statutes plus cases
Legislation gives the rule; cases show how courts interpret and apply it
12. Foreign law traps
UK, US, Australian, and EU law may be useful background, but not South African authority
13. Legal research memo
A good memo states question, sources, answer, uncertainty, and next steps
14. Preparing for attorney consultation
Give the lawyer facts, documents, questions, risks, and what you already checked
15. Research for disputes before court
Organize facts, documents, evidence, timelines, and possible legal routes
16. Final project: verified research pack
Demonstrate safe legal research without giving yourself legal advice