In a recent judgment by the Free State Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa it was decided that a trustee who resigns is only relieved from his duties when his name is removed from the letter of authority by the Master of the High Court. This judgment has caused many questions to be raised regarding the implications of the resignation by a trustee. This judgment and the current legal position of the resigning trustee are investigated in this dissertation. The legal position of the resigning trustee seems to be uncertain, and the mentioned judgment should not be unreservedly accepted as correct. The role and responsibility of the Master of the High Court in this process is considered, as well as the legal position of the resigning trustee, the remaining trustees and third parties contracting with the trust. Certain conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made regarding this aspect of South African trust law. / Thesis (LL.M. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

In a recent judgment by the Free State Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa it was decided that a trustee who resigns is only relieved from his duties when his name is removed from the letter of authority by the Master of the High Court. This judgment has caused many questions to be raised regarding the implications of the resignation by a trustee. This judgment and the current legal position of the resigning trustee are investigated in this dissertation. The legal position of the resigning trustee seems to be uncertain, and the mentioned judgment should not be unreservedly accepted as correct. The role and responsibility of the Master of the High Court in this process is considered, as well as the legal position of the resigning trustee, the remaining trustees and third parties contracting with the trust. Certain conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made regarding this aspect of South African trust law. / Thesis (LL.M. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Les politiques de protection de la nature s’appuient, pour l’essentiel, sur la protection d’« aires naturelles » qui apparaissent, en France, dès le début du 20ème siècle. Celles-ci peuvent être regroupées en trois catégories en fonction des types de mesures appliqués : les aires naturelles sous protection réglementaire, sous protection conventionnelle (voie contractuelle) et, enfin, sous protection foncière. Cette dernière mesure s’entend comme un processus formalisé par un transfert, dans un objectif de protection, d’un bien-foncier privé au profit d’un acquéreur public ou privé investi d’une mission reconnue d’utilité publique, c'est-à-dire une Maitrise Foncière à Finalité Écologique (MAFFE). Si ce mode d’action « exorbitant » émerge dans les années 1960 en phase avec l’approche prédominante, « fixiste », de la protection des milieux naturels, son recours persiste aujourd’hui. Est ainsi questionné son adaptabilité à la fois aux conditions actuelles de mise en oeuvre qui s’appuient sur des logiques de contractualisation et de négociation et aux objectifs des politiques de la nature qui s’inscrivent dorénavant dans une perspective de gestion des espaces en tenant compte des dynamiques naturelles. L’analyse, tant des processus de territorialisation de la MAFFE que des perceptions et représentations de l’ensemble des acteurs impliqués par sa mise en oeuvre sur deux terrains d’étude, nous aura permis de souligner la pluralité, d’une part, de ses processus de mise en oeuvre et, d’autre part, des finalités qui lui sont attribuées. Est ainsi mis en évidence la plasticité de la MAFFE à l’interface entre instruments de type réglementaire et instruments de type conventionnel concordant avec les divers effets attendus de sa mise en oeuvre : contrôle des usages, conciliation des intérêts environnementaux, économiques et sociaux des espaces naturels, et, enfin coordination de l’action publique. Aussi, la MAFFE ne constitue pas un instrument univoque mais davantage un instrument multifonctionnel et modulable en fonction des contextes locaux. Face à l’évolution des référentiels des politiques de protection de la nature, nous montrons ainsi que la plasticité tant perçue qu’effective de la MAFFE constitue un gage d’adaptabilité et donc potentiellement d’efficacité pour la préservation de la biodiversité. / Nature conservation policies relies traditionally upon the protection of “natural areas” that appear in France in the early 20th century. These protected areas can be classified into three main categories according to the measures implemented: regulation, incentive measure and property control one. This latter measure is defined as a formal process of purchase of lands, in order to create protected areas, by public authorities and also by private actors who carry out a public service mission. If this "exorbitant" measure emerged in the 1960s in line with the predominant "preservationist" approach of nature protection, it is still in use today. Thus, we question its adaptability first of all to the current policy implementation conditions based upon mediation and negotiation processes and secondly to new objectives of nature conservation which take into account the concept of “natural dynamics” for planning activities. We have conducted an analysis of the processes of implementation in two cases of study, focusing on the perceptions and representations of all actors involved in these implementation processes of this instrument. This analysis has enabled us to emphasize the plurality of, firstly, these processes of implementation and, secondly, its assigned purposes. Thus, we demonstrate the plasticity of this instrument at the interface between regulatory and incentive tools that fits with the various types of expected effects of its implementation: to control users’ behaviours of natural areas, to reach a trade-off between environmental interests and economic and social interests of natural areas, and, finally, to coordinate public intervention. Therefore, this instrument constitutes rather a multifunctional tool, adaptable to local contexts. Facing the continual renewal of nature conservation policies implementation conditions and objectives, we conclude that the plasticity of the tool, as perceived and effective, provides a guarantee of adaptability and potentially efficient protection of biodiversity.

Doctor Legum - LLD / More than twenty years have passed since the Trust Property Control Act 57 of 1988 came into operation. Although the Act provided context, clarity and regulation in certain areas of trust law, it is apparent that there exists a pressing need to develop statutorily the law of trusts more extensively. To this end, the research has a dual objective: Firstly, to identify those areas of South African trust law that are not currently regulated statutorily but for which, by reason of extensive and, at times, controversial jurisprudential development, such regulation is now essential. Secondly, to analyse critically the Trust Property Control Act in its current form in order to determine the utility of its provisions, particularly in light of jurisprudential development since the Act’s commencement. The purpose of the study is to formulate comprehensive recommendations for legislative reform in the area of South African trust law.

This study focuses on the discretionary inter vivos trust. It specifically investigates what the discretion of a trustee comprises and in which circumstances (if any) the court may amend the trustee‟s discretion as stipulated in the deed of trust. In order to make any meaningful conclusions, the different types of trusts, and more specific the way in which trusts are classified, needs to be researched. An inter vivos trust is classified as a contract for the sake of a third. Consequently contract law rules are applied in the interpretation and amendment of an inter vivos trust. The source, goal and tenor of a trustee‟s discretion, as well as the circumstances wherein this discretion may be amended, are investigated. The general rule is that courts have no discretion to amend a trust, but there is an exception to the rule. In accordance with article 13 of the Trust Property Control Act 57 of 1988 courts do have the power to amend or cancel the deed of trust in certain circumstances. In Potgieter and Another v Potgieter NO and Others 2012 (1) SA 637 (HHA) the court ruled that the power granted by article 13 does not enable judges to create law by amendment of the deed of trust according to their subjective interpretation of what is fair and just. The facts of the Potgieter case serve as problem statement for this study by focusing on the problems and unjust consequences of the strict application of contract law rules on a trust when the court does not take the changing circumstances of the trust founder into account. / LLM (Estate Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study focuses on the discretionary inter vivos trust. It specifically investigates what the discretion of a trustee comprises and in which circumstances (if any) the court may amend the trustee‟s discretion as stipulated in the deed of trust. In order to make any meaningful conclusions, the different types of trusts, and more specific the way in which trusts are classified, needs to be researched. An inter vivos trust is classified as a contract for the sake of a third. Consequently contract law rules are applied in the interpretation and amendment of an inter vivos trust. The source, goal and tenor of a trustee‟s discretion, as well as the circumstances wherein this discretion may be amended, are investigated. The general rule is that courts have no discretion to amend a trust, but there is an exception to the rule. In accordance with article 13 of the Trust Property Control Act 57 of 1988 courts do have the power to amend or cancel the deed of trust in certain circumstances. In Potgieter and Another v Potgieter NO and Others 2012 (1) SA 637 (HHA) the court ruled that the power granted by article 13 does not enable judges to create law by amendment of the deed of trust according to their subjective interpretation of what is fair and just. The facts of the Potgieter case serve as problem statement for this study by focusing on the problems and unjust consequences of the strict application of contract law rules on a trust when the court does not take the changing circumstances of the trust founder into account. / LLM (Estate Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014