The Law in context. Can the Law, as a science, be divorced from value-systems and social norms like most other sciences? Answered using South African law as a case-study.

I agree wholeheartedly with the proposition that the law and legal institutions cannot be divorced from the value system of the society in which it operates. This is evident in that the single entity to which all law in South Africa is subject (the Constitution) is based, almost entirely on the ideals and values of what is seen to be the South African public. In the first provision stated in the Constitution, it is given …

…living together in southern Africa in a generally patriarchal and racist society. In reference to Kleyn and Viljoen's The Beginner's Guide for Law Students I have defined the law and established that its character cannot be separated from some sort of value system and I have illustrated how the societies in South Africa's history have held beliefs and values which were directly manifested in the legal systems of the time, proving the assertion stated above.