Robert Feenstra's influence on South African property law

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Date: 30 August 2019
• Published date: 30 August 2019
• Pages: 339-343
• Citation: 2000 Acta Juridica 339
• Author: Andrè van der Walt

Robert Feenstra's influence on South African property law

2000 Acta Juridica 339

André Van Der Walt *

University of Stellenbosch

The mai n contributions to th is edition of Acta Juridica c oncentrate on the l aw of del ict,

but I would like to pay homage to Robert Feenstra for the contribution he has made and

for the influence he has had (and still has) on the academic and theoretical study of

property law in South Africa. Being a pr operty lawyer myself and a life-long member of

the Feenstra fan club, I cannot avoid the personal tone of my contribution, so please

bear with me.

Twenty years ago I wrote to Professor Mr Robert Feenstra — whom I then still knew

only by reputation as the greatest li ving exponent of the historical method and father of

the South African 'Feenstra Sch ool' of legal historians-to ask whether he would be willing

to receive me in Leyden and to guide and advise me on my doctoral thesis. Typically, he

not only responded warmly, but also sent me two offprints of then recently published

articles from hi s pen. Fi ttingly, one of these was an article published in the 1976 edition

of Acta Juridica: 'Hugo de Groot's eerste beschouwingen over dominium en over de

oorsprong van de private eigendom: Mare Liberum en zijn bronnen' 1 the othe r was an

article published in a Dutch journal: 'Historische aspecten van de private eigendom als

rechtsinstituut'). 2 These and simi lar articles by Feenstra had a huge influence on the

theoretical and historical study of property law in South Africa, e ven (or perhaps

especially) after the advent of the new constitutional order an d the introduction of l and

reform laws. 3 These little offprints i ntroduced me to a wonderful new and exciting world

of legal-historical learning and study, and they defined the fiel d of academic interest that

was to remain my first love until today: the development of private property as an

institution of law and its relation to broader historical, social, poli tical and philosophical

developments. More specifically, his vivid and lively

* B Iur Hons (BA) LLB LLD (PUCHE) LLM (Witwatersrand). Professor of Public Law, University of Stellenbosch.

2000 Acta Juridica 340

discussion of property r elations in feudal and medieval learned law and in early modern

sources such as Grotius opened my eyes to the wonderful tradition of post-classical

roman law.

Although Feenstra had then and has since published many other articles on the

history and development of various aspects of property law, 4 ranging from the notion

1 1976 Acta Juridica 269

2 1976 Rechtsgeleerd Magazijn Themis 248.

3 Apart from my own (Die Ontwikkeling van Houerskap Potchefstroom University for CHE 1985), Feenstra also

influenced the doctoral theses and later publications of historians and property lawyers such as Derek van der

Merwe (Oorlas in die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg University of Pretoria 1982), Duard Kleyn (Die Mandament van

Spolie in die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg University of Pretoria 1986), Irma Kroeze (Between Conceptualism and

Constitutionalism: Private-law and Constitutional Perspectives on Property Unisa 1997) and Johan Erasmus

(The Interaction between Property Rights and Land Reform in the Constitutional Order in South Africa Unisa

1998). 339

4 To name just a few obvious examples: 'Action publicienne et preuve de la propriété, principalement d'apres

quelques romanistes du moyen age' Mélanges Philippe Meylan I (1963) 91 (Also published in Robert Feenstra

Fata Iuris Romani. Etudes d'Histoire du Droit (1974) 119); 'Les origines du dominium utile chez les Glossateurs

(avec un appendice concernant l'opinion des Ultramontani)' Flores Legum HJ Scheltema, Antecessori

Groningano Oblati (1971) 49 (Also published in Feenstra Fata Iuris Romani. Etudes d'Histoire du Droit (1974)

215); ' "Quaestiones de materia feudorum" de Jacques de Révigny' (1972) 84 Studi Senesi 379 (Also published

in Feenstra Fata Iuris Romani. Etudes d'Histoire du Droit (1974) 298); 'L'emphytéose et le problème des droits

réels' in La Formazione Storica del Diritto Moderno in Europa, Atti del Terzo Congresso Internazionale della

Società italiana di Storia del Diritto (1977) vol. III 1295; 'Der Eigentumsbegriff bei Hugo Grotius im Licht

einiger mittelalterlicher und spätscholastischer Quellen' in Festschrift für Franz Wieacker zum 70. Geburtstag

(1978) 209; 'Ius in re: Het begrip zakelijk recht in historisch perspectief. Voordracht gehouden aan de

2000 Acta Juridica 339

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