The NRF/DST SARChI Research Chair: Mineral Law in Africa offers a specialised LLM in the Law of Mineral and Petroleum Extraction and Use, in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town.
If you are interested in the regulation and operation of the mining sector, this programme is for you! It covers a broad array of topics, with the intention of giving you a comprehensive overview of the sector, and specialist knowledge of the legal facets of mineral and petroleum extraction and use.
Depending on your preferences, you are able to tailor the LLM programme to focus on a number of selected courses, including (a) Mineral Resources; (b) the Negotiation of Mining Contracts; (c) Oil and Gas; (d) Resource Revenue Law (taxation); (e) Property Law; as well as (f) Natural Resources Law (on offer in the faculty). Each of the courses adopts a holistic approach to the legal framework, embedding the law within the relevant socio-political context.
The various relationships between the mining sector and government, society, communities, the environment, employees, as well as other stakeholders, are canvassed. This multi-stakeholder perspective provides a practical and multi-disciplinary approach, thus affording a unique and contextual insight into the complexities of the sector.
Topics that may be covered within each of the courses include (i) governance, (ii) licensing, (iii) foreign investment, (iv) expropriation, (v) corporate social responsibility, (vi) Black Economic Empowerment, (vi) environmental obligations, (vii) technical considerations, (viii) crime, (ix) stakeholder obligations, and (x) zoning, etc.
As part of the specialised programme, the following courses on offer:
- PVL5630F COMPARATIVE MINERAL LAW IN AFRICA (Compulsory)
In enabling the study of theory and practice of mineral law, this course focuses on building an understanding of the complexities of the mineral laws of selected African jurisdictions in their historical, constitutional and political setting. The course deals with the prevalent regulatory frameworks for mineral law in Africa, as well as the core concepts. It also deals with the nature and content of rights to minerals, analysing critically the extent of current regulatory controls.
- PVL5633S RESOURCE REVENUE LAW (Compulsory)
This course is aimed at students interested in the regulation of fiscal aspects of the natural resources sector, with a particular focus on minerals and petroleum resources taxation. The course includes a discussion of the theoretical and practical considerations that inform the structure of the regulatory framework in this sector. The obligations placed on right holders in respect of mineral and petroleum resources are set out. Management of the risks inherent to the sector in the context of taxation is also canvassed, including international tax law considerations and obligations.
- PVL5632F OIL AND GAS LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA (Compulsory)
This course is aimed at students interested in the regulation of the oil and gas sector, with a particular focus on the legal framework governing this sector. It will provide an overview of the role-players in the industry, as well as the various stages of project development. It focuses on the practical and theoretical aspects of South African law of oil and gas. The course aims to provide specialist knowledge on the governance and management of oil and gas.
- RDL5631S NEGOTIATION OF MINING CONTRACTS (Elective)
This course is aimed at students interested in the process of contract negotiations in the mining sector. The course will provide an overview of the nature of mining contracts, including the advantages and disadvantages of these contracts to furthering the goals of the broader legislative scheme governing mineral resources.
In evaluating the foundations and context of property law critically, this course takes a legal comparative approach in focusing on the place of property law within a constitutional order, by considering different legal traditions of property law; various constitutional property regimes; the effects of economic, social and political transformation on property law; and various theories and theoretical approaches that underlie property law.
Contact mlia@uct.ac.za for further information.