ex lege
Literal translation
from the law; by operation of law
Legal meaning
Ex lege denotes that a right, obligation, status, or consequence arises directly from the law itself rather than from agreement, judicial discretion, or a separate act of the parties. In South African law, the phrase is commonly used to explain outcomes that follow automatically once statutory or common-law requirements are met. It is relevant across several fields, including where duties arise by law, where ownership or liability follows by legal rule, or where a legal status is conferred without further formal intervention.
Examples
- The obligation arose ex lege and did not depend on any contractual undertaking.
- Certain consequences follow ex lege once the statutory requirements have been satisfied.
- Ownership may pass ex lege in circumstances recognised by law.
Cases citing this term
- 🇿🇦 Road Accident Fund v Sheriff of the High Court, Pretoria and Others; Road Accident Fund v Stoffels and Another
- 🇿🇦 Malcolm Wentzel v Discovery Life Limited and Others: In Re Botha and Others NNO v WentzelSupreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2020-10-02· 1001/19
April 2017 had the effect of finally dissolving the sequestrated joint estate ex lege. 7.3 Because of the ex lege dissolution of his marriage, the appellant was no longer disqualified
- 🇿🇦 Gideon Andries van der Westhuizen v Johan Heinrich Arnold
- 🇿🇦 S Schoeman v Constantia Insurance Co Ltd
- 🇿🇦 Spearhead Property Holdings Ltd v E & D Motors (Pty) LtdSupreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2009-06-01· 214/2008
leased property are bound to recognise the existence of the lease and an ex lege substitution of the purchaser for the lessor-seller takes place in the lease upon sale
- 🇿🇦 Mozamane Teapson Maswanganyi v Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and OthersConstitutional Court of South Africa· 2020-03-20· CCT 170/19
March 2020 Summary: Termination of employment by the South African National Defence Force — ex lege (by operation of law) — pursuant to section 59(1)(d) of the Defence Act
- 🇿🇦 Van Jaarsveld v Van Jaarsveld and AnotherSupreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2024-06-11· 358/2023
approach the maintenance court in terms of the Maintenance Act. The legislation applies ex-lege and obtains force by reason of the will and decision of the Legislature, not because
- 🇿🇦 Brayton Carlswald (Pty) Ltd & another v Gordon Donald BrewsSupreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2017-05-31· 245/2016
thus based on an incorrect premise. [22] Cession of an action is an ex lege benefit afforded to a surety who pays a creditor and that entitles a surety
- 🇿🇦 Van der Nest NO v Minister of PoliceSupreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2025-04-10· 154/2024
prescribes that interest on damages is payable from the date of the judgment.²⁶ Ex lege, interest is payable on the costs granted. [37] In the result, the following order
- 🇿🇦 Constantaras v BCE Foodservice Equipment (Pty) LtdSupreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2007-06-01· 208/06
the company had converted to a close corporation. [9] The plaintiff's claim arose ex lege as a remedy created by s 23(2) of the Act. The defendant relied
Live search across the public SA + ZW case corpus. Results may include false positives where the same Latin lexeme appears in a different context.