Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe
In S v Molefe the presiding officer determines the meaning of the word "disposal" at the hand of two criteria, namely visibility and permanence; this means a body has to be permanently out of sight to be considered disposed of. He applies these two criteria in order to conclude if the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
| Published: |
North-West University
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.assaf.org.za/per/article/view/4220/6647 |
| _version_ | 1818805976962170880 |
|---|---|
| author | Terrence R Carney |
| author_facet | Terrence R Carney |
| author_sort | Terrence R Carney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In S v Molefe the presiding officer determines the meaning of the
word "disposal" at the hand of two criteria, namely visibility and
permanence; this means a body has to be permanently out of
sight to be considered disposed of. He applies these two criteria
in order to conclude if the accused is guilty of concealing the
birth of her child by disposing of its body. In doing so, the court
no longer interprets the word as an everyday word but turns it
into a legal term. This note questions the linguistic soundness of
the criteria by investigating how language structures space, and
how these constructions relate to the word "disposal". In order to
scrutinise the criteria, a text analysis was carried out by applying
Talmy's ideas surrounding prepositions in structuring space and
movement. Connected to this is the semantic difference
between the words "seeing" and "looking": seeing is a sensory
act, whereas looking is a cognitive one. In keeping with the
contested word's status as a legal term, the difference between
seeing and looking aids in formulating two new criteria. Courts
may consider assessing whether disposal took place on the
grounds of containment and movement; for instance, has the
body been moved from one location to another and is the body
being contained within another object like a bucket, a wooden
box or a suitcase? |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T19:02:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba6ad125e2884416a9a677ed1435f852 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1727-3781 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T19:02:26Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | North-West University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba6ad125e2884416a9a677ed1435f8522022-12-21T20:56:29ZafrNorth-West UniversityPotchefstroom Electronic Law Journal1727-37812018-05-0121120Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v MolefeTerrence R CarneyIn S v Molefe the presiding officer determines the meaning of the word "disposal" at the hand of two criteria, namely visibility and permanence; this means a body has to be permanently out of sight to be considered disposed of. He applies these two criteria in order to conclude if the accused is guilty of concealing the birth of her child by disposing of its body. In doing so, the court no longer interprets the word as an everyday word but turns it into a legal term. This note questions the linguistic soundness of the criteria by investigating how language structures space, and how these constructions relate to the word "disposal". In order to scrutinise the criteria, a text analysis was carried out by applying Talmy's ideas surrounding prepositions in structuring space and movement. Connected to this is the semantic difference between the words "seeing" and "looking": seeing is a sensory act, whereas looking is a cognitive one. In keeping with the contested word's status as a legal term, the difference between seeing and looking aids in formulating two new criteria. Courts may consider assessing whether disposal took place on the grounds of containment and movement; for instance, has the body been moved from one location to another and is the body being contained within another object like a bucket, a wooden box or a suitcase?https://journals.assaf.org.za/per/article/view/4220/6647Attempt; concealment of birthdisposal; dispose of; disposed; looking; ordinary meaning; seeing; space in language; uncompleted attempt. |
| spellingShingle | Terrence R Carney Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal Attempt; concealment of birth disposal; dispose of; disposed; looking; ordinary meaning; seeing; space in language; uncompleted attempt. |
| title | Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe |
| title_full | Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe |
| title_fullStr | Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe |
| title_short | Disposing of Bodies, Semantically: Notes on the Meaning of "Disposal" in S v Molefe |
| title_sort | disposing of bodies semantically notes on the meaning of disposal in s v molefe |
| topic | Attempt; concealment of birth disposal; dispose of; disposed; looking; ordinary meaning; seeing; space in language; uncompleted attempt. |
| url | https://journals.assaf.org.za/per/article/view/4220/6647 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT terrencercarney disposingofbodiessemanticallynotesonthemeaningofdisposalinsvmolefe |