Bachelor
2021/2022
Introduction to Comparative Law
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Elective course
Area of studies:
Law
Delivered by:
School of Theory of Law and Comparative Law
Where:
Faculty of Law
When:
2 year, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors:
Dmitry Poldnikov
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
40
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This introductory course on comparative law theory is designed especially for undergraduate first-year students who are genuinely interested in studying foreign jurisdictions and legal systems and possess a solid knowledge of English but have an educational background limited only to the very first two modules of the first-year curriculum at the faculty of law. The course, first, discusses the nature of ‘traditional’ comparative law, its functions, aims, methods and history, then surveys the main features of the major legal families of the world (civil law, common law, non-Western legal traditions in Asia, mixed jurisdictions), then maps the world’s legal systems, and finally, it introduces basic research methods of traditional comparative law (that of R. David or K. Zweigert and H. Kötz) confronting them with extended methods of ‘postmodern’ comparative law (contextualised approach to legal systems and institutes). The course is targeted at first-year undergraduate law students who are expected to have successfully completed the undergraduate courses on foreign legal history and legal theory. Students are expected to learn essential legal English vocabulary through study of European and Russian legal history, listening to lectures, engaging in disputes, and preparing final written essay. The instructor proposes an interactive mode of giving lectures similar to readings in American law schools. Students are expected to read essential literature before attending lectures, they will be asked questions in order to check their comprehension. The syllabus will be accompanied with essential glossary. From the very beginning of their legal education students are encouraged to make use of the electronic resources of HSE, as many recommended papers are available at Jstor, Ebrary and other data bases. After completing the course students are expected to be able to: • define basic concepts of comparative law discipline; • explain how comparative law can be used to understand different legal systems of the world; • distinguish and identify key features and institutes of the major legal system (including mixed jurisdictions); • review and summarize recommended academic papers; • coherently state and reason one's own theses in English regarding the issues of the course.
Learning Objectives
- The course aims at introducing the students the major approaches of ‘traditional’ comparative law, its functions, aims, methods and history. It also intents to survey the main features of the major legal families of the world (civil law, Anglo-American common law, non-Western legal traditions in Asia, Sharia, and mixed jurisdictions), so that the students would have the 'map' of the world’s legal systems. Finally, the course introduces comparative legal studies of today's globalized world with extended methods of ‘postmodern’ comparative law (contextualised approach to legal systems and institutes).
Expected Learning Outcomes
- After completing the course students are expected to be able to coherently state and reason one's own theses in English regarding the issues of the course;
- After completing the course students are expected to be able to define basic concepts of comparative law discipline;
- After completing the course students are expected to be able to distinguish and identify key features and institutes of the major legal system (including mixed jurisdictions);
- After completing the course students are expected to be able to explain how comparative law can be used to understand different legal systems of the world;
- After completing the course students are expected to be able to review and summarize recommended academic papers;
Course Contents
- What is comparative law.
- Comparative law on macro-level
- The civil law in continental Europe.
- Variety of civil law systems in Europe.
- The common law in England and the USA: related yet different.
- Key institutes of the English substantive law.
- Mixed Jurisdictions (Hybrid legal systems).
- Muslim law and Sharia.
- Chinese and Japanese legal tradition and its change.
- Global comparative law.
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Kischel, U., & Hammel, A. (2019). Comparative Law (Vol. First edition). Oxford, United Kingdom: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2032077
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Caenegem, R. C. van. (2002). European Law in the Past and the Future : Unity and Diversity Over Two Millennia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=73957
- Dicey, A. V. 1835-1922. (1902). Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.F16AD812