Comparative Law (2235.YR.001252.1)

General information

Type:	OPT	Curs:	5	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	5 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 5	Lorne Nolan Richards	Derecho	ENG

Classroom-based activities: 40% of total credits
Guided activities: 30% of credits
Independent study: 30% of credits

This course contributes to the internationalisation of the Bachelor's in Law curriculum. Firstly, due to it being a subject taught in a foreign language (English), and, secondly, as its focus goes beyond the limits of the different forms of legal systems. It helps future lawyers develop a broader and less local vision of Law, something which is especially important in an increasingly globalised society.

The course starts with an introduction to the functions and methods of Comparative Law, and proceeds with an outlook to the major legal systems which classically are placed under the common law-civil law divide (English and American- French and German) by focusing on their different historical evolution. Subsequently, the course analyses the common law-civil law divide in a different context: that of legal institutions of private law (contract law, property law and civil procedure).

The student is expected to:

- Become aware of the importance of Law as a regulatory system for social relations with significant differences in different parts of the world.
- Recognise the impact that Europeanisation and globalisation have on national legislatures and judicial decisions.
- Develop a critical awareness towards the common law-civil law divide, know its origins and reflect on its actual relevance.
- Be able to identify the factors (historical and cultural) that are at the very root of the differences and similarities between the common law and civil law traditions in general as well as in regard to particular institutions of private law (contract law, property law and civil procedure).

1. General Considerations 1. Introduction a) What is Comparative Law? b) Functions and aims c) The doctrine of legal families 2. Theory and Methods a) Methods of Comparative Law: functional and cultural methods b) The problem of comparability: the tertium comparationis c) Legal transplants

2. Common Law and Civil Law Legal Systems 3. Common Law (I): English Law a) Historical background b) Development of English procedural tradition c) English Law remedies 4. Common Law (II): English Law a) Legal education and profession b) Precedent and legal reasoning c) The Judiciary of England and Wales d) Statutory interpretation 5. Common Law (III): American Law a) Influence of English Law b) The United States Constitution c) Uniformity of American Private Law d) The Judiciary and the Principle of stare decisis e) Legal education and profession 6. Civil Law (I): Historical Background a) Roman Law b) Germanic Law c) The Ius Commune 7. Civil Law (II): French Law a) Historical background b) The Civil Code c) The Judiciary and the style of judgment d) Legal education and profession e) Geographic spread 8. Civil Law (III): German Law a) Historical background b) The German Civil Code (BGB) c) The Judiciary and the style of judgment d) Legal education and profession e) Geographic spread

3. Selected Topics of Private Law 9. Contract Law a) Good faith b) The concept of remedy c) Specific performance 10. Property Law a) Different systems of contractual transfer of property rights b) The concept of trust in the Common Law c) Divergence among legal systems about trusts 11. Civil procedure a) General aspects: common law v. civil law b) Punitive damages v. civil law Public policy

Teaching-learning methodology:
The course is based on lecture classes and active class participation. The sessions of the course seek to combine both methods: a lecture on one of the themes of the syllabus of the course and active class participation by the student during the discussion of a reading assignment which shall be previously posted on the course website, and a voluntary presentation of his/her national legal system.
This methodology ensures that the student will acquire autonomy and the ability for continuous learning, both considered key competences in Comparative Law, an academic discipline which demands from students a critical approach (i.e. autonomy) and curiosity (i.e. ability for continuous learning).

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Journal articles

Readings published on the course website or indicated to be located by the student in the Library database.

Handbooks

Adams, M., Bomhoff, J. (eds.), Practice and Theory of Comparative Law, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Adams, M., Heirbaut, D. (eds.), The method and culture of comparative law: essays in honour of Mark Van Hoecke, Hart Publishing, 2014.

Adams, M., Husa, J., Oderkerk, M. (eds.), Comparative Law Methodology, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017.

Andenas, M., Fairgrieve, D. (eds.), Courts and Comparative Law, Oxford University Press, 2016.

Bellomo, M., The Common Legal Past of Europe, 1000-1800 (translated from the 2nd edition by L. G. Cochrane), The Catholic University of America Press, 1995.

Bogdan, M., Concise Introduction to Comparative Law, Europa Law Publishing, 2013.

Bussani, M., Mattei, U. (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Husa, J., A New Introduction to Comparative Law, Hart, 2015.

Kischel, U., Comparative Law, 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 2019.

Mousourakis, G., Comparative Law and Legal Traditions: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, Springer International Publishing, 2019.

Samuel, G., An Introduction to Comparative Law Theory and Method, Hart, 2014.

Samuel, G., A Short Introduction to the Common Law, Edward Elgar, 2013.

Smits, J.M. (ed.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, 2nd ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012.

Strong, S.I., Fach Gómez, K.; Carballo Piñeiro, L., Comparative Law for Spanish-English Speaking Lawyers. Legal Cultures, Legal Terms and Legal Practices / Derecho comparado para abogados anglo- e hispanoparlantes. Culturas jurídicas, términos jurídicos y prácticas jurídicas, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016.

Zweigert, K., Kötz, H., An Introduction to Comparative Law, 3rd ed., Clarendon, 1998.

In French:

David, R., Les grands systèmes de droit contemporains, 11e éd., Dalloz, 2002.

Fairgrieve, D., Muir Watt, H., Common law et tradition civiliste, convergence ou concurrence?, Presses Universitaires de France, 1er éd., 2006.

In Spanish:

Ajani, G., Sistemas jurídicos comparados: lecciones y materiales, Publicacions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2010.

Cartwright, J., Introducción al Derecho inglés de los contratos, 1ª ed., Aranzadi, 2019.

Cuñado, F., Gámez R., Introducción al Common Law, Aranzadi, 2017.

De Prada Rodríguez, M., Muñoz Rojo, R., El proceso civil inglés, Comares, 2014.

Del Barrio, N., La Jurisprudencia en el Common Law (desde la perspectiva del jurista continental), Aranzadi, 2018.

Merryman, J.H., La tradición jurídica romano-canónica, traducido por R. Pérez Perdomo, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2015.

Sánchez Lorenzo, S., El Derecho inglés y los contratos internacionales, Tirant lo Blanch, 2013.

Sánchez Lorenzo, S. (Ed.), Derecho contractual comparado: una perspectiva europea y transnacional, 3ª ed., Civitas Thomson Reuters, 2016.

Santos Aliste, T. J., Sistema de Common Law, Ratio Legis, 2013.

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 5	Lorne Nolan Richards	Derecho