Should Different Types of Methodology in Comparative Legal Research Be Combined into One Method?
Comparative law, an important legal method, is becoming ever more relevant in a globalized world. Different methods exist in comparative legal research despite the effort of the discipline to combine them. Whereas the so-called functionalists only look at the written law, the “law as culture”-approach demands for taking into consideration also the surrounding factors and conditions such as religion, society or economic situation. Another dispute exists between the micro comparative research, which concentrates on single elements and the macro comparative research considering whole legal systems. JÜRGEN BASEDOW has collected long-time experience regarding comparative law and concludes that the one method is unrealistic, yet not even helpful. In this video he explains why it is rather useful to accept the coexistence of different methodologies, which can be applied depending on the examined problem, its background and the goal of its analysis.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10300Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
Different countries, different cultures – and usually also a different basis for legal systems. The development of the European single market, the global integration of multinational business and commercial companies as well as the increasing internationalisation of our daily lives require that areas of private and commercial law provide solutions that cannot only be derived from the legal systems of individual countries. Academics at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg apply analysis of the differences and similarities between different legal systems to develop a foundation for an international understanding of law and its application to cross-border circumstances. This also includes addressing the methodological issues of comparative law and unification of law. The central research tool of the Institute is its library, which contains one of the world’s most extensive collections of literature on civil law. ( Source )
Original Publication
Comparative Law and its Clients
Jürgen Basedow
Published in 2014