This book is a unique and stylish reflection on the true value of comparative legal research. Arguing that the presumption of similarity that underlies much comparative legal research is dangerous and faulty, Grossfeld draws examples from the German and American legal systems to discuss legislation, private and public international law, domestic law, culture and law, geography and law, language and law, and religion and law.

Viewing the contested theme Comparative Law as an 'Enigma', this book explores its fundamental issues as sub-themes, each covered in two variations. After the Overture, the author pulls some strands together in the Intermezzo, uses a free hand in the Cadenza, and asks the reader to draw her own conclusions in the Finale. By this method two fundamentally opposed views are exposed in each Chapter. The what, why and how of comparative law, comparative law and legal education, comparative law and judges, and comparative law and law reform by transposition are explored. The author also examines current debates of comparative law such as law and culture, deconstruction of classifications, mixing systems, limits of comparability, convergence/non-convergence and ius commune novum. By following this two-pronged approach, the book covers many important aspects of comparative law in a refreshing manner not seen in any other work. It is provocative and discursive, bringing together for the reader major developments of comparative law. The book ends by asking 'Where are we going?'.

Providing a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the legal approach to key areas of law within different legal systems, this book offers a blueprint for comparative legal study by evaluating the current epistemological debate on comparative law and comparative legal research methods. Substantive law, the law of obligations, commercial and corporate law within the major legal systems of the world are all examined and compared. While France and Germany are generally used as the archetypal civil law jurisdictions and English law as the main common law comparator, this third edition also examines the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet era and socialist legal influences as well as non-Western legal traditions. Fully updated and revised to include all recent developments, this edition also includes a broad historical introduction and outlines changes in EC Law. It assesses the possibility of Europeanization of national legal systems and certain legal topics, the impact of the globalization of legal institutions and the evolving 'new world order' in the early twenty-first century. Written in a clear, user-friendly style, Comparative Law in a Changing World is an accessible source for undergraduates and postgraduates wishing to trace the influence of common law and civil law legal traditions on jurisdictions across the world.

The primary aim of this book is to provide clear and reliable information on a number of central topics in comparative law. At a time when global society is increasingly mobile and legal life is internationalized, the role of comparative law is gaining importance. While the growing interest in this field may well be attributed to the dramatic increase in international legal transactions, this empirical parameter is only part of the explanation. The other part, and (at least) equally important, has to do with the expectation of gaining a deeper understanding of law as a social phenomenon and a fresh insight into the current state and future direction of one’s own legal system. In response to the internationalization of legal practice and theory, law schools around the world have expanded their comparative law programs. Within the legal subjects that form the core of the curriculum there is a greater interest in comparative legal analysis, as well as greater attention to how global developments and international actors and institutions affect domestic law. Transnational legal education based on comparative reasoning is intended to help shape a new generation of lawyers, public servants and other professionals who recognize and respect cultural diversity in an interconnected world. The central topics discussed in this book include: the nature and scope of comparative legal inquiries; the relationship of comparative law to other fields of legal study; the aims and uses of comparative law; the origins and historical development of comparative law; and the evolution and defining features of some of the world’s predominant legal traditions. It also deals with selected theoretical aspects, such as the problem of comparability of legal events; the classification of legal systems into families of law; and the topics of legal transplants, harmonization and convergence of laws. Chiefly intended for students, the book also discusses a number of fundamental issues concerning the development of comparative law, and devotes certain sections to reviewing the salient features of the relevant literature on definitional, terminological, methodological and historical issues.

Comparative Law offers a thorough grounding in the subject for students and scholars of comparative law alike, critically debating both traditional and modern approaches to the subject and using examples from a range of legal systems gives the reader a truly global perspective. Covering essential academic debates and comparative law methodology, its contextualised approach draws on examples from politics, economics and development studies to provide an original contribution to topics of comparative law. This new edition: is fully revised and updated throughout to reflect contemporary research, contains more examples from many areas of law and there is also an increased discussion of the relevance of regional, international, transnational and global laws for comparative law. Suitable for students taking courses in comparative law and related fields, this book offers a fresh contextualised and cosmopolitan perspective on the subject.

Presenting a critique of conventional methods in comparative law, this book argues that, for comparative law to qualify as a discipline, comparatists must reflect on how and why they make comparisons. Günter Frankenberg discusses not only methods and theories, but also the ethical implications and the politics of comparative law in bringing out the different dimensions of the discipline. Comparative Law as Critique offers various approaches that turn against the academic discourse of comparative law, including analysis of a widespread spirit of innocence in terms of method, and critique of human rights narratives. It also examines how courts negotiate differences between cases regarding Muslim veiling. The incisive critiques and comparisons in this book will be of essential reading for comparatists working in legal education and research, as well as students of comparative law and scholars in comparative anthropology and social sciences.

Comprising an array of distinguished contributors, this pioneering volume of original contributions explores theoretical and empirical issues in comparative law. The innovative, interpretive approach found here combines explorative scholarship and research with thoughtful, qualitative critiques of the field. The book promotes a deeper appreciation of classical theories and offers new ways to re-orient the study of legal transplants and transnational codes. Methods of Comparative Law brings to bear new thinking on topics including: the mutual relationship between space and law; the plot that structures legal narratives, identities and judicial interpretations; a strategic approach to legal decision making; and the inner potentialities of the 'comparative law and economics' approach to the field. Together, the contributors reassess the scientific understanding of comparative methodologies in the field of law in order to provide both critical insights into the traditional literature and an original overview of the most recent and purposive trends. A welcome addition to the lively field of comparative law, Methods of Comparative Law will appeal to students and scholars of law, comparative law and economics. Judges and practitioners will also find much of interest here.