The Didactic Turn of German Legal Methodology Cover Image

Vokietijos teisinės metodologijos didaktiniai pokyčiai
The Didactic Turn of German Legal Methodology

Author(s): Hans Paul Prümm
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Published by: Mykolas Romeris University
Keywords: legal theory; legal methodology; legal education; legal decision-making; multi-level and multi-actorial decision-system; interpretive tools in civil law as well as in common law system; convergence of civil law and common law systems; application of laws

Summary/Abstract: We note an increasing consciousness of weakness of legal methodology taught to law students today: The students get neither real idea nor feeling of legal decision-making as mixture of legal matters, issue of facts, personal inputs, diverging interests, and the interplay with other actors. For minimize these defects it is necessary that law students learn in legal studies the following points: (1) Legal decision-making is a special kind of decision-making and is embedded in all problems of this process. (2) Jurisprudence is a hybrid science: It deals with facts of issue as well with legal matter. (3) Jurisprudence will be understood as transnational science and requires greater cooperation between law schools all over the world. (4) Legal education should focus on general principles and legal tools rather than on detailed rules. (5) Legal theory should demonstrate students our lack of understanding legal decision-making. (6) A realistic legal methodology has to take into account the impossibility of absolute certainty of the correctness of legal decision. (7) It is important to point out that analysis of facts of the case as crucial part of legal methodology requires teaching systems to introduce students in the respective techniques in practice like case studies, projects as well as legal clinics or SASLA-system.

  • Issue Year: 18/2011
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 1233-1282
  • Page Count: 50
  • Language: English