Teaching Law. Two Words. Two Enigmas Cover Image

Teaching Law. Two Words. Two Enigmas
Teaching Law. Two Words. Two Enigmas

Author(s): Waldemar Hoff
Subject(s): Constitutional Law, Politics and law, Higher Education , EU-Legislation, Sociology of Law, Pedagogy
Published by: Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego
Keywords: teaching law; sources of law; cohesion; interpretation of law; stare decisis;

Summary/Abstract: What is law and what is teaching – remains disputable. The departure point should be the notion of law, which cannot be said to exist without reference to normativity, binding power and predictability. The obstacle in teaching law is that there are several centrifugal forces resulting in disintegration of law. These are, for example: creating fake sources of law such as binding recommendations, amending laws by lower-ranking acts, which is the specialty of the EU; informally adopting the common law doctrine of stare decisis by Continental Judges; using the interpretation of law as a fig leaf for actually amending it; demanding the disregarding of national laws by judges if they come to the conclusion that national laws are in violation of the EU law by the EU Court, even if there is no procedural framework to do so. In teaching law, a teacher should promote theories and practices conducive to the cohesion of the legal system. Teachers have to take sides in the encounter of conflicting ideas and practices in the spirit of fighting for a better law.

  • Issue Year: 12/2020
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 31-44
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English