Empirical Legal Research: Fad, Feud or Fellowship?

Abstract

As co-editor, I dedicate this special issue to Wibo van Rossum, who sadly passed away during the making of it. Wibo initiated this special issue and, despite his grave illness, was determined to help accomplish it. The idea of editing this special issue originated from the annual conference of the Dutch Law and Society Association (VSR) that we organised in Rotterdam in 2016 together with Roel Pieterman and Nick Huls. In 2017, with Hilke Grootelaar, we edited a special issue for the journal of the VSR, Recht der Werkelijkheid, entitled Recht als probleemoplossing? (The Law as Troubleshooter?). This indicates that I have collaborated with Wibo on different occasions, also during his illness. Doing so was always a great pleasure and Wibo has been an example to me in the dignified and resilient manner in which he carried on to doing the work he loved so much, with passion until the end.

The Relationship between Empirical Legal Studies and Doctrinal Legal Research

“…gave it a prominent place in the legal academy. 7 The legal realists' assertion that there was a difference between 'law in the books' and 'law in action', as it is sometimes phrased today, 8 was a challenge to the adequacy of doctrine as a way of explaining or understanding law. Legal Realism has in turn been traced back to the 'Free Law' movement in early 20th century Germany.…”

Empirical research of law: A revolution or mission impossible?

“…Pojedini pravni pisci su čak bili slobodni da tu promenu označe kao revoluciju (Ho, Kramer 2013;Klick 2011). Drugi su opreznije ukazali na to da je učinjen korak napred u odnosu na status quo koji je vladao u oblasti prava (Mascini, van Rossum 2018). Jedno je sigurno: promena se dogodila.…”