The Role of Academics in the Legal System

Abstract

This article considers the ways in which legal scholars relate to and participate in practical legal affairs. The discussion covers audiences and influence of legal scholars in the United Kingdom; the relationship between the American legal academy and the institutions; civil law systems; the nature of international legal scholarship; and the influence of international legal scholars on international law.

Freedom and Power of European Constitutional Scholarship

“…The precise answer differs from one country to the next. 23 Since the time of the Roman Empire, legal science has occupied an important place in legal systems on the European continent. 24 With the emergence of the modern state and its public law in the seventeenth century, publicists, and later constitutional scholars, became important for the legitimation of the state and its legal regime.…”

Rethinking the Law School

“…70 The questions are even more important, given the way higher education institutions respond to internationalisation; Europeanisation and globalisation are related to internal institutional and external factors. 71 They include global questions such asrandomlyaccess and equity, the growing use of the English language in universities, internationalisation of the curriculum, long-distance education and e-learning concepts, website and marketing, international standards of quality assurance and control, recognition of diplomas and study credits, the choice of profit or not-for-profit education, international mobility of faculty, university rankings and typology (think of the European Commission's 'U-Multirank' project 72 ), global policy coherence, and so forth. After all, it is important to note that the global embeddedness of universities does not automatically lead to national standardisation; instead, universities evolve in their daily national and organisational settings.…”

“…Moreover, although not a discipline in the strict sense, great literature can enhance our imaginative conception of what constitutes law and justice. 71 Another relative newcomer, but now entirely settled into the university curriculum, is the field of law and economics. Law, considered as a set of social rules, is partly a behavioural science in which notions of efficiency play important roles.…”

“…A rare example to the contrary is the American Institute for Law Teaching and Learning at Gonzaga School of Law, 75 which also publishes a journal with all sorts of 70 Fiona Cownie, Legal Academics: Culture and Identities, 2004, p. 129. 71 practical advice for law teachers. 76 Another example is a website hosted by Leiden University with best practices, tools, educational literature and blogs.…”

“…Law and economics is an outstanding example which has transformed the way not only academics but also legal officials think about law. 71 Most non-US law schools I know are strongly dominated by representatives of analytical (doctrinal) research practice, with the exception of many strong departments of legal history, legal philosophy and law and economics. Socio-legal studies are still seriously underrepresented in many of these law schools, in terms both of the number of chairs and of the curriculum.…”