This course provides students not with an abstract definition of law, but with an introduction to a national legal system in order to become familiar with basic legal concepts. The focus is on English law; however, next to the English legal system (part of the Common law tradition), other legal systems are also examined. From time to time, international legal standards, bindings for national legal systems, are discussed.

To understand modern law it is important to have an idea of its development. Thus, the course begins with legal history. To distinguish legal rules from other norms it is important to dwell upon the question of the sources of law. This is also helpful to illustrate the difference between Common Law and Civil Law traditions. The functioning of the different elements of the English legal system is then explained against the background of the constitutional law of the United Kingdom. Next, substantive and formal criminal law is discussed. The other pillar of national legal systems is private law, dealing with the relationship between citizens in their social and commercial contacts. Also the relationship between law and justice is discussed.

 

Format
The course requires a good level of preparation. In each session, the main aspects of the scheduled topic are discussed using the assigned literature as the base. Students are expected to participate actively; they each give a presentation on a specific topic, such as a court decision or a piece of legislation, followed by a general discussion in class on the topic.