Comparing Legal Cultures, 2nd Edition (9788245033946) by Fagbokforlaget

SÖREN KOCH JØRN ØYREHAGEN SUNDE (EDS.)

There are many kinds of legal cultures, concerning different groups of legal actors or covering different geographical areas, and they are at times overlapping. However, the national legal culture is still the one that has the largest influence on the everyday life of citizens and the day-to-day work of lawyers. In this book, the editors first theorize on and give practical guidance on how to identify, deconstruct and examine legal culture. Based on a common analytical framework, the editors and a large number of expert contributors explore central institutional and intellectual features of legal culture in 12 European countries next to USA, China and Australia allowing the reader to systematically compare legal cultures. This is the second and extended version of Comparing Legal Cultures, which is the first thorough and extensive book that analyses national legal cultures as an approach to comparative law. The book aims at providing essential knowledge and understanding for students of law, as well as for practitioners and scholars in need of entangling legal cultural features.

ISBN 978-82-450-3394-6

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Comparing Legal Cultures

In the present era of internationalisation of law, being able to analyse legal culture enables legal cooperation. However, legal culture is still more a theoretical concept than an analytical tool applied when approaching law.

SÖREN KOCH JØRN ØYREHAGEN SUNDE (EDS.)

Comparing Legal Cultures Revised and Extended 2nd Edition

SÖREN KOCH JØRN ØYREHAGEN SUNDE (EDS.)

Comparing Legal Cultures Revised and Extended 2nd Edition

Enquiries about this text can be directed to: Fagbokforlaget Kanalveien 51 5068 Bergen Tel.: 55 38 88 00 email: fagbokforlaget@fagbokforlaget.no www.fagbokforlaget.no

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Preface

We are proud to present a second revised and extended edition of Comparing Legal Cultures containing eleven new chapters. Seven new introductions to the legal cultures of Australia, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, and the USA have been added. That made it necessary to restructure the content of the current volume. The contributions contained in the first edition have been updated and amended in order to achieve a higher degree of structural and conceptual coherence. Based on years of experience teaching and applying a legal cultural approach to comparative law, both in Norway and abroad, we have extended and slightly amended the analytical framework. By adding four introductory chapters explaining in more detail our theoretical approach (and its limits), method, and how to use the information on the selected legal cultures, we intend to enhance the readers’ understanding of the didactical purpose of this book and how to use it. Finally, a concluding chapter is intended to illustrate briefly how a comparison of different legal cultures may be conducted. To give the reader direct access to the sources and information in the apparatus, we have chosen to use footnotes instead of endnotes. Fagbokforlaget were immediately interested in publishing the second edition of this volume and provided excellent support along the way. All contributions to this book have undergone an intense and, at times, annoying editing process. We are very grateful for the authors’ commitment and patience. PhD student Marius Mikkel Kjølstad has been (once again) our assistant and handyman in the final stage of the editing process of this second edition. In the final stages, student Marie Hatten provided valuable assistance. We are deeply grateful for all their efforts. The same applies for Dr. Adelyn Wilson, who critically evaluated the draft and contributed to enhance the quality of individual chapters and the book as a whole. Bergen, 1 May 2020 Sören Koch

Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde

Content

Part I The Analytical Framework 1. The Outset – How to Learn Sailing the Ocean of Legal Cultures ....................... Sören Koch 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. The aim of the book ......................................................................... 3. The analytical framework ................................................................... 4. Content and Structure ...................................................................... 5. Bibliography ................................................................................. 2. Managing the Unmanageable – An Essay Concerning Legal Culture as an Analytical Tool ............................................................................ Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde 1. A first mapping and getting around the unmanageable concept of legal culture ....... 2. Defining legal culture ....................................................................... 3. Legal culture and legal change .............................................................. 4. Legal culture and communication ......................................................... 5. The Legal Cultural Model .................................................................. 6. Applying the Legal Cultural Model ........................................................ 7. Bibliography ................................................................................. 3. Legal Culture and Comparative Law – Diving into the Ocean .......................... Sören Koch 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. The Operationalised Concept of Legal Culture ........................................... 3. Legal Cultural and Functionalism ......................................................... 4. Contextual approaches and the role of legal culture ...................................... 4.1 Context matters! ........................................................................ 4.2 Limitations of the legal cultural approach ............................................ 4.3 The merits and limitations of classification and taxonomies......................... 4.4 Civil, Common Law and Mixed Legal Systems ...................................... 5. Legal cultural knowledge as a point of departure ......................................... 6. Conclusion ................................................................................... 7. Bibliography .................................................................................

17 17 18 19 20 22 23 23 25 28 30 31 34 39 41 41 42 48 53 53 58 59 62 65 67 67

8 Comparing Legal Cultures 4. From mapping to navigation – a COMPASS formula for Conducting Comparative Analysis ........................................................................... Sören Koch 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. The COMPASS-formula .................................................................... Step 1: Concretising the Research Question .............................................. Step 2: Object and objective of the comparison .......................................... Step 3: Methodological Approach (in a narrow sense).................................... Step 4: Pinpointing and identifying similarities and differences ......................... Step 5: Assessment and Explanation of identified differences and similarities .......... Step 6: Systematising the findings and answering the research question ................ Step 7: Starting all over again ............................................................... 3. Conclusion ................................................................................... 4. Bibliography .................................................................................

71 71 73 75 78 83 87 91 94 97 98 99

Part II Legal Cultures 5. An Introduction to Norwegian Legal Culture ............................................. Marius Mikkel Kjølstad, Sören Koch and Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Conflict Resolution.......................................................................... 2.1 Ordinary conflict resolution ........................................................... 2.2 Miscellaneous mechanisms of conflict resolution .................................... 2.3 Perspectives .............................................................................. 3. Norm Production............................................................................ 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 3.2 Norm production by Parliament and the executive branch of government ........ 3.3 Norm production by the Supreme Court ............................................. 3.4 Other kinds of norm production ...................................................... 4. Ideal of justice ............................................................................... 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 4.2 Predictability as the main ideal of justice ............................................. 4.3 Fairness as a supplementing ideal of justice ........................................... 4.4 Perspectives .............................................................................. 5. Legal method ................................................................................ 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 5.2 Norwegian legal realism and the legal theory of Torstein Eckhoff .................. 5.3 Perspectives .............................................................................. 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 6.2 The generalist approach to law ......................................................... 6.3 Perspectives .............................................................................. 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 8. Conclusion ................................................................................... 9. Bibliography ................................................................................. 6. An Introduction to Finnish Legal Culture ................................................. Anna Nylund 1. The framework of Finnish legal culture .................................................... 1.1 Finnish legal culture – some introductory remarks................................... 1.2 The historical development of Finland’s legal culture ................................ 1.3 The contemporary Finnish society.....................................................

105 105 108 108 112 115 116 116 116 119 121 122 122 122 123 125 126 126 127 133 135 135 135 138 138 142 145 149 149 149 150 154

Content 2. Conflict resolution in Finland .............................................................. 2.1 The court structure and court reform in Finland ..................................... 2.2 The Finnish Court system .............................................................. 2.3 Alternative dispute resolution .......................................................... 3. Norm production............................................................................ 3.1 Norm production through legislation ................................................. 3.2 Courts as producers of norms .......................................................... 3.3 Legal scholarship as a producer of norms ............................................. 4. Ideal of justice ............................................................................... 4.1 Legalism and predictability............................................................. 4.2 Equity in the shadow of legalism ...................................................... 5. Legal method ................................................................................ 5.1 Sources of law and bases for legal arguments ......................................... 5.2 Statutory law ............................................................................ 5.3 Preparatory works ....................................................................... 5.4 Case law ................................................................................. 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 6.1 Legal education and legal publishing .................................................. 6.2 The legal profession ..................................................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 7.1 Law, language and legal culture ........................................................ 7.2 Europeanisation – limited impact or transformation of Finnish legal culture?..... 8. Conclusion ................................................................................... 9. Bibliography .................................................................................

155 155 160 164 164 164 165 167 168 168 170 171 171 172 173 174 180 180 181 182 182 184 185 187

7. An Introduction to Estonian Legal Culture ................................................ Merike Ristikivi, Andreas Kangur, Irene Kull, Katre Luhamaa, Marin Sedman, Hesi Siimets-Gross, Age Värv 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Conflict resolution .......................................................................... 3. Norm production............................................................................ 4. Ideal of justice ............................................................................... 5. Legal method ................................................................................ 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 8. Conclusion ................................................................................... 9. Bibliography .................................................................................

191

8. An Introduction to German Legal Culture................................................. Sören Koch 1. The framework of Germany’s legal culture ................................................ 1.1 Defining the German legal culture .................................................... 1.2 Historical, geographical and political preconditions ................................. 2. Conflict resolution .......................................................................... 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 2.2 Ordinary courts ......................................................................... 2.3 The question of jurisdiction and legal unity .......................................... 2.4 The role of Constitutional Courts ..................................................... 2.5 Conclusion .............................................................................. 3. Norm production............................................................................ 3.1 Legislation ............................................................................... 3.2 Courts and administration as norm producers? ......................................

221

191 195 200 205 208 211 214 217 218

221 221 224 227 227 229 232 235 238 238 238 241

10 Comparing Legal Cultures 3.3 Legal scholarship (Rechtswissenschaft) .................................................. 4. Ideal of justice ............................................................................... 5. Legal method ................................................................................ 5.1 The constitution determines core elements of legal method ......................... 5.2 Legal method and legal scholarship ................................................... 5.3 Legal sources and other legal argument bases ......................................... 5.4 Interpretation ........................................................................... 5.5 Style of court-rulings ................................................................... 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 8. Some concluding reflections ................................................................ 9. Bibliography .................................................................................

246 248 251 251 251 253 254 257 257 261 266 267

9. An Introduction to Polish Legal Culture ................................................... Anna Klimaszewska, Anna Machnikowska, Sören Koch 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 1.1 A changing legal culture ................................................................ 1.2 The geographic, economic and social framework..................................... 2. Conflict Resolution.......................................................................... 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 2.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) ............................................... 2.3 Judicial conflict resolution ............................................................. 2.4 Ordinary courts ......................................................................... 2.5 The Supreme Court ..................................................................... 2.6 The Constitutional Tribunal ........................................................... 2.7 Administrative courts ................................................................... 3. Norm Production............................................................................ 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 3.2 Judges as norm producers or controllers and interpreters? ........................... 4. Ideal of Justice ............................................................................... 5. Legal Method ................................................................................ 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 7.1 Dualistic or monistic approach? ....................................................... 7.2 Poland and the EU ..................................................................... 7.3 Principles of international law and international customary law .................... 7.4 Impact of Globalisation ................................................................ 7.5 Mobilization of comparative law ...................................................... 8. Conclusions .................................................................................. 9. Bibliography ................................................................................. 10. Appendix .....................................................................................

273

10. A Legal Cultural “Take” on the Legal System of England & Wales .................... Christian N.K. Franklin 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Conflict Resolution.......................................................................... 2.1 The centralization of the courts ........................................................ 2.2 The County Court ...................................................................... 2.3 The Family Court ....................................................................... 2.4 The Criminal Courts: Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court........................ 2.5 The mixed jurisdiction of the High Court ............................................

273 273 274 275 275 275 276 277 280 283 287 288 288 291 294 300 304 310 310 313 314 315 316 317 319 325 333 333 334 336 341 342 343 348

Content 2.6 The Court of Appeal .................................................................... 2.7 The Supreme Court ..................................................................... Production of legal norms & legal method ................................................ 3.1 The common law ....................................................................... 3.2 Statute – Acts of Parliament............................................................ 3.3 Statutory Instruments – Delegated legislation ........................................ International and European law ............................................................ Ideal(s) of Justice – the rise of equity ...................................................... Professionalisation ........................................................................... Conclusions .................................................................................. Bibliography .................................................................................

351 352 357 358 362 367 368 373 380 386 387

11. An Introduction to Scottish Legal Culture ............................................... Andrew R.C. Simpson 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Scotland ...................................................................................... 3. Conflict Resolution.......................................................................... 3.1 Iudices, Sheriff Courts, Justiciars’ Courts and Parliament ............................ 3.2 The Conciliar Session and the College of Justice ..................................... 3.3 The High Court of Justiciary and the Office of Lord Advocate ..................... 3.4 The House of Lords ..................................................................... 3.5 The Heritable Jurisdictions and the Reform of the Sheriff Courts, 1747 ........... 3.6 Nineteenth Century Reforms of the Scottish Court System ........................ 3.7 The Scotland Act 1998 ................................................................. 3.8 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and the UKSC ............................... 3.9 The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 ............................................. 3.10 Other Courts........................................................................... 4. Norm Production............................................................................ 4.1 Statutes .................................................................................. 4.2 Case law and Precedent................................................................. 4.3 Institutional Writings ................................................................... 4.4 Equity .................................................................................... 4.5 Custom .................................................................................. 5. Ideal of Justice ............................................................................... 5.1 A Difficult Legal Question: Sharp v Thomson (1997) ................................ 5.2 Apparent Justice and Legal Certainty ................................................. 5.3 Burnett’s Trustee v Grainger: Sharp Restricted ....................................... 5.4 Conclusions from Sharp and Burnett .................................................. 5.5 Principles of Interpretation More Generally .......................................... 5.6 Conclusion .............................................................................. 6. Legal Method ................................................................................ 7. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 7.1 The LLB Degree and Entry to the Profession......................................... 7.2 Solicitors and Advocates ................................................................ 7.3 The Universities ......................................................................... 8. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 8.1 The Influence of Comparative Law .................................................... 8.2 EU Law .................................................................................. 8.3 The Role of the ECHR ................................................................. 9. Conclusion ................................................................................... 10. Bibliography .................................................................................

389

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

389 392 393 394 394 396 396 397 397 399 399 400 402 402 403 405 407 407 408 408 409 410 413 416 416 417 417 420 420 421 422 423 423 424 426 427 428

12 Comparing Legal Cultures 12. An Introduction to Belgian Legal Culture ................................................ Bruno Debaenst 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 1.1 About Belgium .......................................................................... 1.2 A historical perspective on the Belgian legal culture ................................. 1.3 The relativity of a “Belgian legal culture” ............................................. 2. Conflict resolution in Belgium ............................................................. 2.1 The Constitutional court ............................................................... 2.2 Ordinary courts ......................................................................... 2.3 Administrative courts ................................................................... 2.4 Mediation, arbitration and extrajudicial conflict resolution ......................... 2.5 Some final considerations .............................................................. 3. Norm production............................................................................ 4. Ideal of Justice ............................................................................... 5. Legal method ................................................................................ 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 8. Conclusions .................................................................................. 9. Bibliography ................................................................................. 13. An Introduction to French Legal Culture ................................................. Sunniva Cristina Bragdø-Ellenes 1. Introduction – La France.................................................................... 2. Conflict resolution .......................................................................... 2.1 The French court system ............................................................... 2.2 Historical development ................................................................. 2.3 Conflicts of jurisdiction between judicial and administrative courts ............... 2.4 Procedures in the judicial and administrative courts ................................. 2.5 Alternative conflict resolution.......................................................... 2.6 Recruitment, independence and promotion in the two court hierarchies .......... 2.7 Some other characteristics of the two court systems ................................. 3. Norm production – uncontested sources of law and case-law ........................... 3.1 Norm production from the parliament and the executive ........................... 3.2 Codification à la française .............................................................. 3.3 Treaties and EU law .................................................................... 3.4 Custom (coutume) ...................................................................... 3.5 Case-law (jurisprudence) and the general principles of law (principes généraux de droit) ............................................................ 4. Legal method ................................................................................ 4.1 Hierarchy of legal sources .............................................................. 4.2 Statutory interpretation ................................................................ 4.3 Preparatory works (travaux préparatoires) ............................................. 4.4 The role of equity (équité) .............................................................. 4.5 Factors giving weight to precedents ................................................... 4.6 Legal writing (doctrine) ................................................................. 4.7 Soft law (droit souple/droit mou)........................................................ 4.8 Practice of governmental agencies ..................................................... 5. Reflections on the ideal of justice .......................................................... 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 6.1 Legal education ......................................................................... 6.2 Lawyers and judges ..................................................................... 7. Reflections on internationalisation ......................................................... 8. Bibliography .................................................................................

431 431 431 432 438 441 441 444 447 448 449 449 452 457 458 462 463 465 471 471 474 474 478 479 480 484 485 486 487 487 490 492 493 493 497 497 498 499 500 501 503 503 504 505 505 505 506 508 509

Content 14. An Introduction to Austrian Legal Culture ............................................... Konrad Lachmayer and Niklas Sonntag 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Conflict resolution .......................................................................... 2.1 Historical background .................................................................. 2.2 Basic structure of the Austrian Court System......................................... 2.3 Ordinary court system .................................................................. 2.4 Administrative Adjudication ........................................................... 2.5 Constitutional Review .................................................................. 2.6 Interrelations of the highest courts .................................................... 3. Norm production............................................................................ 3.1 General characteristics .................................................................. 3.2 Legislative process and democracy ..................................................... 3.3 Other sources of law .................................................................... 4. Ideal of Justice ............................................................................... 4.1 General remarks ......................................................................... 4.2 The role of the courts ................................................................... 4.3 Balancing legal predictability and individual justice ................................. 5. Legal Method ................................................................................ 5.1 Legal interpretation ..................................................................... 5.2 Legal Sources ............................................................................ 5.3 Legal principles and further elements of legal reasoning by the courts ............. 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 6.1 The academic system of legal education ............................................... 6.2 Legal professions and professional training ........................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 7.1 General remarks ......................................................................... 7.2 The implementation of international law ............................................. 7.3 The role of the European Convention of Human Rights ............................ 7.4 The overwhelming importance of EU Law ........................................... 7.5 Foreign legal sources and comparative law in the Austrian legal system ............ 8. Conclusion ................................................................................... 9. Bibliography ................................................................................. 15. An Introduction to Italian Legal Culture ................................................. Esmeralda Colombo and Lars Kvestad 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Is there one Italian legal culture? ........................................................... 2.1 The Italian context ...................................................................... 2.2 A glimpse of Italian legal history....................................................... 2.3 Assessing Italian legal culture over time ............................................... 3. Norm production............................................................................ 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 3.2 Laws, decrees, and customs ............................................................ 3.3 Types of laws: Codes .................................................................... 3.4 The role of courts ....................................................................... 3.5 The role of individuals: Referenda ..................................................... 3.6 Conclusions ............................................................................. 4. Conflict resolution .......................................................................... 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 4.2 Conflict resolution and its principles ..................................................

511 511 513 513 514 515 518 519 521 521 521 523 524 526 526 527 528 528 528 529 530 531 531 532 533 533 533 534 535 536 537 538 541 541 542 542 543 545 547 547 548 553 554 566 566 567 567 568

14 Comparing Legal Cultures 4.3 The Constitutional Court .............................................................. 4.4 Courts of ordinary jurisdiction......................................................... 4.5 Courts of special jurisdiction ........................................................... 4.6 Ecclesiastical courts established by the Catholic Church............................. 4.7 Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) ................................................. 4.8 Conclusions ............................................................................. The ideal of justice........................................................................... Professionalization ........................................................................... 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 6.2 Education and qualifications ........................................................... 6.3 Conclusions ............................................................................. Internationalization ......................................................................... 7.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 7.2 Internationalizing norm-production................................................... 7.3 Internationalizing conflict resolution .................................................. 7.4 Conclusions ............................................................................. Legal method ................................................................................ 8.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 8.2 Institutional elements affecting the legal method..................................... 8.3 Intellectual elements affecting the legal method ...................................... 8.4 Conclusions ............................................................................. General conclusions ......................................................................... Bibliography.................................................................................

569 569 572 574 575 576 576 579 579 580 582 583 583 583 584 587 588 588 588 591 593 593 594

16. An Introduction to Romanian Legal Culture............................................. Cosmin Dariescu 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Conflict resolution .......................................................................... 2.1 The High Court ......................................................................... 2.2 The courts of appeal .................................................................... 2.3 The tribunals ............................................................................ 2.4 District courts ........................................................................... 2.5 Specialized tribunals .................................................................... 2.6 Military courts .......................................................................... 2.7 The Constitutional Court .............................................................. 2.8 Alternative dispute resolution .......................................................... 3. Norm production............................................................................ 3.1 Legislation ............................................................................... 3.2 Court rulings ............................................................................ 3.3 Customary law .......................................................................... 4. Ideal of justice ............................................................................... 5. Legal method ................................................................................ 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 7. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 8. Conclusion ................................................................................... 9. Bibliography ................................................................................. 10. Official notices ...............................................................................

599

5. 6.

9. 10.

17. A View of the Legal Culture of the United States of America........................... Lloyd T. Wilson, Jr. 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 1.1 Geography and Demographics .........................................................

599 602 603 606 607 608 609 610 610 612 614 614 615 617 618 621 625 628 630 632 634 635 635 635

Content 1.2 History ................................................................................... 1.3 Government Structure .................................................................. 1.4 Separation of Powers .................................................................... 2. Conflict Resolution ........................................................................... 2.1 Competence of Courts.................................................................. 2.2 Organization and Hierarchy of Courts ................................................ 2.3 Functions and Procedures of Courts at the Various Levels in both Systems ........ 2.4 The Adversary System................................................................... 2.5 The Jury System ......................................................................... 2.6 Conflict Resolution outside the Court Systems – Alternative Dispute Resolution 3. Norm Production............................................................................ 3.1 Legislatively Created Norms ........................................................... 3.2 Administratively Created Norms ...................................................... 3.3 Judicially Created Norms ............................................................... 3.4 Relationship among Legislatively, Administratively, and Judicially Created Norms.. 4. Ideal of Justice ............................................................................... 4.1 A Dialectic – Certainty and Flexibility ................................................ 4.2 Underlying Values – Due Process and Equal Protection ............................. 5. Legal Method ................................................................................ 5.1 Hierarchy of Laws ....................................................................... 5.2 Application of Statutory Law – Judicial Interpretation .............................. 5.3 Application of Common Law: Analogizing and Distinguishing Precedents ........ 6. Professionalization ........................................................................... 6.1 Status of Lawyers and Judges ........................................................... 6.2 Legal Education ......................................................................... 6.3 Regulation of Admission to the Bar ................................................... 6.4 Selection and Removal of Judges....................................................... 7. Internationalization ......................................................................... 7.1 The Place of International Law in the Hierarchy of Laws ............................ 7.2 The Dualist Framework for Treaties ................................................... 7.3 The Enforceability of Treaties by U.S. Courts: The Impact of Federalism and Separation of Powers – the Medellín Decision ................................... 8. Conclusion ................................................................................... 9. Bibliography ................................................................................. 10. Principal cases................................................................................

638 639 642 642 643 644 648 649 651 654 655 655 656 658 660 665 665 666 667 668 670 671 675 675 676 680 682 685 686 687

18. An Introduction to Australian Legal Culture ............................................. Tina Soliman Hunter 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. Historical background and overview of Australian legal culture ......................... 2.1 Legal system and culture during the colonial period ................................. 2.2 Federation ............................................................................... 2.3 Australian territories .................................................................... 3. Dispute Resolution .......................................................................... 3.1 The courts ............................................................................... 3.2 Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) ................................................. 4. Norm production............................................................................ 4.1 Constitution ............................................................................. 4.2 Judicial decisions and precedent ....................................................... 4.3 Statutes................................................................................... 4.4 Codes .................................................................................... 4.5 Legal writing and other minor forms of norm production ..........................

699

687 692 695 698

699 701 701 703 704 707 707 712 714 714 717 720 722 722

16 Comparing Legal Cultures 4.6 Indigenous law norms .................................................................. 5. Ideal of justice and legal method ........................................................... 5.1 Rule of law and separation of powers .................................................. 5.2 Equity .................................................................................... 5.3 Good faith ............................................................................... 5.4 Rights .................................................................................... 5.5 Judicial interpretivism and judicial activism .......................................... 6. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 6.1 Barrister and solicitor ................................................................... 6.2 Requirement for admission as a legal practitioner .................................... 6.3 Study of law ............................................................................. 7. Nationalisation and Internationalisation .................................................. 7.1 Nationalisation and legal harmonisation .............................................. 7.2 Internationalisation ..................................................................... 8. Bibliography .................................................................................

723 723 723 724 725 726 727 733 733 734 734 736 736 736 739

19. An Introduction to Chinese Legal Culture ............................................... Jiang Dong 1. An overview of China: Culture, history, landscape, politics and economy.............. 2. Conflict Resolution.......................................................................... 3. Norm production............................................................................ 4. Legal Method and Ideal of Justice .......................................................... 5. Professionalisation ........................................................................... 6. Internationalisation.......................................................................... 7. Conclusion ................................................................................... 8. Bibliography .................................................................................

741 741 747 757 770 774 778 779 781

Part III A Comparativ Study 20. Sailing – Analysing Ideals of Justice in Germany, England, and Norway.............. Sören Koch 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 2. The intellectual framework – different theoretical approaches to justice ................ 2.1 Legal security and predictability ....................................................... 2.2 The Degree of Individual Fairness ..................................................... 2.3 Mechanisms for balancing Predictability and Individual Justice .................... 3. Manifestation of ideals of justice in court practice and legislation....................... 3.1 Style of court judgments................................................................ 3.2 Legislation ............................................................................... 4. Conclusion ................................................................................... 5. Bibliography .................................................................................

783

List of contributors ..............................................................................

803

783 785 785 789 791 794 794 797 799 800

1. The Outset – How to Learn Sailing the Ocean of Legal Cultures Sören Koch

“Culture appears fundamental – a kind of lens through which all aspects of law must be perceived, or a gateway of understanding through which every comparatist must pass so as to have any genuine access to the meaning of foreign law.”1

1. Introduction

Are legal cultures comparable? This book attempts to answer this question affirmatively. It establishes a framework for comparing and analysing selected key features of legal cultures. The proposed framework is based on an operationalised concept of legal culture, which is defined throughout the book as ideas of and expectations to law made operational by institutional(-like) practices.2 On this account, the framework directs special attention to the interplay between institutional and intellectual structures inherent to almost all contemporary legal cultures.3 Breaking legal cultures down into two institutional elements (institutions of conflict resolution and norm production) and four intellectual elements (ideal of justice, legal method, degree and attitude towards professionalisation, and internationalisation) allows the reader to compare particular features of legal cultures by identifying similarities and differences, and furthermore explaining and analysing them contextually. The proposed framework is based on a legal cultural model (LCM), capable of accommodating different approaches to law, be they socio-legal, positivistic, critical, or pluralist approaches (see infra Ch. 2 and Ch. 3). Further, the heuristic character of the LCM is meant to provide deeper understanding 1 2

Roger Cotterrell, ‘Comparative Law and Legal Culture’ in Mathias Reimann and Reinhard Zimmermann (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (2nd ed. Oxford University Press 2019) 711. See Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde’, ‘Managing the Unmanageable – An Essay Concerning Legal Culture as an Analytical Tool’ in this volume, Chapter 2, 27; Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde, ‘Champagne at the Funeral – An Introduction to Legal Culture’ in Knut Einar Skodvin and Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde (eds), Rendezvous of European Legal Cultures (Fagbokforlaget 2010) 11. On the advantages and limitation of such an approach Mathias Siems, Comparative Law (2nd ed. Cambridge University Press 2018) 147 ff.; Cotterrell (2019) (n 1) 713 ff., 730 ff.

18 Comparing Legal Cultures of the selected legal cultures. It invites the reader to study the structural elements and their interaction. In other words, this framework constitutes our tertium comparationis. Accordingly, all 15 national legal cultures presented in this book are roughly structured according to this framework.4

2. The aim of the book

Overall, the aim of this book is to enhance the reader’s understanding of the historical embeddedness and unique nature of each legal culture. In addition, it provides a more holistic and sophisticated understanding of the legal culture in question.5 Such a deeper understanding of legal cultures can be valuable, even essential, as a point of departure for conducting all kinds of legal comparative studies, on the macro6 as well as on the meso and micro level.7 Legal cultural knowledge and understanding can help to ask the right questions and choose a proper methodological approach suitable for the individual purpose and object of a comparative study. Fundamentally, it provides us with a tool to critically check our assumptions and put empirical observations into context. We aim to enhance the readers’ ability to think and argue critically and reflectively, not only when encountering foreign lawyers, legal systems, and laws, but also with regard to their own national legal cultures. In a constantly more pluralistic and internationalised (legal) world, this is a skill crucial for both contemporary and future lawyers.8

6 7

For more detailed explanation of the framework and its intended function and limitations, see Sunde, Chapter 2 of this volume. However, it is important to emphasise that it was essential to grant the authors of each contribution the liberty to apply the framework in a way that suited the presentation of their native legal cultures. Their individual approaches but also writing styles and way of reasoning can be regarded as expression of the diversity of legal cultures included in this volume. This has been emphasised as one of the main purposes of comparative law by several leading on critical approaches from scholars. Jaakko Husa, in A New Introduction to Comparative Law (Bloomberg 2015) n 3 further elaborated on from a macro perspective, see in particular Chapter 9-11; Esin Örücü, ‘Developing Comparative Law’ in Esin Örücü and David Nelken (eds), Comparative Law –A Handbook (Hart Publishing 2007) 44, 53 f. (‘understanding law in context’; ‘development of critical minds’); Esin Örücü, ‘Methodology of Comparative Law’ in Jan M. Smits (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (Edward Elgar 2006), 442–454, 445 f. Recently Jaakko Husa, ‘Macro Comparative Law – Reloaded’ (2018) Vol. 131 No. 4 Tidsskrift for Rettsvitenskap 410. Mark Van Hoecke, ‘Deep Level Comparative Law’ in Mark Van Hoecke (ed), Epistemology and Method of Comparative Law (Hart Publishing 2004), 165 ff.; Konrad Zweigert and Hein Kötz, An Introduction to Comparative Law (3rd ed. Clarendon Press 1998) 40. On the impact of legal pluralism and globalization on law see, Husa (2015) (n 5), 55; Siems (2018) (n 3) 303 ff.; Michael Faure and André van der Walt (eds), Globalisation and Private Law: The Way Forward (Edward Elgar 2010); Paul Schiff Berman, Global Legal Pluralism: A Jurisprudence of Law Beyond Borders (Cambridge University Press 2012); David Kennedy, ‘New Approaches to Comparative Law: Comparativism and International Governance’ Utah Law Review (1997) 546–547.

The Outset – How to Learn Sailing the Ocean of Legal Cultures

3. The analytical framework

In order to achieve these aims the book introduces three analytical tools: First, the already mentioned legal cultural model, which helps to identify and analyse selected features in any given legal culture. We are using the metaphor of MAPPING to describe this process. Second, a model to illustrate the multi-layered nature of law. Using the metaphor of a LEGAL SEA, this tool allows us to study the extent and impact of changes in a legal culture over time and helps to explain the constant interaction between law and society. Both models are introduced in Chapter 2 and amplified in Chapter 3. From different perspectives, both chapters explain the methodological approach in more detail and provide the theoretical and conceptual framework. The purpose, subject and object of comparing legal cultures will be thoroughly examined in order to justify the operationalised concept of legal culture developed for this book. At the same time, we discuss delimitations from related concepts such as ‘legal system’, ‘legal tradition’ and ‘legal family’. By explaining what a legal cultural perspective has to offer to comparative law, the purpose of comparing legal cultures is further refined. In this regard, we critically discuss the merits and limitations of traditional ways of classifications and taxonomies such as the distinction between common law, civil law and mixed legal systems. Chapter 4 contains an innovation. In the last three decades countless articles, chapters, and books on the methods of comparative law have been published; however, systematic accounts on how to structure and conduct a comparative study in law are scarce. The COMPASS formula tries to remedy this deficiency. It provides a guideline on how to use the knowledge of national legal cultures presented in Chapters 5–19 when performing comparative analysis. Following its seven steps will help the reader navigating in the treacherous waters of comparative law. In other words, COMPASS enables the reader to use the legal cultural information systematically presented in this book to perform comparative analysis. Its scope of application is not exclusively limited to the comparative studies based on the legal cultural approach. Rather, COMPASS provides a blueprint or roadmap for all kinds of comparative studies, regardless of the comparatists’ epistemological interest, the specific purpose and object of comparison, or the methodological approach chosen for the study. Furthermore, COMPASS describes a hermeneutical operation that aims to be effective on all levels of comparison (macro, meso, micro, surface or deep level). The different steps are presented in abstract terms but illustrated by several specific examples along the way. In addition, we actively use the insights of our contributions to enrich and illustrate this process. In combination, these three tools enable the reader to identify, explain, analyse, and compare similarities and differences among legal cultures. The wide scope of applicability and dialectical merits of these tools render them interesting for all legal comparatists. Accordingly, this book addresses not only law students, but also judges, other legal professionals including administrators of justice, and those working on legislative projects.

20 Comparing Legal Cultures

4. Content and Structure

Subsequent to the introductory chapters, the book contains 15 chapters applying the legal cultural model to carefully selected national legal cultures. We attempt to resemble cultural diversity, particularly in Europe, but have also included the legal cultures of the United States of America, Australia, and China. Of old habit, we first structured the contributions according to the traditional civil and common law divide and added a third category – hybrid legal systems – for the misfits, which this very general taxonomy produces. When rethinking the chosen structure, we concluded that there are no reasons to use this orthodox general classification which, regardless of its didactical merits, has been increasingly criticised for being imprecise or even misleading.9 The ongoing internationalisation of law in the age of globalisation has caused contemporary law in all modern legal cultures to be more or less pluralistic, meaning that overlapping legal regimes can be applied to solve conflict and govern social behaviour. To a certain extent, this has contributed to the convergence of transnational, supranational, extra-judicial, local and regional legal cultures, subcultures and law. The traditional classifications in legal traditions or legal families are not able (and do not intend) to display these developments.10 One of the blessings of using the LCM, which is the very spine of this book, is that it allows the reader to move beyond the general and often inaccurate distinction between civil and common law or the taxonomy of legal families. The LCM enables identifying and explaining similarities and differences of legal cultures regardless of whether they belong to a certain tradition or family.11 Hence, instead of following any established classification or taxonomy, we presented the contributions as we would look them up on a globe: we start our journey in our own home country in the North and then read the globe from left to right, moving in stages south in Europe. Finally, we cross the Atlantic Ocean to the USA and continue from there to Australia and China, thus extending the perspective to the global level. According to the established framework, each contribution discusses institutional and intellectual elements of the legal culture at hand and the interconnection among these elements. Further, all contributions contain a figure on the organization of the court system. At the end of each chapter the findings are summarised in a table containing all six elements of the legal cultural model. A bibliography is added to each contribution. All accounts of the national cultures start by providing some basic data on 9

Siems (2018) (n 3) 94 ff.; Margaret Fordham, ‘The Experience of Civil Lawyers When Studying the Common Law’ 8 Asian Journal of Comparative Law (2013) 1–20, 8. This becomes also obvious when analyzing the judicial law-making and statutory interpretation of law in civil and common law countries, see Esmeralda Colombo and Lars Kvestad, ‘An Introduction to the Italian Legal Culture’ in this volume, Chapter 15, 589; Martin Brenncke, Judicial Law-Making in English and German Courts, Techniques and Limits of Statutory Interpretation (Intersentia 2018); Stefan Vogenauer, Die Auslegung von Gesetzen in England und auf dem Kontinent (Mohr Siebeck 2001). 10 The concept legal family has been criticised as being biased: it tends to overemphasise similarities inside a legal family and differences to legal orders outside this family, cf. Siems (2018) (n 3) 94 ff. with further references. 11 We agree, however, with Husa (2018) (n 6) 418 and 445 f, who argues that the concept of legal families may be valuable when doing legal dogmatic comparison with a strong focus on ‘law in books’. However, should the comparatist’s epistemological interest concern ‘law in action’, Husa recommends a legal cultural approach.

The Outset – How to Learn Sailing the Ocean of Legal Cultures

geographical, economic, and political preconditions that form the general framework for legal cultures. Some authors have chosen to provide a brief historical introduction, others have used historical arguments explaining specific features or notions in their legal cultures. Pursuant to the plan of this book, the contributions provide an ‘inside-view’ of the legal cultures encompassed therein. Accordingly, it was essential to grant the authors of each contribution the liberty to apply the framework in a way that suited them best for the presentation of their native legal cultures. These contributions are of course individual expressions, but to some extent, their approaches, writing styles, and way of reasoning can be regarded as an expression of the diversity of legal cultures as well. Our authors had to determine the content of each element of the legal cultural model. For example, each author had to consider what is regarded as a producer of legal norms or how best to define and describe crucial aspects of the prevailing ideal of justice. Sometimes it proved necessary to modify the structure or change the order of the framework, presented in more detail in Chapter 2 and 3, to describe and explain features in a legal culture contextually. In the chapter on the legal culture of England and Wales, Christian Franklin deemed it necessary to combine the institutional and intellectual elements of norm production and legal method.12 Considering that courts traditionally have a highly important role in producing legal norms in England and that the way precedents are produced inevitably requires knowing how judges build their arguments, it becomes feasible to discuss legal method in conjunction with norm production. In the chapter on the legal cultures of the USA, Lloyd T. Wilson Jr. describes the ideal of justice by using the dichotomy of legal security and flexibility, which is related to, but not identical with the distinction between predictability and individual justice as highlighted by other authors in this volume.13 Esmeralda Colombo and Lars Kvestad regard legal method as a crystallisation-point of the intellectual structure in the Italian legal culture by emphasising the impact that the ideal of justice, professionalisation and internationalisation have on the way lawyers apply the law.14 Sören Koch, Lloyd T. Wilson Jr., Bruno Debaenst, and Tina Soliman Hunter had to address tensions between federal and state levels in their legal cultures.15 Interestingly, they all emphasise very different natures and effects of federalism on the respective legal cultures. Accordingly, individual considerations, styles and interpretation, which are caused by the authors’ different cultural backgrounds, are the reason why both structure and terminology of the contributions in this volume can to some extent differ. This is something we were more than willing to accept in order to provide authentic maps of the cultures included in the volume. From our point of view, these nuances do not render 12 13 14 15

Christian N.K. Franklin, ‘A Legal Cultural “Take” on the Legal System of England & Wales’ in this volume, Chapter 11, 357. Lloyd T. Wilson, Jr., ‘A View of the Legal Culture of the United States of America’ in this volume, Chapter 17, 665 f. Colombo and Kvestad (2020) (n 9) 588 ff. Sören Koch, ‘An Introduction to German Legal Culture’ in this volume, Chapter 8, 228 ff.; Wilson (2020) (n 13) 642; Bruno Debaenst, ‘An Introduction to the Belgian Legal Culture’ in this volume, Chapter 12, 463; Tina Soliman Hunter, ‘Introduction to Australian Legal Culture’ in this volume, Chapter 18, 708.

22 Comparing Legal Cultures a comparison impossible. On the contrary, being aware of such nuances might help getting a better understanding of cultural particularities. The concluding chapter illustrates how to use the knowledge provided in Chapters 5 to 19, when conducting a comparative study. It provides an example of a legal cultural comparison on the macro-level, demonstrating how to sail the ocean of legal cultures. It aims to verify the initial assumption of this introductory chapter: comparing legal cultures is possible and can provide interesting insights.

5. Bibliography

Berman PS, Global Legal Pluralism: A Jurisprudence of Law Beyond Borders (Cambridge University Press 2012) Brenncke M, Judicial Law-Making in English and German Courts, Techniques and Limits of Statutory Interpretation (Intersentia 2018) Cotterrell R, ‘Comparative Law and Legal Culture’ in Reimann M and Zimmermann R (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (2nd ed. Oxford University Press 2019) Faure M and van der Walt A (eds), Globalisation and Private Law: The Way Forward (Edward Elgar 2010) Fordham M, ‘The Experience of Civil Lawyers When Studying the Common Law’ (2013) 8 Asian Journal of Comparative Law 1 Husa J, A New Introduction to Comparative Law (Bloomberg 2015) — — ‘Macro Comparative Law – Reloaded’ (2018) Vol. 131 No. 4 Tidsskrift for Rettsvitenskap 410 Kennedy D, ‘New Approaches to Comparative Law: Comparativism and International Governance’ (1997) Utah Law Review Örücü E, ‘Methodology of Comparative Law’ in Smits JM (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (Edward Elgar 2006) — — ‘Developing Comparative Law’ in Örücü E and Nelkan D (eds), Comparative Law – A Handbook (Hart Publishing 2007) Siems M, Comparative Law (2nd ed. Cambridge University Press 2018) Sunde JØ, ‘Champagne at the Funeral – An Introduction to Legal Culture’ in Skodvin KE and Sunde JØ (eds), Rendezvous of European Legal Cultures (Fagbokforlaget 2010) Van Hoecke M, ‘Deep Level Comparative Law’ in Van Hoecke M (ed), Epistemology and Method of Comparative Law (Hart Publishing 2004) Vogenauer S, Die Auslegung von Gesetzen in England und auf dem Kontinent (Mohr Siebeck 2001) Zweigert K and Kötz H, An Introduction to Comparative Law (3rd ed. Clarendon Press 1998)

SÖREN KOCH JØRN ØYREHAGEN SUNDE (EDS.)

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Comparing Legal Cultures

SÖREN KOCH JØRN ØYREHAGEN SUNDE (EDS.)

Comparing Legal Cultures Revised and Extended 2nd Edition