Course description
In this course students will first be introduced to the methodology of comparing, of law comparison in particular. After this they will be introduced in the great legal traditions of the world: common law (UK and US), civil law (France and Germany), Russian law, Islamic law, Chinese Law, Japanese Law and African law. Students will be invited to situate their own legal system in these larger families and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages their approach may have compared with the other ways of legal thinking and handling in the world. In a final part of the course, transversal comparative issues will be dealt with, such as: how are interhuman relations (e.g. marriage) viewed in the various legal systems? How is democracy realized by the various legal systems? How did globalization influence the diversities in legal ways of thinking? How do history and culture interact with the choices in law? Students will be expected to write a research paper on a transversal topic, presenting a comparison and evaluating the compared approaches. Groups of about four students will deal with the same issue, but each one from a distinct angle. The research papers of the group will be presented in the form of very brief presentations (Pecha Kucha),followed by a group presentation and discussion.

The course schedule would be as follows:

Week 1 Set-up of the course + What is comparing and why comparing? the need for better comparison in a globalized world
Week 2 The art of comparing and comparing law: do’s and don'ts; law families
Week 3 Task of national reporting + task for weeks 10 and 11 + African law
Week 4 The common law : United Kingdom and the United States
Week 5 The civil law: France and Germany
Week 6 Russian law and Islamic law
Week 7 Oriental law: China and Japan
Week 8 Comparing political systems from a democracy perspective
Week 9 Comparing the legal approaches to marriage, family and other human relations
Week 10 Pecha Kucha presentations by students, presentation by the group and discussion
Week 11 Pecha Kucha presentations by students, presentation by the group and discussion
Week 12 Cultural diversity, globalization and the Law: final considerations + Evaluation of course by the students

Students having participated in this course should have acquired some basic knowledge of the various approaches to law throughout the world. Moreover they should be able to internalize the diversity of (legal) approaches present throughout the world, when communicating with persons from other backgrounds. They should also realise the interrelation between history, culture, economics and law; they are able to switch into the logics of other cultures and to have a real global approach to global issues.

Weeks 1-3 will be given in the form of lecture with ample question and discussion possibilities
Weeks 4-7 will be given in the form of lecture; students coming from the concerned countries will complement the information provided by the professor and/or situate their country’s law in relation to the presented countries
Week 8, 9 and 12 will be more in a seminar form; lecture with ample question and discussion possibilities
Weeks 10 and 11: students have the floor

Evaluation
1/3 of the points will be given in the form of permanent evaluation;
1/3 of the points will be given on the basis of the research paper and its presentation
1/3 of the points will result from a written multiple choice exam

Readers will be provided for weeks 1 and 2; ppts will be made available for weeks 4-9. The ppt relating to the concerned country of provenience of student, will be given to the student on beforehand; other students will get access to the ppt after the concerned class. All will be in English language.

No preliminary knowledge on the topic, or on law in general is required; students are however expected to acquire some knowledge and information about their own national law in order to take full benefit of the classes and the discussions.