Thu 20 Nov 2014

Prospects of Legal Scholarship in Germany

Open Access

The German original paper was adopted by the Council on the occasion of its fall sessions in November 2012.

The recommendations are preceded by empirical and quantitative descriptions that provide information on the current situation of legal study and research in Germany. The report is led by the idea that structural changes in the law present challenges to the subject matter and current structure of legal research and study. These changes include the Europeanisation and internationalisation of law, as well as the emergence of alternative processes of law and norm creation which give rise to new forms of law and ways of enforcing the law on the national and international level. In order to actively engage with these challenges, the report considers it necessary to strengthen legal scholarship in Germany with regard to both, research and teaching. In particular, this entails strengthening the foundational subjects, intensifying exchanges within and outside the discipline and opening up legal scholarship towards a more internationalised and diversified way of studying and researching.

Pages: 114

The program Rechtskulturen pursues two objectives, the relevance of which the German Council of Science and Humanities emphatically highlights in its recommendations: an opening up to the international academic community as well as a stronger cross-linkage between disciplines within the academic legal studies field in Germany. As Rechtskulturen promotes innovative research questions and brings together scholars from all over the world, the programme is a unique and exemplary initiative in the German academic legal studies field. By making the Council’s recommendations accessible for transnational discourse on law, legal research and education, the translation takes part in Rechtskulturen’s endeavour to approach the challenges of internationalisation and responds to the necessity to understand law in its particular cultural contexts. As such, the text is meant to introduce German legal scholarship to a broad audience and to engage in a discussion with legal scholars internationally. We would like to see the publication serving as a working instrument that provides ideas to develop legal studies and research.

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