Citation Patterns of the German Federal Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales

Abstract

This paper presents citation statistics on decisions of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (CA) and the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) for the last 55 years. This data is used in order to identify whether the citation patterns of the CA and the BGH reflect the conventional comparative perceptions about the English and German legal system. For instance, it is addressed how often the CA and the BGH cite the highest national and European courts and higher foreign courts from different legal families. The paper also examines the cross-citations between the highest courts of the United Kingdom (House of Lords, Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland, Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary).

Keywords: Court of Appeal of England and Wales, German Federal Supreme Court, Bundesgerichtshof, citation patterns, foreign case law, constitutionalization, Europeanization, numerical comparative law

JEL Classification: C00, H73, K10, K40