English Common Law versus German Systemdenken? Internal versus External Approaches

14 Pages Posted: 17 Feb 2011

See all articles by Karl Riesenhuber

Karl Riesenhuber

Ruhr-University Bochum - Faculty of Law; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: January 31, 2011

Abstract

This article compares the 'systematic method' of continental German private law with the common law method. It starts out by discussing the characteristics of a systematic approach, its application to European private law as well as its methodological tools. The author submits that the systematic approach is not inherently different but, on the contrary, is rather similar to the common law approach, irrespective of a difference in the (major) sources of law (statutes vs case law). What both approaches have in common is, in particular, that they take an internal perspective on the law rather than the external perspective that characterises the 'law and ...' approaches. The latter can inform the interpretation and application of the law only to a limited extent.

Keywords: jurisprudence, system, common law, comparative law, law and economics, behavioural law and economics

Suggested Citation

Riesenhuber, Karl, English Common Law versus German Systemdenken? Internal versus External Approaches (January 31, 2011). Utrecht Law Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 117-130, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1763249

Karl Riesenhuber (Contact Author)

Ruhr-University Bochum - Faculty of Law ( email )

Universitätsstraße 150
Bochum, NRW 44780
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.rub.de/ls-riesenhuber

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

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