Career Paths into Legal Academia in Scotland

Abstract

This contribution deals with the smallest country represented at the symposium. Its size, how-ever, is not the sole feature that distinguishes Scotland from the others. As a legal system, Scotland sits exactly neither with the Continental systems (represented here by Germany, France and Italy), nor with England. It is, instead, often described as a mixed legal system, sharing features with both Civilian and Common-law systems. This contribution focuses primarily on the position in Scotland. But much of what is discussed will be equally applicable to an English academic, and it is easy to overstate the differences between the two jurisdictions. Where interesting differences exist between the two jurisdictions, an attempt has been made to point them out. Space constraints restrict the assessment to a select few of the myriad of subjects which the topic of academic career paths could include, and some of those selected are permitted only a cursory glance. Particular focus is given to a career in private law, and it must be borne in mind that differences – sometimes significant ones – exist in other areas such as criminology, legal theory and legal history.

Note: This article is published in the Max Planck Private Law Research Paper Series with the permission of the rights owner, Mohr Siebeck. All full-text Rabel Journal articles are available via pay-per-view or subscription at Mohr Siebeck.

Keywords: Scots Law, Academic Career Paths, PhD, Postdoctoral Studies, Lectureship, Professorship, Equality