Aims, contents and method of the course:

The course is designed to give students an insight into foreign legal systems and legal ways of thinking and to familiarise them with the methods of comparative law. This is particularly useful as preparation for a later professional activity in an international environment as well as a basis for independent legal research. At the same time, dealing with foreign legal systems sharpens the understanding of one's own law.
In the first part of the course, an overview is given of important legal systems, some of which are formative for the legal systems of other countries. Historical and cultural backgrounds will also be examined in more detail as well as different constitutional approaches. In the second part, individual legal problems  from the field of private law, public law and business law are discussed and their respective solutions in the different legal systems are contrasted and compared.

Method:
The course is a combination of lecture and interactive seminar. In addition to the pure transfer of knowledge, the focus is on the examination of the respective legal systems. In this context, students should make comparisons with their own law. The course is not limited to the study of positive law, but attempts to embed it in the historical, social and cultural context of the respective country.)

Assessment

Written examination

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria:

Students should demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of different legal systems and be able to apply learned content in practical cases. This includes knowledge of certain legal institutions, concepts and terms that shape the respective legal system. Individual legal provisions need only be known in exceptional cases. The exam will be structured in two separate parts, one covering the contents of Comparative Private Law and the second those of Comparative Constitutional Law. The award of marks is based on the correctness, completeness and degree of precision of the answers.

Reading list:

Konrad Zweigert and Hein Kötz, An Introduction to Comparative Law, 3rd ed., Tübingen 1998

Jaakko Husa, A New Introduction to Comparative Law, 2015

Geoffrey Samuel, An Introduction to Comparative Law Theory and Method, 2014

Mark Tushnet, Advanced Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law, 2nd ed., 2018

Thomas Kadner Graziano, Comparative Contract Law, 2nd ed., 2019