COMPARATIVE LAW
LESSON 1.- FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPARATIVE LAW
A FIRST APPROACH: WHY DO WE STUDY COMPARATIVE LAW?
In the natural and medical sciences, and in sociology and economics, as well, discoveries and
opinions are exchanged internationally (no sense “German physics”, “British microbiology”
or “Canadian geology”). These branches of science are international and the contributions
too.
▪ The position of legal science is different:
5Roman law was the essential source of all law on the Continent of Europe, and
similar unity in the Common Law in the English speaking world.
On the European continent, however, legal unity began to disappear in the eighteenth
century as national codes were put in the place of traditional Roman law.
The consequence was that lawyers concentrated exclusively on their own legislation,
and stopped looking over the border. At a time of growing nationalism, this legal
narcissism led to pride in the national system. Germans thought German law was the
best one, and the French thought the same of French law: national pride became the
hallmark (“sello de calidad”) of juristic thought.
▪ Comparative law started to put an end to such narrow-mindedness. (“estrechez de miras”).
A CONCEPT OF COMPARATIVE LAW
WHAT IS COMPARATIVE LAW?
Comparative Law is the comparison* of the different legal systems of the world (at least,
two). It is a study of the relationship between legal systems or between rules of more than one
system.
*What does “compare” mean?: discovery, explanation and evaluation of similarities and
differences.
▪ Comparative Law can be said to describe the systematic study of particular legal traditions
and legal rules on a comparative basis.
What is the nature of comparative law?:
- It is a branch of law, like “family law” or “property law”?
- Is there any identifiable body of rules known as “comparative law”?
