Comparative Law Approaches, Chinese Legal Traditions, and European Integration

Legal families approach to comparative law

Method of comparison that groups legal systems into categories (such as common law or civil law) based on shared institutional structures and sources of law.

Legal traditions approach to comparative law

Method that examines legal systems through their historical development, culture, philosophy, and underlying values over time.

Orthogenesis

The idea that legal systems evolve internally according to their own historical logic rather than primarily through borrowing from other systems.

Normative information

Information that prescribes how people ought to behave by expressing rules, values, or standards rather than describing facts.

Synchronic tendency of legal families

Focus on comparing legal systems as they exist at the same moment in time.

Diachronic focus of legal traditions

Emphasis on studying how legal systems develop and change across history.

Chthonic law

An indigenous legal tradition grounded in custom, community practices, spirituality, and close connection to the land.

Torture

The intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering to obtain confessions, punish, or intimidate, historically used as a legal tool.

Trial by ordeal

A method of determining guilt by subjecting an accused person to dangerous tests believed to reveal divine judgment

European Coal and Steel Community

A post-World War II organization created to integrate coal and steel production among European states to prevent future conflict.

European Economic Community

An economic organization established to create a common market among European states, forming the foundation of today's European Union.

Federal Constitutional Court (Germany)

Germany's highest constitutional court, responsible for enforcing the Basic Law and protecting fundamental rights.

Objective order of values

Doctrine holding that the constitution embodies binding moral values that guide all areas of law.

Abortion case (Germany)

German constitutional decisions holding that human dignity and the right to life extend to unborn life.

Lüth case

Landmark German case establishing that constitutional rights influence private law and relations between private individuals.

Holocaust denial case

German cases allowing limits on speech that denies the Holocaust in order to protect human dignity and democratic order.

Brexit: reasons for leaving

Desire to restore national sovereignty, control immigration, reduce EU regulation, and reassert democratic self-governance.

Lisbon Treaty

EU treaty that strengthened supranational institutions and expanded the EU's legal and political authority.

Complications of Brexit

Legal, economic, and political difficulties including trade barriers, regulatory divergence, and the Northern Ireland border issue.

Boris Johnson and Brexit

UK political leader who championed Brexit and negotiated the UK's withdrawal agreement with the EU.

Likely consequences of Brexit

Reduced access to EU markets, increased legal complexity, and long-term economic adjustment.

Great Britain as Monty Python's "black knight"

Metaphor describing Britain's insistence on sovereignty despite diminished practical power.

British "constitution": do the Brits have one?

Yes; it is uncodified and consists of statutes, judicial decisions, conventions, and customs rather than a single written document.

Constitutional conventions

Unwritten rules guiding political conduct that are not legally enforceable but are politically binding.

Parliamentary supremacy

Principle that Parliament is the highest legal authority and may create or repeal any law.

Government of laws idea

Concept that authority is exercised according to legal rules rather than personal discretion.

Ultimate sovereignty

The final source of legal authority in a system; in Britain, this lies with Parliament.

Role of law in Chinese society

Historically a tool of governance used to maintain order rather than protect individual rights.

Importance of harmony in Chinese society

Social harmony is prioritized over confrontation, influencing legal and dispute-resolution practices.

Approach to disputes in traditional Chinese society

Preference for mediation and moral reconciliation instead of formal litigation.

Attitude toward lawyers in traditional Chinese society

Often viewed negatively as disruptive to social harmony.

Origin of law according to traditional Chinese folk beliefs

Law understood as emerging from moral order and cosmic balance rather than abstract rules.

Acknowledgment of one's own faults in a dispute

Moral self criticism encouraged as part of restoring harmony.

Quality of judges in ancient China

Judges valued primarily for moral character and wisdom rather than technical legal training.

Confucianism:

central ideas, relevance to law Philosophy emphasizing moral virtue, hierarchy, ritual, and relational justice over formal legal rules.

The Legalists

School of thought advocating strict laws, harsh punishments, and strong state authority to maintain order.

Chinese custom and private law

Social and economic relations governed largely by custom rather than formal legal rules.

Codification in modern China: significance

Symbol of modernization and state authority, while law remains politically instrumental.

Chinese courts and Weber's substantive irrationality

Courts decide cases based on policy, morality, and relationships rather than consistent legal logic.

Mao's "Common Program"

Foundational document outlining socialist governance principles before a formal constitution.

Principle of legality in China

Law exists but operates under the leadership and priorities of the Communist Party.

Reasons for new laws passed after Mao

Economic reform, market regulation, foreign investment, and restoration of legal order.

Role of law under the CCP today

Instrument for governance, stability, and policy implementation rather than a limit on Party power