Dualism in Dutch legal education: The Nijmegen Law School

This study presents a pilot project and steps undertaken by Brunel Law School of Brunel University West London (UK) in response to the new challenges and pressures brought by globalisation in higher education. In the last few years there has been emerging consensus in the literature on the importance of internationalisation of higher education and student mobility as a tool for its achievement. Correspondingly, in the UK there has been a significant policy shift from the recruitment of international students to the development of collaborative agendas with overseas institutions and the student experience as the common platforms for the international activities of UK institutions. Thus, the aim of this study is to share with the legal education sector the experience of developing such a process of internationalisation through the design of a sustainable mobility programme for taught postgraduate students which has met the favourable response and financial support of the UK public funding system.     

Meeting the challenges of globalisation in legal education

The focus of this paper is a critical review of the impact of globalisation on international higher education at my own institution, the University of East London (UEL), where I am Programme Leader for LLB (Hons) Law, an undergraduate qualifying law degree. Globalisation, along with internationalisation, has been one of the forces that have most changed the educational landscape in this country over the last two decades. Although closely related to each other, globalisation and internationalisation are usually regarded as distinct forces – the former being defined as the economic, political, and societal forces pushing twenty-first-century higher education towards greater international involvement, while the latter describes the policies and practices of higher education developed to deal with this. Whilst these phenomena have wide implications for higher education as a whole, they present opportunities and challenges that are very specific both to an institution like UEL, which has a high proportion of students from international backgrounds, and to my own discipline, law, which has an increasingly global profile in terms of both legal education and professional practice.     

EMPOWERMENT,INNOVATION, AND SERVICE: LAW SCHOOL PROGRAMS PROVIDE ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND INSTILL A COMMITMENT TO SERVE

Law schools around the country seek to fill the legal needs of their communities in ways that are both innovative and mutually beneficial to clients and students. This article describes five pro bono and clinical programs, at the University of Richmond School of Law, The Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University, Catholic University Columbus School of Law, the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and Vermont Law School, where law students, under the supervision of law professors or community professionals, provide assistance or legal representation to underserved and often marginalized populations needing help with family law problems, including parents accused of abuse and neglect, youth aging out of foster care, homeless families, survivors of domestic violence, homeless veterans with addiction problems, and female prisoners. To develop their programs, the five law schools from the outset collaborated with partners in the community, and they continue to do so as their programs expand and evolve. In addition to helping and empowering clients, these law schools are providing experiential learning opportunities that are transformative for their students. The authors hope that these programs will be instructive for law schools, other academic institutions, the legal community, and community organizations in developing creative collaborations to ensure better access to justice.     

司法竞技、法律诊所与现实主义法学教育——从耶鲁的法律现实主义传统展开

作为法学教育界领袖的耶鲁法学院的崛起绝非偶然,这背后是法学教育理念的变迁轨迹和现实主义法学教育的勃兴。现实主义法学教育是对于兰德尔所创立的案例教学法的批判与修正。其适应了司法竞技主义与对抗式诉讼的需要,是法律人专业化大背景下的一项改革,也是法律职业所面临的道德性与非道德性困局的一种妥协。法律诊所是现实主义法学教育的一个重要载体,契合了学徒式和实践型法学教育模式。相应地,当代美国法学教育的内容、方法、课程设置、师资配备、授课方式等诸多方面发生了重大变革,其背后是理想主义与现实主义之间的抉择。     

Contextualizing the Different Voice: Women,Occupational Goals,and Legal Education*

Essentialist views reporting the existence of distinct gender differences have received much criticism. Despite these critiques, there is little empirical research on the limitations of these approaches in institutions such as law schools. While studies of legal education have been informed by gender difference theory, few have sought to contextualize difference. This study examines gender difference among students attending Harvard Law School. Using survey and interview data, this study demonstrates that difference is mediated by such variables as occupational goals, social class, and race. Implications of differences among women are discussed as they relate to reforms in legal education.     

Scottish legal education after Brexit

ABSTRACT

This paper offers some reflections on the possible consequences of Brexit for legal education in Scotland. Scotland’s small and distinctive legal system is bolstered by devolved legislative powers and characterised by a tradition of openness to external influences. Scotland’s legal system and relatedly, its legal education system, will be poorer for Brexit. That said, this paper argues that the features and traditions of the legal system and legal higher education system in Scotland make them well placed (and perhaps better placed than those in the other domestic jurisdictions) to resist such dampening pressures and indeed to embrace EU legacies and other European and international influences.     

THE "COOLING OUT" OF LAW STUDENTS: Facilitating Market Cooptation of Future Lawyers

This article is concerned with the ways the law school experience eases entry into a stratified market thereby further compromising adversariness in the American legal process. It identifies some dimensions of legal education, broadly construed, which tend to acclimatize some students to existing realities of the job market. Interpreting interview data gathered from first-year students at the University of Wisconsin—Madison Law School, it suggests that socialization to a professional identity can resemble "cooling out" in the ways it reconciles some to accept any employment in lieu of seeking employment more in tune with their personal goals. Such acclimatization thwarts adversariness because, in accepting the dictates of a stratified market, these lawyers are channeled to serve some interests and people to the disadvantage of others.     

Lawyers’ wellbeing and professional legal education

Abstract

THIS PAPER examines the wellbeing and satisfaction levels of lawyers in the workplace. It argues that research suggesting a crisis in the legal profession in the United States is comparable with research on wellbeing and levels of satisfaction for lawyers in Australasia. Some reports in both jurisdictions are critical of conventional legal education and practical legal training programs, which do not encourage students to develop personal and interpersonal skills that can improve self‐awareness, communication skills and the capacity to manage stress and anxiety. Consequently, law students are allowed to assume that these “soft skills” are less important for lawyers compared with cognitive skills such as “knowing the law” and “thinking like a lawyer”.

The paper describes the preliminary results of research conducted with graduates of the School of Law at the University of Newcastle Australia. The results confirm existing research to show that clinical legal education programs that expose law students under supervision to clients with real cases may promote the development of interpersonal skills, which in turn may help them cope with stressors in legal practice, especially in the first few years post‐admission.     

东北人民大学法律系早期历史述略(1950-1953)

1950年代初期,由东北行政学院司法系演化而来的东北人民大学法律系正经历着从干部培训班向综合型大学法律系转型的过程。无论教员个人的教育背景如何,都毫无例外地被纳入到学习苏联和保证教学内容政治正确的轨道中。"苏化"的具体做法包括模仿苏联,建立教研组、教研室制度,翻译苏联的法学教材,模仿其教学内容和教学方法。这就使苏联法学在中国渗入到各个环节。政治化表现为无论是教员还是学生都要参加大量的政治学习。     

Screencasting ethics and values: teaching contemporary legal issues and collective legal values through live screencasting

In the post-LETR environment, many questions still currently hang over the position of ethics and legal values in undergraduate legal education. The clear disjunction between the centrality of ethics in the profession and its absence from education was highlighted by the review as an area of proposed improvement. Furthermore, our students continually seek new mediums to engage with important legal subjects and issues, especially in the age of social media. With this in mind, Plymouth Law School has begun to fill this lacuna through using contemporary video resources to encourage consideration of legal values. This article evaluates live screencasting of current affairs to incite critical reflection upon collective legal values.     

The D. C. Juvenile Court: Social Agency Or A Court Of Law?

The D C Bar Journal sponsored a legal writing competition at Catholic University Law School. The following is an excerpt from the winning paper reprinted from the March-April 1968 issue of the D C Bar Journal of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia     

关于完善中国缺陷产品召回制度的若干问题

Defective product recalling system is a new regime in modern civil law, characterized by its special functions to prevent and eliminate the harms concerning consumers’ body and property due to potential defects of products. In legal nature, it is necessary to define “recalling defective products” as the obligation rather than the liability of manufacturers or sellers, so as to encourage both manufacturers and sellers to take effective remedies immediately upon defective products. Product recalling is of two categories, i.e., active recalling and compulsory recalling, and the breach of such recalling obligation will lead to a series of legal liabilities. Considering the importance of the recalling system and the economic development of China, it is strongly proposed that China shall formulate the Law of Defective Product Recalling. Wang Liming, Ph.D of Law, is currently a vice president of Renmin University of China and dean of the Law School. Prof. WANG is also a member of the Law Committee of 10th and 11th National People’s Congress, vice president of China Law Society. Prof. WANG is a leading expert in the drafting and formulating important civil laws in China, such as the Law of Real Rights of PRC. His main research area is civil and commercial law. Quite a number of his monographs won national academic achievements award, including but not limited to Study on Civil Law Regime (Renmin University of China Press, 2008), Study on General Principles of Civil Law (Renmin University of China Press, 2003), Draft of Law of Real Rights and its Interpretation (China Legality Press, 2001), etc. He also has 100 or so articles published in law journals home and abroad.     

论近代所有权绝对原则遭遇的现代挑战

本文论述了近代所有权绝对原则的产生背景、主要内容及其在具体法制中的体现,并讨论了现代的所有权社会化、法律的泛经济化以及垄断性知识产权思潮对近代所有权绝对原则提出的挑战。     

How Chinese enterprises live in freedom, competition under the rule of law

China has thoroughly amended its corporate law and hastens to formulate an anti-monopoly law. To rebound then deny the planned economy once adopted, China firmly practices marketization reform. However, common-recognized rules haven’t taken shape without sufficient gaming and, lots of quick introduced legislations are only superficial provisions. As the trend of corporate legal system in developed countries, freedom and responsibility are the two contraries but not contradictory directions during the recent reform of China’s corporate law. One is deregulation, e.g., introducing one-person company and the transition from approval system to registration system for the establishment of a company; while the other is adding various provisions of responsibility and liability to the Company Law for controlling shareholders, actual controllers, directors, supervisors and top managers. The Anti-Unfair Competition Law of China not only prescribes unfair competition but also counters monopoly. In general, it mainly focuses on anti-monopoly provisions, to popularize the concept and value of free market, making systematic regulations on any kinds of monopoly. This article reviews its background, process, meaning as well as the problems encountered. As there remains somewhat a mystery that China rapidly develops, it may also reflect a fringe of the reason. Prepared for presentation at the Global Fellows Forum, the Hauser Global Law School Program, New York University School of Law, 25 October 2006. The author is a global research fellow of the Hauser Global Law School Program, NYU School of Law. He is grateful to Jerome Cohen, Eleanor Fox and William Allen for most helpful comments, to J. H. H. Weiler for aborative presiding, and to Hua Xiao, Justin Fong, Alex Wang and Han Han for English language assistance.     

美国法学教育模式利弊检讨

现代意义上的美国法学院始于哈佛法学院院长兰戴尔的法律教育改革,他在教育层次、教育方法、师资等方面为大学法学院设立了标准,法学教育也由此从实务界独立出来.但在法学院追求卓越的过程中,矛盾也日益突出.法学院作为大学专业学院不得不在理论与实践之间寻求平衡,以兼顾教授的学术自由、学生的现实要求与实务界的压力.总的来说,美国法学院在学院定位、教学模式、培养目标等方面存在深层次的矛盾,值得做出认真检讨.     

Contrasting Strategies within the War Crimes Trials of Kesselring and Wolff

This article compares the different ways in which, during the post-war decades, the Allied war crimes trials programme responded to the war criminality of two prominent German officials: Field Marshal Albert Kesselring and SS General Karl Wolff. It explores the question of why Wolff, whose complicity was arguably much greater than that of Kesselring, received more favourable treatment, and the role of various political and geo-political factors, including those influencing the interventions of US intelligence officials, as explanations for this apparent legal discrepancy. Dr. Kerstin von Lingen is a researcher at the Centre for Studies on Experiences in War (SFB 437 “Kriegserfahrungen”) at Tubingen University, Germany; Dr. Michael Salter is Professor of Law at The Law School, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom.     

Using the role-play at the lectern: developing “work-ready” and confident professionals

As Waters notes, the role-play is not traditionally used as a teaching technique in law schools. Educators utilise role-play in many disciplines, including health, business, psychology, economics and literature; yet apart from clinical settings or for teaching practical legal skills, the role-play seems to be underutilised in legal education. An empirical study of 67 law students from the University of Western Australia (UWA) Law School set out to investigate the utility of the role-play as a device for instilling confidence in students and assisting them to prepare for professional practice. Although the classroom and class size were large and teaching took place in a lecture theatre, the role-play worked effectively. Students reported greater knowledge, understanding, confidence and skill with conducting themselves in a professional practice context. The study shows the need to embrace the role-play as an experiential learning technique that can work as effectively in an intensive, large-class setting as it does in smaller or clinical classrooms. The study revealed that the role-play technique worked very well and that the role-play is a versatile and very much “alive” pedagogical technique of value to any law school.     

Mapping the effects of Brexit on legal education in Wales: proposals for addressing students’ concerns

ABSTRACT

Whilst the future for UK–EU relations remains to be realised, Brexit will have consequences for legal education. However, to date, neither the UK nor Welsh Governments have sufficiently addressed what those consequences will be for higher education. This paper, which documents the results of 336 student questionnaires received from law students surveyed from every law school in Wales, evidences that learners have already started to decide what they believe Brexit means for them. Amongst the numerous challenges for Welsh law schools is the opinion of current students that Brexit makes Wales a less attractive place for overseas students and lecturers, both EU and other internationals, to study and work. Meanwhile UK students studying in Wales are questioning the relevance of EU law modules, and are viewing aspirational careers within EU institutions as now being “closed doors”. By drawing upon our findings, as well as comparisons with other EU Member States, this paper proposes six areas where urgent collaboration between governments and universities is needed. Failing to address the concerns identified by this research has the potential to further threaten the internationalised education model that UK students benefit from by studying law at Welsh universities.     

Development of the Nationality Law of China

With the deepening of globalization, many provisions in the Nationality Law of China promulgated in 1980 are already out of time and some provisions are easy to trigger dual nationalities. Consequently, while sticking to the basic principle of the Nationality Law, certain provisions of the Nationality Law of China should be gradually improved according to the present situation of international and domestic development, and the implementing guidelines for the Nationality Law should be introduced to construct a relatively complete legal system to adjust and regulate various relationships of nationality. Song Xixiang, majoring in international law, Hong Kong and Macao law, is a professor of law and the dean of Law School of Shanghai International Studies University. Now, he is also a doctoral candidate of Wuhan University. Meanwhile, Prof. Song is an executive director of the China Society of Private International Law and of the China Society of International Law and of the China Society of International Economical Law, etc. Moreover, he is a vice chairman of Hong Kong and Macao and Taiwan Law Association.