Comparative Legal Traditions-[Second Edition]

Author: Gren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Comparative Legal Traditions is a concise reader for comparative law courses in U.S. law schools. Based on the practical needs and academic interests of American lawyers, the book selects several major legal systems in the West and presents in-depth yet accessible discussions and comparisons. This is the second edition from 1999, divided into four parts: "Introduction to Comparative Legal Studies," "Civil Law Tradition," "Common Law Tradition," and "European Supranational Law and Institutions." Compared to their counterparts in European countries and developing nations, the U.S. legal community has relatively insufficient emphasis on comparative law. In the introduction, the author reflects on this issue, analyzes the reasons, and discusses the significance, purpose, and utility of comparative law within this context. In terms of research methodology, the author emphasizes the importance of functionalism and contextualism and explores the concept of "legal tradition." Here, "tradition" refers not to a fixed past but to a dynamic and vibrant system that has been shaped by long historical and remains relevant today. The title "Comparative Legal Traditions" rather than "Comparative Law" reflects the author's stance of moving beyond statutory law to focus on systemic legal studies.
After the introduction, the author dedicates four-fifths of the book to introducing the two major Western legal traditions: the Civil Law Tradition and the Common Law Tradition, which we more commonly refer to as the civil law system and the common law system. The book explores the historical origins, cultural backgrounds, dissemination, organizational structures, professional groups, legal procedures, sources of law, and branches of these two traditions. However, it is worth noting that the discussion of the Common Law Tradition primarily focuses on English law. American law, though an important branch of the common law system, is not systematically introduced but rather appears as a backdrop and is intermittently referenced throughout the book in the context of other legal traditions. This reflects the book's American perspective, something Chinese readers should be mindful of.
In the 1982 edition, the author included the Socialist Legal Tradition alongside Civil Law and Common Law as one of the three major legal traditions of Western civilization, discussing it with equal depth. A significant change in the second edition was the removal of this section, replaced by a brief introduction to the European Union legal system and the European human rights protection mechanism, covering their history, objectives, institutions, and scope.
The book has three authors, two of whom also contributed to the 1982 edition. Mary A. Gren is a professor at Harvard Law School, a renowned scholar, and has written extensively in the fields of comparative law, constitutional law, human rights, and legal philosophy. Her notable works include Rights Talk (1991), A Nation Under Lawyers (1994), and A World Made New (2001). She graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, earning a Juris Doctor (JD) degree in 1961 and a Master of Comparative Law in 1963. Gren was one of the three authors of the 1982 edition, then a professor at Boston College Law School.
The other author is Michael W. Gordon, a professor at the University of Florida Law School, specializing in comparative law, corporate law, and international commercial law. He graduated from the University of Connecticut Law School in 1963, earning an LL.B. (the old name for a Juris Doctor degree). Gordon was also an author of the 1982 edition. The relatively younger author is Paul G. Carozzi, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1989 with a Juris Doctor (JD) degree and is now an associate professor at Notre Dame Law School. His main research areas include international law, international human rights, European and Latin American legal systems, comparative law, and legal philosophy.
The book is well-structured, comprehensive in content, and concise in language, making it an excellent resource for Chinese readers to understand Western legal traditions and learn legal English.