Form and Substance in (Comparative Study of Legal Reasoning, Legal Theory, and Legal Systems)

Author: Atiyah (USA), Summers (USA), translated by Jin Min, Chen Linlin, Wang Xiaohong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book aims to discuss a series of important issues related to reasoning, legal theory, legal systems, and legal institutions, and deepens the understanding of these issues through comparative methods. It conducts a comparative analysis of the legal reasoning, legal theory, and legal systems of the United Kingdom and the United States. Furthermore, it delves into the historical traditions, political cultures, and psychological aspects of the two countries to trace the profound roots of their differences in legal reasoning, legal theory, and legal systems. The authors summarize the main differences between the two countries as the formality of British law and the substantiality of American law. From the perspective of the authors' methodology, it is a perfect combination of form and substance—both providing evidence-based empirical analysis and appropriately applying substantial reasoning methods. The research in this book covers both legal theory and comparative law, focusing on the main differences in the overall style of legal characteristics and reasoning between the United Kingdom and the United States, which we respectively term "formal" and "substantial." In the process of confirming and explaining these differences, we find it necessary to establish a rather sophisticated theoretical framework for "formality," which we consider a characteristic or attribute of a legal system. We hope this itself constitutes an original contribution to legal theory. If our conclusions about the differences between British and American law are correct, then this is also a contribution to comparative law research. By observing the overall characteristics of British and American law through the distinction between "form and substance," readers can gain a deeper understanding of these two legal systems.