CommonLaw Uebersicht - Prof. Dr. Harald Koch

HUB – Juristische Fakultät
Prof. Dr. Harald Koch WS 2010/11
Introduction to Anglo-American Law
- Outline –
A. Preliminaries to the course concept
1. Relevance of foreign law for practitioners, legislators, comparative lawyers
2. Legal process and administration of justice
(instead of overview of a country’s substantive law)
B. 2 exemplary cases
3. Virginia tobacco exported to Europe
Contract law to be applied
Offer and consideration (revocability doctrine)
Acceptance: mailbox hteory (Adams v. Lindsell)
4. Snale in ale: Donoghue v. Stevenson
(Intro. to the law of torts)
C. Administration of justice in England
5. Historical development
Common law and equity:
(1) Early development
(2) Principles of equity
(3) Equitable remedies and institutions
(4) Relationship common law – equity
Divisions of English law
6. Authorities and sources of law
Case law and the doctrine of precedent
Legislation: England and Europe
Law as a fact in civil proceedings: procurement of case law
7. Machinery of justice
The legal profession: barristers and solicitors
Court system and judges
Legal education
Legal aid and advice
8. Basic features of civil procedure
9. Some conspicuous figures characteristic for English law

D. US-American Law
10. Sources of law
Reception of English law in the US:
Differences, resitances, and the Founding Fathers’ visions
U.S. Constitution
Federal administration of justice and jurisdiction
Sources of law and binding force of precedents
(1) Case law and statute law
(2) Precedents and stare decisis
(3) Legal realism, sociologigal jurisprudence and critical legal studies
Legal harmonization: Restatements and Uniform Laws
Common law and equity in the US today
11. Judiciary and the bar: Standing, political influence, legal education
Federal judiciary, in particular the Supreme Court
Judicial review
Bar and legal education
12. Basics of civil procedure
Rulemaking power of the courts
Jurisdiction
Pretrial and trial
Adversary system
Class actions
ADR
13. Topical issues of American law (cf. right of privacy in contraception and
abortion cases; product liability; securities regulation)
Introductory literature (short list):
Darbyshire, English Legal System in a Nutshell (6 th ed. 2004)
Francis Lyall, An Introduction to British Law (2 nd ed. 2002)
Michael Zander, Cases and Materials on the English Legal System (10 th ed. 2007)
Burnham, Intro. to the Law and Legal System of the US (3 rd ed. 2002)
Fletcher/Huber, American Law in a Global Context (2004)
Peter Hay, Law of the US (3 rd ed. 2010)