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The Experiences of Civil Lawyers When Studying the Common Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 April 2015
Abstract
This article examines the issues experienced by civil lawyers when studying the common law. It considers the extent of the differences between common law and civil law legal systems, examines the challenges which students from civil law jurisdictions face when first exposed to the common law, analyses the various ways in which these challenges may be met, and summarises civilians’ overall impressions of the common law.
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- Copyright © Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore 2013
References
1 The same is doubtless true of common lawyers’ experience of the civil law, but this study focuses exclusively on the experiences of those from civilian backgrounds who pursue academic studies in the common law.
2 The author teaches a twelve-week course entitled “Common Law Reasoning and Writing” to students reading for various LL.M. courses at NUS (see Appendix I). The countries of origin of students taking this course have, in previous years, included Belgium, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. In recent years, for the reasons outlined in Parts II and III.E below, the students required to take the course have come from Asian, rather than European, jurisdictions.
3 In this respect, the author wishes to extend particular thanks to Ariane Lise Michellod Berney (from Switzerland, several of whose views are quoted below) and Teresa Groβman (from Germany, who kindly allowed me to interview her, and whose views, while not specifically quoted, permeate this study), as well as Cai Weimin (from the People’s Republic of China), Tatsuki Nakayama (from Japan) and Deborah Setyabudi (from Indonesia), all of whom willingly shared their experiences in adapting to the common law. All were students in the cohort reading for an LL.M. at NUS during the Academic Year 2009/2010, and Cai Weimin, Tatsuki Nakayama and Deborah Setyabudi took the Common Law Reasoning and Writing course. However, none of these students participated in the student survey (see Appendix II), which was conducted in the following three Academic Years (2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013).
4 See Appendix II.
5 For further discussion of the differing experiences of European and Asian students, see Part III.E below, and for further discussion of the essential similarities between the common law and civil law systems, see Part V below.
6 These include Comparative and International Anti-Corruption Law, International and Comparative Law of Sale in Asia, Chinese Legal Tradition and Chinese, and Comparative State and Religion in Southeast Asia.
7 See Appendix II, Section A.
8 Ariane Lise Michellod Berney.
9 See Appendix II, Section A.
10 Deborah Setyabudi.
11 For further discussion of this point, see Parts IV.B and D below.
12 Deborah Setyabudi.
13 Test of English as a Foreign Language, which evaluates the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic setting. It is administered worldwide by the Educational Testing Service.
14 International English Language Testing System, the academic version of which assesses the skills of individuals wishing to enrol in universities and other institutions of higher education. It is jointly administered by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council and IDP Education Pty Ltd.
15 It is, however, possible to design courses which develop English skills through the use of legal materials. One such course was very successfully initiated by Dr. Maria Luisa Sadorra of the Centre for English Language Communication at the National University of Singapore.
16 See Appendix II, Section B.
17 See Appendix II, Section C.
18 See infra n. 27 and accompanying text.
19 See Appendix II, Section C.
20 Ibid.
21 See too infra n. 26 and accompanying text.
22 See Appendix II, Sections A and B.
23 Ariane Lise Michellod Berney.
24 Deborah Setyabudi.
25 Deborah Setyabudi.
26 See too supra n. 21 and accompanying text.
27 Cai Weimin.
28 Ariane Lise Michellod Berney.
29 Tatsuki Nakayama.
30 Deborah Setyabudi.