Judicial Recourse To Foreign Law

Accessible and clearly structured, this is the first book to include examinations of public and private law in the discussion about access to foreign laws. With commentaries by an international collection of leading judges in the field, it looks at the practice in a range of countries spread across the globe. In jurisprudence an exchange of ideas is essential, as there is no monopoly of wisdom. Legal convergence is particularly beneficial to both public law, as constitution building is done in so many parts of the world, and to commercial law, where enhanced communication, trade and information mean that people have to work more closely together. This book: examines the theme of judicial mentality and how it helps or hinders recourse to foreign ideas raises and addresses the dangers that accompany comparative law and judicial creativity looks at the practice in America, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, South Africa and at the European Court of Justice. Ideal for practitioners and academics, it is an essential read for those working in or studying jurisprudence at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

Should judges in United States courts be permitted to cite foreign laws in their rulings? In this book Jeremy Waldron explores some ideas in jurisprudence and legal theory that could underlie the Supreme Court's occasional recourse to foreign law, especially in constitutional cases. He argues that every society is governed not only by its own laws but partly also by laws common to all mankind (ius gentium). But he takes the unique step of arguing that this common law is not natural law but a grounded consensus among all nations. The idea of such a consensus will become increasingly important in jurisprudence and public affairs as the world becomes more globalized.

Based upon empirical research, this work focuses on the structure and culture of cross-border legal interaction. It aims to describe the environment with which actors of cross-border exchanges are confronted and have to cope, and attempts to define the present and future role of domestic courts.

Judicial Cosmopolitanism: The Use of Foreign Law in Contemporary Constitutional Systems offers a detailed account of the use of foreign law by supreme and constitutional Courts of Europe, America and East Asia.

Lauterpacht, H[ersch]. The Function of Law in the International Community. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933. xxvi, 470 pp. Reprinted 2000 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 00-022124. ISBN 1-58477-090-2. Hardcover. * Lauterpacht disputes the widely held viewpoint in the international community that international law has inherent limitations and is incapable of unification, and presents his treatise in a well-researched technical format. "While on the surface Dr. Lauterpacht's study is an analysis of the judicial process, it embraces practically the whole philosophy of international law. However, it is less the scope than the manner of handling the subject which makes this book one of the most outstanding contributions to the science of international law." Francis Deak, Columbia Law Review 34:797. Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University 637.

In The Role of Legal Advisers in International Law prominent international legal professionals provide a range of original insights on the position of legal advisers and their vital contribution to the development, interpretation and application of international law.

This new volume contains fourteen national reports and a General Report on the use of comparative law by courts, which were presented at the XIVth International Congress of Comparative Law in Athens. It provides a general survey of the frequency and methods of a comparative recourse to foreign law by courts, describing both the methods of such recourse and the typical fields in which it is undertaken. The reports offer an interesting cross-section of contemporary court practice from a wide variety of countries around the world andndash; large and small, unitary and federal, and with differing historical backgrounds. All demonstrate the needs of national courts to look to foreign law for inspiration or as a model for dealing with new, unsettled issues of national law, and the reports illustrate well the impact of divergent traditions, attitudes and surrounding circumstances. Of special interest are both the role of comparative law and the comparative method employed in the practice of a supranational court, such as the European Court of Justice. In addition to the General Report, this volume contains national reports from the following countries: Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States of America.