The aims of legal education
Legal education general has a number of theoretical and practical aims, not all of which are pursued simultaneously. One aim is to make a student familiar with legal concepts and institution and with characteristics modes of reasoning. Like most intellectual disciplines the law has its technical concepts, frequently expressed in technical terms. All lawyers must become acquainted with process of making law, setting disputes; they must study the structure of government and the organization of courts of law, including the system of appeals.
Another aim of legal education is he teaching of law in its social, economic, and scientific context. While law schools have never ignored the social context of their subject, Anglo-American legal education has always been less interdisciplinary than that of continental Europe. With the development of a scientific approach to social studies in the 20th century, however, this is changing. Some law schools appoint economists, psychologists, or sociologists to their stuffs, while other require or permit their students to take courses outside the law school as part of their work toward degree. This awareness of the other social studies is thought to be more advanced in the United States than in Great Britain. Continental legal education tends to be highly interdisciplinary, with non-legal subjects compulsory for students taking their first degree in law.
The chief materials are the same everywhere: codes (where these exist), reports of court decisions, legislation, government and other public reports, textbooks, and articles in learned periodicals. The aim is not so much that the student should remember “the law” as that he should understand basic concepts and methods and become sufficiently familiar with a law library to carry put the necessary research on any legal problem that may come his way.
TRENDS IN LEGAL EDUCATION
Modern legal education is expanding both in quantity and in scope, and university legal education has become dominant everywhere. The opportunities for university and professional education in law increased greatly after World War II. In England and Wales, for example, where before the war only the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and London produced significant numbers of law graduates, there are now more than 50 academic law departments. A particularly noteworthy development has been the increase in female law students, now consisting 30 to 40 percent of law students in most countries. The number of students admitted to law schools in the United States tripled between 1961 and 1980. After that demand for legal education began to level off and even decline.
Since the late 1960s universities in several countries have departed from the rigidity of the prescribed syllabi to allow a greater range of student choice in selecting subjects. In most countries, more attention is paid to foreign legal systems, transnational law, and comparative law. In some countries non-legal subjects have long been part of the syllabus, in others where law as a first degree specialization has comprised only law studies; there has been a tendency to include non-legal studies, joint courses in law and social subjects, or a more sociological approach to law.
Most law schools are trying to find a middle path between being mere trade schools or citadels of pure theory. The criticism is often made that made these efforts result in a type of education that is not practical enough to be really useful in resolving day-to-day legal problems but not as rigorously theoretical as a truly academic disciple ought to be.
1. What are main spheres in which any lawyer should get a basic knowledge?
2. What are the main differences in Anglo-American and continental ways of law studying?
3. Can the main purpose of legal education be described as knowledge of “the law”? Why?
4. When was the sudden turn in the amount of law school graduates in 20th century?
5. What were the only universities in Great Britain before World War II where students could get a degree in law?
6. Is there a tendency in some countries to include only non legal studies or to expand syllabi?
7. What is a criticism of law schools which follow the path of being something in between of classical citadels of pure theory and trade schools?
DIALOGUE
ENGLISH LAW
A: I should like to read English law. What university could you recommend me?
B: If I were you I would choose the Law Faculty at Cambridge University.
A: How many subjects are studied in the Law Faculty at Cambridge?
B: 25 subjects.
A: Which subjects do the law students study at this university?
B: They have a wide choice of law subjects. They are as follows: Roman Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Criminology, International Law, etc.
A: What kinds of degree are there in English universities?
B: In English universities there are several different kinds of degree, depending on the level of specialization. Most students studying at university for the first time take a normal degree, called a first degree. This kind of students is called an undergraduate. Some students continue to study or return to university some years later to take a second more specialized degree called a Master`s degree. This kind of students is called a postgraduate.
A: Does the course give an academic legal education or teach students to become lawyers?
B: The Law course at Cambridge University is intending to give a thorough grounding in the principles of law viewed from an academic rather than a vocational perspective. There are opportunities to study the history of Law and to consider the subject in its wider social context. The emphasis is on principle and technique.
A: What intellectual abilities does the law course develop?
B: Skills of interpretation and logical reasoning are developed, and students are encouraged to consider broader questions such as ethical judgement, political liberty and social control.
A: Do all Cambridge Law undergraduates become lawyers?
B: Most Cambridge Law undergraduates who read law do so with the intention of practicing, many do not, preferring instead to go into administration, industrial management or accountancy.
A: Should people who want to read Law study any particular subject at school?
B: Candidates intending to read law need not have studied any particular subject at school. It is as common for undergraduates to have a scientific or mathematical background at A-level as it is for them to have studied history or languages.
A: How many years does a first degree course last?
B: A first degree course lasts 3 years.
A: How many subjects do the undergraduates study?
B: Undergraduates reading law for three years study14 subjects.
A: Can students choose the subjects they study in the first and second years of the law course?
B: In the first year of the law course the students cannot choose the subjects they study. They study Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, The Law of Tort and Roman Law. In the second year five subjects are studied. The range of subjects on offer is wide – from Family Law to International Law. In the third year five subjects are studied. The range of options is even wider than in the second year of the Law course. The students take examinations at the end of the first and second year. Candidates may also participate in the seminar course, submitting a dissertation in place of the paper.
A: How many exams do postgraduates take?
B: Candidates for the postgraduate L.L.M. take any four papers selected from a wide range of options in England Law, Legal History, Civil Law, International Law, and Comparative Law and Legal Philosophy.
A: Thank you for your information.
Grammar Exercises
Comparison of adjectives
| Adjectives of: | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| One syllable | Long | Longer than | The longest of/in |
| Adjectives of: | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Two syllables ending -y, -w, -er. | Happy | Happierthan | The happiest of/in |
| Two or more syllables | Modern beautiful | More modern than More beautiful than | The most modern of/in The most beautiful of/in |
1. We use the comparative to compare two people or things and the superlativeto compare three or more people or things.
Ex. : Jenny is younger than Mary. Jenny is the youngest of all her friends.
2. We use than with the comparative and the … of/in with the superlative. We use in with the superlative, usually when we refer to places.
Ex. : London is bigger than Leeds. It is the biggest city in England.
3. Some adjectives form their comparatives either by adding –er/-est or with more/most.
Some of these are: clever, stupid, narrow, gentle.
Clever – clever – the cleverest or clever – more clever – the most clever.
Spelling
Adjectives ending in:
| -e→-r/-st | -y→-ier/-iest | One stressed vowel between two consonants – double the consonant |
| Large– larger – largest | Heavy – heavier – heaviest | Big –bigger - biggest |
Irregular forms
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
| Good/well Bad/badly Much Many/a lot of Little Far | Better Worse More More Less Further/farther | Best worst most most least further/farthest | Further/farther = longer (in distance) Ex. : I can’t run any further/farther. Further=more There is no further news at the moment. |
I. Write the comparative (older/more modern etc.)
1. Old – older
2. Strong –
3. Happy –
4. Careful –
5. Important –
6. Bad –
7. Difficult –
8. Large
9. Far –
10. Serious –
11. Crowded –