Book Title: Legal Methods: Case Analysis and Statutory Interpretation (5th Edition)

Publisher: West Academic

Abstract: This chapter introduce comparative law to an American audience. It explains the origins of the common law and the civil law and how their different histories effect their respective legal methods, such as the use of case law vs jurisprudence, their different styles of legislative drafting and methods of statutory interpretation, even the way law is taught at university. It also gives an introduction to non-Western legal traditions such as adat laws, Hindu law, Islamic law, Buddhist and Chinese legal traditions. Finally it discusses legal pluralism and its place in our world today.