Penser par cas : A common law perspective

Abstract

Legal education in the common law world is marked by an emphasis on cases and teaching through cases. This is understandable in light of the importance of cases as a distinct source of law. While differences exist in common law jurisdictions, there is a common reliance on cases to teach not only the substance of the law but also legal method, legal process and the context in which the legal system operates : this is so both in the United Kingdom and Ireland and the United States where the case method strictly understood has become the « signature pedagogy » of legal education. Teaching through the cases has undoubted advantages in socialising students into the world of law and helping them understand how legal rules apply in practice in a number of senses. Yet it can also be somewhat artificial and leave a gap in the law student’s legal education that can only be filled by exposure to the reality of legal practice. This has led to calls for a higher level of practical or clinical legal education in universities. The new teaching by cases involves teaching through student involvement in real or simulated cases in real or realistic legal practice settings. In terms of substantive law, teaching by the case has had to adapt to new bodies of law, such as EU law. As law schools across Europe consider how best to teach EU law, what role do and should cases play ? Thinking and teaching by the case continues to define the common law approach to legal education yet to some extent it is a question of emphasis and of priority. As law schools face common challenges of teaching EU law effectively and incorporating more practical legal education in the curriculum, there may be increasing convergence in approaches to legal education across Europe in the coming decades.