Comparative Law, Cases, Text, and Materials

This new casebook offers a contemporary approach to the teaching of comparative law. By integrating an up-to-date set of cases, code texts, and scholarly materials drawn from the civil law and common law traditions, as well as from Islamic law and customary law, it captures today’s dynamic and diverse global landscape. The book presents the basics of the civil law and common law traditions, as they have developed historically in England and the European continent, and traces their evolution to the present day by showcasing and dissecting contemporary cases and codes. It does the same for Islamic law and customary law, drawing on scholarly writing and recent judicial and legislative developments. Beyond private law and criminal and civil procedure, the book also covers labor law, digital law, administrative law, and constitutional law.

The casebook relies on comparative law scholarship for the grand outlines of the different legal traditions and hones in on the particular history, lawmaking, and adjudication of a few jurisdictions within each tradition—England, France, Germany, and Brazil for the common law and civil law, Pakistan for Islamic law, South Africa and Ethiopia for customary law. It uses the same strategy for constitutional law, focusing on constitutional adjudication in Germany, the United States, and South Africa. Throughout, the discussion of foreign legal systems is directed at an American law-student audience. Students are asked to compare their own common law and constitutional tradition with that of England and with other traditions, they are assigned American cases for purposes of understanding what is distinctive about American law compared to the rest of the world, and they are asked to think critically about American law in light of what they have learned about other jurisdictions. Examples of this American comparative discussion range from structural aspects, such as adversarial plea bargaining and techniques of constitutional adjudication, to specific controversies such as independent contractor status for Uber drivers, Free Exercise Clause guarantees for religion, customary rights for American Indian tribes, and much more.

Looking to professional life after graduation, this book equips students with the tools necessary to use comparative law in international legal practice, domestic law reform, and work within international organizations. It explains how different types of real-world applications of comparative law have driven the discipline’s historical development and presents concrete examples of comparative-law practice: advocating for US statutory reform and for new directions in constitutional law, exporting best-practice law through the World Bank and other international organizations, unifying law in the European Union and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and litigating international cases in US courts. As the book introduces these various uses of comparative law, it flags the distinct methodological challenges of doing comparative law. The aim is to take students through the steps necessary to do comparative law in their law-school papers and future careers and to alert them to the ethical traps, cultural bias, and other types of obstacles to doing it well.

These foundational elements of the general course in comparative law are flexibly designed. As the casebook surveys legal traditions and real-world applications, it covers a wide array of subject areas—those traditionally at the heart of comparative law, namely private law and criminal and civil procedure, as well as those which have become more prominent in recent decades, including labor law, digital law, administrative law, and constitutional law. For each area, it includes extensive historical overviews as well as contemporary law. It presents scholarly description as well as hands-on analysis of comparative research. This variation allows instructors to tailor the course to their own subject interests, methodological preferences, and pedagogical styles, and makes the materials suitable for both podium courses and small seminars. The accompanying Teacher’s Manual guides the instructor through the book and suggests a variety of options for assigning the chapters depending on the type of course being offered.

Imprint: Foundation Press
Series: University Casebook Series
Publication Date: 04/13/2026