Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: We Should Look to Legal Theory to Inform the Teaching of Substantive Law" was inspired by the author"s active involvement in curriculum design and review of University courses delivering legal education in the United Kingdom.The article attempts to articulate and present formally what has long existed in some practice in Higher Education, and in this respect there is no aspiration to originality.The argument is carried through two linked propositions.First, that any legal curriculum should be guided by a purpose, or set of purposes.Second, that legal theory should be an important source for the acquisition of such purposes.The first section conducts an analysis of the propositions advanced.The second briefly sets out the case for purpose being inherent to rational design.The third section is an attempt to demonstrate the necessity of resort to legal theory, when possible, in preference to other potential sources of theoretical guidance.The fourth section attempts to put some flesh on the bones of the argument through an example.Finally, a brief conclusion tries to identify the place of the argument in the practice of legal education in the United Kingdom. Contents Purposeful interpretation Authoritative approbation renders an interpretation true Social and physical effects of legal interpretationReturn to the argument Examples of the use of Legal Theory to inform the design of curricula Conflicts between original owner and purchaserThe conflict between certainty of disposition and loyalty to intention The tension between "family" and "commercial" applications of the law Reflection upon purposes The mediation of legal theory through professional experience References
Author: Graham Ferris
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2601842179