Common Law, Civil Law, and Supranational Law: Clashes of Interpretation
Abstract:
This article argues that a fundamental misunderstanding has led to the perception that the common law and the civil law trend in the same direction, drawing closer together. This understanding is based on a particular notion of the role of the judiciary and of legal sciences more broadly, which entrusts courts with the power to develop the law incrementally and piecemeal, allowing the law evolve outside or beyond the political process. This approach underestimates the differences between adjudication cultures and their understandings of legal interpretation and legal change.
Recommended Citation: Andrea Pin, Common Law, Civil Law, and Supranational Law: Clashes of Interpretation, 48 Fordham Int'l L.J. 437 (2025).