Comparative Legal Certainty: Legal Families and Forms of Measurement
Mark Fenwick, Mathias Siems and Stefan Wrbka (eds.), The Shifting Meaning of Legal Certainty in Comparative and Transnational Law, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2017, pp. 115-134
23 Pages Posted: 26 Jul 2017
Date Written: May 15, 2017
Abstract
Some scholars claim that there is a sharp legal family divide in legal certainty. This paper disagrees with this view. It discusses the traditional position of a civil law advantage over the common law as well as the challenges to this traditional position. The paper also provides a critical assessment of the quantitative research on questions of legal certainty: it suggests that such a measurement should be based on an expert assessment of the actual results to legal problems. It also suggests that a future indicator should address both legal certainty and legal adaptability as the two corresponding aims which law makers need to balance.
Keywords: legal certainty, legal families, numerical comparative law, common law, civil law, legal certainty index
JEL Classification: K00, K15, K40, O43
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation