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Introduction to the German Legal System Course at the Law School of Maqsut Narikbayev University, Astana |
16.05.24 |
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Spring Semester 2024; Monday and Friday, 11:50 - 13:05, room 352 resp. 353 |
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Final note
After the end of the course this website has been finished. It will stay available for the purpose of deepening and repetition. Thank you for your interest and commitment. You are always welcome to contact me for any comments or questions. With best wishes for your future studies, yours Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitz
Studies in German law are useful not only because of the growing economic and social relations between Kazakhstan and Germany, which will result in more legal cooperation in the future. Legal studies with a comparative approach broaden the horizon and provide for a better understanding of one's own legal system, its particularities and the alternatives, its strong and weak points and the perspectives of its development. They also facilitate a critical analysis of the domestic jurisprudence, doctrine and practice and often serve as a source of inspiration for innovations and solutions in the own legal system. German law is interesting for such studies not only because it is particularly sophisticated but also because of the common basis in the continental legal tradition and for its highly systematic and methodological approach.
The first part of the course introduces to the general characteristics of the German legal system and presents some fundamentals that are essential for understanding the German law, such as the rooting in the continental-European legal tradition, the German legal culture with its strong systematic and methodological approach, the advanced legal methodology, which has inspired the development of legal methodology in many countries, and the important role of the German judiciary. The second part of the course provides an overview over the various fields of German law and presents basics of German private law (esp. the German Civil Code), criminal law (esp. the German Criminal Code) and public law (both, constitutional and administrative law).
There will be two in-class examinations, a mid-term examination in Week 6 and a final examination in Week 14. Each contributes with 50 % to the final grade. See for more details about this course the course syllabus (available at MNU Canvas).
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Syllabus (→ from MNU Canvas) |
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Special material (A Comparative View on the Judiciary in the modern
Rechtsstaat - the Example of Germany) |
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Diagram 1 (Legal methods in legal practice - overview) |
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Diagram 2 (The spectrum of German law) |
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Diagram 3 (Brief introduction to the principle of the rule of law) |
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How to answer exam questions (preparation for the mid-term examination) |
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Mid-term examination (questions) |
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Final examination (questions) |
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Slides presented in
the lectures (®
aids for illustration) |
Contents (summary/details)
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§ 1 Introduction |
Part I: General characteristics and fundamentals of the German legal system
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§ 2 German law as a continental-European legal system |
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§ 3 Sources of German law |
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§ 4 The German judiciary |
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§ 5 German legal methodology |
Part II: The fields of German law
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§ 6 The general structure of German law |
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§ 7 Basics of German private lawBürg |
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§ 8 Basics of German criminal law |
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§ 9 Basics of German public law |
[A. Public law in general] [B. Journals]
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Fischer, Howard D.: The German Legal System and Legal Language, volume 1 and 2, 7th edition 2021 |
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Koch, Sören: An Introduction to German Legal Culture, in: Koch, Sören; Kjølstad, Marius Mikkel, Handbook on Legal Cultures, 2023, p. 611 ff. |
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Miller, Russel A.: An Introduction to German Law and Legal , 2024 [coming soon] |
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Möllers, Thomas M. J.: Legal Methods. How to work with legal arguments, 2020 [available at the lecturer] |
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Robbers, Gerhard: An Introduction to German Law, 8th 2023 [available at the lecturer] |
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Robbers, Gehard: An Introduction to German Law, 8th edition 2023 [available at the lecturer] |
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Zekoll, Joachim; Wagner, Gerhard (editors): Introduction to Law, 3rd edition 2018 [available at the lecturer] |
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Zippelius, Reinhold: Introduction to German Legal , 2008 [available at the lecturer] |
See on special fields of law also the Bibliographies to the courses German Private Law and German Public Law and the series "German Law Accessible" (C.H. Beck) with many new publications announced for 2024.
B. Journals with frequent contributions on German law in English
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AGLJ : Anglo-German Law Journal, since 2015 |
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ERPL: European Review of Private Law, since 1993 |
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ERPL/REDP: European Review of Public Law / Revue Européene de Droit Public, since 1989 |
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GLJ: German Law Journal, since 2000 |
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Verfassungsblog: Verfassungsblog - On Matters Constitutional, since 2009 |
A. Links concerning the general subject of the course
B. Links concerning special subjects
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concerning § 2 II: The Roman law background: the Corpus Iuris Civilis of 529 to 534 |
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concerning § 2 V: Thomas Schmitz, Towards a globalisation of law? Comments from the European perspective in view of the experiences with the Europeanisation of law (ICILS 2020) |
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concerning § 3: the red lose-leaf collections of laws of the publishing house C.H. Beck |
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concerning § 4: Riedel, Court System in Germany (diagram); Patrick C.R. Terry, Judicial Independence in Germany within the European Context, in: Theoretical and Applied Law 2020, no. 1(3) (with a critical view) |
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concerning § 5: Thomas Schmitz, A brief overview over legal methodology, course material, Yogyakarta 2022/23 (a full overview for advanced studies, including also the methods in legal science) |
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concerning § 7: Abstraction principle (explanation at en-academic.com); Kornel Sadowski, The Abstraction Principle and the Separation Principle in German Law, Adam Mickiewicz University Law Review 4 (2014), 237 ff. (comment by a student); Mira Luthe, Private Autonomy - Duties and Limitations, 2013 (conference report) |
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concerning § 7 VI: Martin Schmidt-Kessel, European Civil Code, in: Max-EuP 2012 (on the discussion about a future European Civil Code) |
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concerning § 8: Michael Bohlander, Principles in German Criminal Law, 2009 (textbook) |
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concerning § 9: German reunification (article at Wikipedia); Thomas Schmitz, Landmarks of constitutional theory, course materials from a course in Yogyakarta, 2022; German Bundestag (homepage); Bundesrat [Federal Council] (homepage); Federal Government (homepage); Federal President (homepage); Federal Constitutional Court (self-presentation); Federal Administrative Court, Administrative Jurisdiction (on the German system of administrative courts); Thomas Schmitz, The Binding Effect of Fundamental Rights in the Interpretation and Application of Administrative Law, Conference Lecture at MNU, 23.04.2024 |