Announcements - Next Wednesday, 4/11, all sections will meet at the Law Library. Outside the building or in the Foyer if it is raining. There will be a required in section exercise to do.

The American Legal System in Comparative Perspective I.The Presidential and Parliamentary Models of Government

Presidential (e.g. US)Parliamentary (e.g. European) Executive-elected by voters -single & autonomous -elected by parliament, multi- member gov. Cabinet-responsible to president-responsible to parliament Legislature-autonomous (separation of powers) -fused to executive Elections-regular-irregular Judicial Power-judicial review- no judicial review Territory-federal (divided sovereignty) -unitary (unified sovereignty)

II. Common Law and Civil Law Traditions Compared Common LawCivil Law Hierarchy of Norms Statute or Constitution Civil Code Basis of Decisions Precedent, other laws Civil Code Drafters of LawJudges, lawyers, politicians Legal Scholars Courts and Judges -judicial review -activated by political interests -no judicial review -civil servants

(II. Common Law and Civil Law comp., cont.) Are they really that different? A. Legal argumentation approaches - Anglo-American use of precedent - European Continental Judge and code B. Legal argumentation in practice - Continent judge uses past case law - British judge uses precedent to highlight common rule or code

III. Judicial Review and the Common Law (US) and Civil Law Models Compared A.Judicial Review 1. American Judicial Review: when judges declare acts of the legislature as unconstitutional 2. Civil law judiciary subordinate to the legislature (no judicial review powers)

(III. Judicial Review compared, cont.) B. Separation of Powers 1. US co-equal branches (exc, leg, jud) empowers judges 2. Civil Law judiciary is not a co-equal branch C. Difference in hierarchy of legal norms - Constitution versus statute at the apex

Common Law(U.S.) Civil Law (Trad. Europe) Judicial Review yesNo - for ordinary judges Separation of Powers 3 branches with equal power (exec., legis., jud.) Parliamentary sovereignty/ Judicial inferiority Hierarchy of Norms ConstitutionStatute

IV. Distinctive Features of the American Legal System A.Decentralized B.Common Law Tradition C.Adversarial Legalism 1. Large legal profession 2. Citizen Juries D. Individual Rights and Limited Government