Chapter 7 presents German private law with special consideration given to the Civil Code. The coverage includes the history of the Code, its structure and contents, and its conceptual and methodological style. The way in which the German Civil Code differs from the French Code Civil is also discussed. The function and practice of the Civil Code are demonstrated through a suretyship case, which places the Akzessorietätsgrundsatz at the center of the dispute.

Chapter 9 considers German administrative law as part of the public law framework. The wide range of fields covered by administrative law are discussed. Administrative law disputes involving Muslim halal slaughter are used to present the administrative law framework and to consider the influence of the Islamic Law tradition in the German legal culture.

Chapter 1 introduces students to the various approaches used to pursue comparative legal studies. It especially presents the orthodox “legal families“ approach to macro-comparative law. The chapter then considers several critiques of that tradition. H. Patrick Glenn challenges the concept of “legal families“ and suggests a “legal traditions” framework to replace it. The chapter then presents the social-contextual approach to comparative law as promoted by Legrand. Finally, the chapter urges students to recognize the ethical implications of comparative law through Frankenberg’s concepts of “distancing” and “differencing.”

Chapter 5 is the second of three chapters laying a basic foundation in German law and politics. The chapter presents the key institutions of German politics and law. It starts with a presentation of the German states and federalism. It then focuses on the strength of the chancellor in governance, including law-making and executive power. The chapter then presents the German judicial system, presenting the decentralized and specialized nature of the German judicial framework.

Chapter 12 considers the Europeanization of German law, resulting from the integration of Germany into the European Union and its project of harmonization of law. Basic devices for this process are explained, such as the direct effect and supremacy of European law. The tension this has created in German private law is demonstrated with a case study of the European antidiscrimination directive, which Germany reluctantly implemented. The case study presents a dispute under the German domestic regime that was eventually enacted. That dispute involved discrimination in the employment context on the basis of the applicant’s background growing up in East Germany. The tensions between the Europeanization of law and German constitutional law are also discussed.

Chapter 4 is the first of three chapters laying a basic foundation in German law and politics. The chapter focuses on German legal history, including a deep history dating from the Roman encounters with the German barbarians up to the codification movement in the nineteenth century. The deep history shows how Germanic customary law, Roman Law, and Canon Law mixed to form modern German law. The chapter then shows how the process of development proceeded differently for private law (leading to the great codification of private law) and public law (with a tumultuous process of constitutionalization).

Chapter 8 presents German constitutionalism as an example of the rising relevance of the Common Law tradition in the German legal culture. The historical development of constitutionalism is discussed, focusing on the postwar Grundgesetz (Basic Law), which emphasizes human dignity and the rule of law as part of the objective order of values it establishes. The doctrine of Drittwirkung (horizontal effect) is discussed using a private law suretyship case (similar to the case presented in Chapter 7) to show how the constitutional order now impacts private law.

Chapter 2 presents the Civil Law tradition, which has been a predominant influence in the German legal culture. Grosswald Curran’s excerpt juxtaposes the Civil Law’s enlightenment characteristics with the Common Law’s romantic characteristics. The systematic, coherent, codified qualities of the Civil Law fuel the ambition for a scientifically objective legal framework. This, in turn, leads to a smaller role for judges and a larger role for legal scholars.

Chapter 11 presents the central elements of German procedural law before focusing more specifically on private law procedure and criminal law procedure. German procedural law is widely treated as an example of inquisitorial justice. The chapter uses articles from renowned comparative law scholar John Langbein to consider the unique features of German procedural law in the private and criminal law setting. The increasingly adversarial character of private law procedure is discussed using the example of class action suits. The increasing adversarial character of criminal law procedure is discussed using the example of plea bargains.

Chapter 13 is a closing epilogue that summarizes the book’s thesis, namely, that the German legal system is the site of encounters amongst a variety of legal traditions. To animate and illustrate that argument a final time, an article discussing the Common Law and Civil Law characteristics of German constitutional law is presented for discussion.

Chapter 10 presents German criminal law focusing on the Schuldprinzip (principle of blameworthiness), which is part of the three-step criminal law analysis in Germany (including elements of the crimes, illegality, and blameworthiness). The function and practice of German criminal law is demonstrated in two case studies, including the Frankfurt Police Torture Case and the fictional case of a pilot who shot down a plane that had been hijacked by terrorists.