International Law and Comparative Law, LLB

Law is often seen from largely or purely from a particular jurisdictional or cultural standpoint. The LLB (Hons) International Law and Comparative Law programme is different. At the outset of their studies, students become familiar with the levels at which law operates in a global context, including individual jurisdictions, states and the international order. Students then discover the ways in which cultural ideas about law cross traditional jurisdictional and state boundaries, dynamically shaping and reshaping notions of justice and legal practice in the process. Using the tools of comparative law, students are trained to see law from a variety of different perspectives. Seeing law from such different perspectives fosters understanding and respect for the radically different assumptions of other legal traditions and cultures, enabling students to recognise and question the Euro-centric, Western assumptions that often underpin law as a form of political power. The course ensures that students are grounded in some of the central ideas of civilian and common law traditions and given the tools to challenge the intellectual underpinnings of this contrast. Students will also see the ways in which clear understanding of differences between those traditions can facilitate powerful, transformative legal dialogues. The courses selected for the programme consider these themes in light of legal theory and black-letter law. More details:https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree-programmes/1975/M130/international-law-and-comparative-law/