The DOI matches its Crossref record; 68 of the 68 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 3 of the 52 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Methodology of Comparative Legal Research
Open accessAbstract
Methodology of Comparative Legal Research: In this paper, an attempt is made to work out a methodology for comparative legal research, which goes beyond the ‘functional method’ or methodological scepticism. The starting point is the idea that we need a ‘toolbox’, not a fixed methodological road map, and that a lot of published, but largely unnoticed, research outside rule and case oriented comparative law offers varying approaches, which could usefully be applied in comparative research. Six methods have been identified: the functional method, the structural one, the analytical one, the law-in-context method, the historical method, and the common core method. Basically, it is the aim of the research and the research question that will determine which methods could be useful. Moreover, different methods may be combined, as they are complementary and not mutually exclusive.This paper focuses on scholarly comparative legal research, not on the use of foreign law by legislators or courts, but, of course, the methodological questions and answers will largely overlap.
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Claims the paper makes
133 Own interpretation · 29 Sources not found · 19 No full text of the sources · 4 No basis given · 1 Supported · 1 Partly supported · 1 Couldn’t confirm · 1 Own result · accuracy not yet measured
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“The import of European family law in most African countries during colonization times, and kept after that, is a clear example of failed transplants because of a quite different cultural context”
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > 7. Conclusion
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Van Hoecke 2012
The Introduction (page unavailable) says legal transfers often failed because they did not fit local legal culture and identifies European-to-African family law as its subject. Sections 3 and 5 describe colonial family-law transfers persisting after decolonisation alongside customary family law in most African countries; the discussion of tensions between state and customary law gives examples of imported rules failing in practice. (LLM, conf=0.88)
boostedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“It is true that legal systems can only be correctly understood in their own language, from their own internal perspective”
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > 6. Tertium comparationis
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Valcke 2012 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Conclusion (page unavailable) says that understanding legal systems on their own terms entails taking the perspective of their actors. It does not say they must be understood in their own language, and the Preliminaries (page unavailable) expressly allows external perspectives for other kinds of analysis. The citing sentence therefore makes the internal viewpoint more exclusive than the source does. (LLM, conf=0.84)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Partly supported
A result the paper states — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When using this criterion, it would bring together countries such as the United Kingdom ('The Queen owns all land'), the Democratic Republic of Congo (citizens may obtain an 'eternal' concession on the land, companies and foreigners only a concession for 25 years), and the People's Republic of China (the state owns all land, but not necessarily the buildings built on it).”
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > 4.2. The structural method
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, different methods may be combined, as they are complementary and not mutually”
- Also stated in: § 4. How does one compare? · plain
“The different 'methods' discussed hereafter are not mutually exclusive.”
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > Abstract
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 4. How does one compare? · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In all those cases, lack of sociological inquiries may lead to a completely distorted view on the law in a foreign country.”
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > 3. What has to be compared?
hedgedstates a possible cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 47
- Probably not a substantial claim. 122
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Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > 4.5. The historical method
“Actually, the historical method is just one part of the 'law-in-context method', the context being here the historical origins of the present-day laws, which are compared.”
§ Law and Method 1 Methodology of Comparative Legal Research > 7. Conclusion
“In this paper, I have tried to identify six methods which have been used in comparative research, in a broad sense, until now and which cannot be reduced to each other.”
Citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Van Hoecke, M.
- Venue
- Recht en Methode in onderzoek en onderwijs
- Publisher
- Koninklijke Boom uitgevers
- Published
- 2015-12
- ISSN
- 2212-2508 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2304212401
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6
- FWCI
- 50.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Recht en Methode in onderzoek en onderwijs (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Law › Comparative and International Law Studies
- Social Sciences › Law › Legal Studies and Policies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
- Keywords
- functional methods, structural method, analytical methods, historical method, research questions
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