LW2CMP: Comparative Law

Module code: LW2CMP

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

Level: 5

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Benoit Mayer , email: b.p.mayer@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module provides students with a better understanding of the diversity of legal systems and legal traditions across the world. This has two main goals. First, understanding foreign laws prepares students to deal with situations involving foreign laws. Second, such foreign perspectives equips students to think more critically about the law in the UK.

The module starts with exploring practical and methodologies aspects of comparative law. Then, a number of sessions explore specific legal systems and traditions, including both civil-law traditions and foreign common-law traditions, in developed as well as developing countries. The module ends with some transversal sessions looking comparatively at particular legal issues.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand some of the principal characteristic of the main legal traditions of the world;
2. Identify similarities and differences between legal traditions and legal systems;
3. Understand the main goals and methods of comparative law;
4. Rely on foreign legal perspectives to think critically about the UK’s legal tradition and legal system.

Module content

Week 1:

• Lecture 1: Introduction; The functions of comparative law. Benoit Mayer

Week 2:

• Tutorial 1: The functions of comparative law. Benoit Mayer
• Lecture 2: Methodologies. Thérèse Callus

Week 3:

• Workshop 1: Methodologies. Thérèse Callus
• Lecture 3: Civil law traditions. Thérèse Callus

Week 4: mid-semester recess

Week 5:

• Tutorial 2: Civil law traditions. Thérèse Callus
• Lecture 4: The wider common law world (US, Canada, and New Zealand). Leonid Sirota

Week 6:

• Workshop 2: The wider common law world (US, Canada, and New Zealand). Leonid Sirota
• Lecture 5: Indian legal tradition. Shweta Band

Week 7:

• Tutorial 3: Indian legal tradition. Shweta Band
• Lecture 6: South African legal tradition. Monica Vessio

Week 8:

• Workshop 3: South African legal tradition. Monica Vessio
• Lecture 7: Legal traditions from Latin America and small island developing states. 

Week 9:

• Tutorial 4: Legal traditions from Latin America and small island developing states. 
• Lecture 8: Chinese legal tradition. Jing Wang

Week 9:

• Workshop 4: Chinese legal tradition. Jing Wang
• Lecture 9: Illiberal legal systems. Marton Varju

Week 11:

• Tutorial 5: Illiberal legal systems. Marton Varju
• Lecture 10: Comparative environmental law. Benoit Mayer

Week 12:

• Workshop 5: Comparative environmental law. Benoit Mayer
• Lecture 11: South-East Asian legal traditions. Andrew Harding (online)

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will consist of 11 two-hour lectures (whole cohort), 13 hour of online activities, 5 two-hour workshops (40 students), 5 one-hour tutorials (20 students). The tutorials and workshops will generally be taught by the colleague who gave the lecture the previous week.

Study hours

At least 37 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs