Legal methodology

The legal methodology deals from methodological point of view with the justification of legal decisions.

The starting point of the legal method is the judge's commitment to the law, as defined in German law in Article 20, Paragraph 3 in conjunction with Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law , an element of the substantive rule of law .

The legal case processing in teaching at universities and in practice in the courts and in the legal advisory professions draws on terms and figures as they have been worked out by legal dogmatics on the one hand, and on certain methods of applying the law and legal argumentation on the other , which should enable and facilitate a comprehensible, that is, rational justification of case decisions “through the most stable interpretation routines possible”. In addition, there is a factual link to informal rules - such as the controversial “consideration of consequences” - and practical aspects that have been described as the “habitus” of the lawyer. Today there is agreement that the application of the law in practice is not based on a simple logical final procedure, but will for many reasons also be contrary to the wording of the decisive norm.

Elements of legal methodology are the determination of the meaning of legal norms and legal transactions through the interpretation of their texts, the formal logical subsumption technique , the legal style ( expert opinion style , judgment style ), various legal argumentation techniques (legal rhetoric, topic ) and judicial legal training through so-called judges' law .

Literature (selection)

• Klaus Adomeit , Susanne Hähnchen : Legal Theory with Legal Methodology CF Müller, 7th Edition, Heidelberg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8114-4644-1 .
• Karl Larenz , Claus-Wilhelm Canaris : Methodology of jurisprudence. Springer, 3rd edition, Berlin a. a. 1995, ISBN 978-3-540-59086-6 .
• Karl Riesenhuber : European methodology. De Gruyter, 3rd edition, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-11-033205-6 .
• Bernd Rüthers , Christian Fischer, Axel Birk: Legal theory with legal methodology. CH Beck, 10th edition, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-406-62921-1 .
• Reinhold Zippelius : Legal methodology. CH Beck, 11th edition, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63668-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On the whole cf. Winfried Hassemer: Legal system and codification: the binding of the judge to the law . In: Ders., Arthur Kaufmann , Ulfrid Neumann (Hrsg.): Introduction to legal philosophy and legal theory of the present . 8th edition. C. F. Muller. Heidelberg. 2011. ISBN 978-3811496903 , pp. 251ff.
2. ^ Thomas Vesting: Legal theory . CH Beck. Munich. 2007. ISBN 978-3-406-56326-3 . Marg. 21st
3. ↑ Robert Alexy: Theory of Legal Argumentation . Suhrkamp. 1983. ISBN 3-518-28036-8 . P. 18.
4. ^ Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff: Legal Consequences and Real Consequences. What role can consideration of consequences play in the formation of legal rules and terms? 1981.
5. ^ Niklas Luhmann: The right of society . Suhrkamp. 1995. ISBN 3-518-28783-4 . P. 378ff.
6. ↑ Winfried Hassemer: Legal system and codification: the binding of the judge to the law . In: Ders., Arthur Kaufmann, Ulfried Neumann (Hrsg.): Introduction to legal philosophy and legal theory of the present . 8th edition. C. F. Muller. Heidelberg. 2011. ISBN 978-3811496903 , pp. 251, 264-266.
7. ↑ Robert Alexy: Theory of Legal Argumentation . Suhrkamp. 1983. ISBN 3-518-28036-8 . P. 17f. with reference to: Karl Larenz: Methodology of Jurisprudence 3rd Edition. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. 1975, p. 154.