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Smits, Jan M. --- "Preface" [2006] ELECD 151; in Smits, M. Jan (ed), "Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law

Editor(s): Smits, M. Jan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420130

Section Title: Preface

Author(s): Smits, Jan M.

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Preface
Jan M. Smits


It is no exaggeration to state that in the last 20 years we have seen a true
`comparative law explosion': as a result of increasing globalization and
Europeanization, comparative law has become more and more important.
This is not only true for the scholarly discipline of comparative law as such
(where the focus is usually on methodology), but it is also true for specific
areas of the law. The feeling among many legal academics now is that one
can no longer write about, for example, tort law or constitutional law
without involving at least some comparative aspect. But the importance of
comparative law is not restricted to legal science. Also in legal practice, to
attack a legal problem with a comparative approach has become en vogue.
Legislators increasingly make use of foreign law in drafting new legislation
and in more and more countries courts draw inspiration from abroad as well.
All this is a fortunate development for those who believe in an interna-
tional legal science. However, it is often difficult to find one's way in the now
massive amount of doctrinal writings on comparative law. There are no
recent reference works available in which an attempt is made to take stock
of the discipline. The purpose of this encyclopedia is to provide such a ref-
erence work. It does so by providing a general readership with easily acces-
sible articles in which stock is taken of present-day comparative law
scholarship.
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