Lessons from Roman law: EU law in England and Wales after Brexit

Cotter, John; Dewhurst, Elaine

doi:10.1080/03069400.2019.1585074

Lessons from Roman law: EU law in England and Wales after Brexit

Cotter, John; Dewhurst, Elaine

Authors

John Cotter j.cotter@keele.ac.uk

Elaine Dewhurst

Abstract

The experience of Roman law in legal education in England and Wales may serve as a cautionary tale for EU law post-Brexit. Similarly, past debates as to the position of Roman law in the curriculum may also be instructive in the EU law context. After tracing the history of the teaching of Roman law in England and Wales, this article posits first that the factors that appear to have caused the decline of Roman law could apply equally in the context of EU law. Secondly, based on both pragmatic and liberal education arguments that have historically been proffered for the study of Roman law, it advances arguments for the retention of a compulsory stand-alone EU law module in England and Wales after Brexit. To this end, the paper contends that the arguments for the retention of EU law in legal education are more robust than those asserted traditionally in favour of Roman law.

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 15, 2019
Online Publication Date	Mar 29, 2019
Publication Date	Apr 3, 2019
Publicly Available Date	May 30, 2023
Journal	The Law Teacher
Print ISSN	0306-9400
Electronic ISSN	1943-0353
Publisher	Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	53
Issue	2
Pages	173 - 188
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2019.1585074
Publisher URL	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03069400.2019.1585074