Law in context – towards a reflexive approach in (Dutch) legal education

Abstract

The legal landscape is changing dramatically and fundamentally, asking for lawyers who are able to connect with other disciplines. Socio-legal studies (understood in the broad sense) can fill in the gap and strengthen the law student’s curriculum to prepare him or her for the future of law. In the Netherlands, such a repositioning of socio-legal studies is slowly taking place. This repositioning is addressed in this contribution in two parts. The first part sketches an overview of interdisciplinary initiatives that have been developing in Dutch law schools. Three examples function as case studies: the Global Law Programme at Tilburg University, the so-called PPLE programmes, combining philosophy, psychology, economics and law into one curriculum, and the initiative of Utrecht University that seeks to integrate the external perspective with traditional law courses to expose students to think differently about law. The second part is more normative. It focuses on the value of interdisciplinary approaches. As law’s social context is changing fundamentally, the ability to understand law demands an understanding of society and societal developments. The analysis in this second part critiques some of the interdisciplinary initiatives for falling short of what is really needed to meet this wider change.