Researching Judicial Cultures in the European Union: Lessons from John Bell

Abstract

This chapter outlines the main insights from John Bell’s comparative analysis, in his book Judiciaries within Europe (2006) regarding the factors which shape the character of a judiciary. The analysis focuses on the concept of ‘judicial culture’, which is a central notion for understanding the role and practices of judiciaries as social institutions. It discusses how research on courts in a globalised legal context can benefit from Bell’s insights on the values and practices relating to national judiciaries and his views on studying legal globalisation. The chapter highlights conceptual and methodological challenges which need to be dealt with when conducting research on national judiciaries in the evolving context of legal integration in Europe. Examples are drawn from a current research project on judicial cooperation in the European Union. Furthermore, this chapter presents some thoughts on legal scholarship in contemporary societal and academic contexts.