The Internationalisation of Legal Education

This volume provides an overview of thestate of internationalisation of legal education (IOLE) in many civil law andcommon law countries. It provides a picture of the status of the debate aboutthe shape and degree of internationalisation in the curriculum in the differentcountries, and the debates surrounding the adoption of a more internationalapproach to legal education in the contemporary world. 

It is a compilation of the NationalReports submitted for the August 2014 Congress of the IACL held at Vienna, andcontains an introductory general report. Together, the reports examine suchquestions as: Why is the topic of internationalization of legal education on theagenda now? Why is it a relevant subject for examination today? Does the topic generatethe same level of interest everywhere in the world? Is enthusiasm for IOLEmainly driven by the academic sector, by government, by multinationalcorporations? Is the interest closely linked with the globalization of thepractice of law? Or is globalisation of law itself something of a myth, or areality reserved for only a very small percentage of practising lawyers aroundthe world? 

The general andnational reports make clear that there is indeed widespread interest in IOLE,and numerous disparate initiatives around the world. Nonetheless, some NationalReporters state that the topic is simply not on the agenda at all. All in all,the volume shows that the approachesto internationalisation are many and varied, but every jurisdiction recognisesthe importance of introducing aspiring lawyers to a more integrated globalenvironment.