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LEGAL EUROPE
THE PLACE OF EUROPEAN LAW
IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULA
By PROFESSOR DOMI N IC LASOKf (Exeter)
Th e lecturer stressed that in academic work there
can be few more exciting things than planning
a new course, especially when that course has to be
charted without precedents and without acknowledged
textbooks. You are apparently on your own. But in the
fairyland of academic freedom one is subject to limita-
tions, not only of one's own intellect and conscience
but also the discipline one serves and hopes to promote.
On e is also subject to the exigencies and purposes of
one's job. On the teaching side of the legal profession
one is paid to do a job which consists of the advance-
ment of scholarship and the dissemination of knowledge.
With these thoughts in mind I will endeavour to
ma p out one job—the job of teaching European Com-
munity law. I will consider it from a practical point
of view : that of the head of a department (the person
in authority who bears the ultimate responsibility);
that of the lecturer who does the job, and that of the
student who ought to profit from the exercise. T h e
head of department, whether he initiates the course or
is persuaded to authorise one, ought to be quite clear
of the commitment and deployment necessary, not only
from the point of view of the personnel but also from
the point of view of the library resources and the
general pattern of instruction in his institution. It is no
good advertising for a young man or woman straight
from university to perform the triple task of teaching
comparative law, Community law and all the com-
mercial law relevant to both. Such a task is beyond the
beginner: it would take a very accomplished scholar
and a seasoned campaigner to pull it off.
Looking at it from a lecturer's angle, the challenge
is quite exhilarating. But one must not be carried away
by enthusiasm into the world of fantasy, as seemed to
be the young man who wrote to me some time ago
saying that he wanted to write a textbook on European
Community law. He was dissatisfied with the standard
of teaching, with the fossilised minds of university
teachers (though he was discreet enough not to reveal
the name of his
alma mater)
and he wanted to fill the
gap with a book every student was waiting for. Having
heard that we teach Community law in Exeter, he
merely asked for our syllabus, the reading list, the list
of cases, the bibliography and any other matter which
might be relevant to his task. Clearly enthusiasm is not
enough.
And now the student. We all are perpetual students
and throughout our lives accumulate useless knowledge,
but the one who is under our care for a short period
only must be given the benefit of our experience. We
must tantalise his thirst for knowledge and tax his
intellect, but above all we must make him realise
that what we are doing makes sense and that the drud-
gery to which he is often subjected in the study of law
is relevant to a career. But to what career?
I for one would object to the law school being treated
merely as a preparatory school for the legal profession,
(Reprinted
by kind permission of the author)
but I would with equal conviction deplore the study of
law for its own sake at the taxpayer's expense. Ours is
an applied discipline and its practical application
ought to be reflected in the syllabus.
Tu r n i ng to Community law, it is, at least as far as
this country is concerned, largely a branch of the law
in books and not, as yet, in actual practice. Our
practising lawyers have yet to learn how to earn their
European fees. T h e professional know-how will follow.
Th e greatest challenge to our system since 1066, and
all that, has to be met first in the class-room as we have
to contribute to the education of a new generation of
lawyers skilled in three fields of activity : Civil Service,
commercial and legal practice. T h e teaching of Com-
munity law has to be geared to these three areas of
application.
Lawyers in the Communities
T h e three Communities (Coal and Steel, Euratom,
and the Common Market) were brought about by
unique treaties of a self-executing character. Th ey were
drafted by continental lawyers and their institutions
were fashioned and worked by civil servants drawn from
the member States. Since legal studies are regarded on
the Continent as the most appropriate background for
the Civil Service, it is not surprising that lawyers form
a considerable proportion of the European bureaucrats
and technocats. These lawyers have managed to over-
come the language barriers and, through working to-
gether with those who initiate and carry into effect the
various projects and policies, have developed their own
style. Th ey also perfected their skill of working with
non-lawyers and this is of prime importance as they,
together with the policy makers, shape the Secondary
Law of the Community. Like all the continentals they
share the common legal philosophy and heritage of
Roman law in their national variations. Their legal
training i-s focused not merely on the law as a craft in
a narrow technical sense but on the law as a regulatory
force operating in the economic and social life of the
society. A lawyer who has not studied economics and
sociology is potentially a social menace.
We shall not re-write the T r e a ty of Rome, as sug-
gested by a flamboyant politician in a moment of foolish
oratory, but we may contribute to the drafting of Com-
munity laws by the institutions in Brussels if we send
able lawyers over there. However, they have to be
trained before they can make their impact. From a
national as well as a Community point of view this is
extremely important because of the law-making poten-
tial concentrated in Brussels.
T h e commercial world seems better prepared as we
have ma ny lawyers working in commerce and industry
*An address given to the Annual Conference of the Association
of Law Teachers, April 6, 1973.
fL. en Dr., Ll.M., Ph.D., Dr. Juris, Barrister, Professor of Law
in the University of Exeter
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