Advanced Introduction to Legal Research Methods

Elgar Advanced Introductions series

Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Distinguished University Professor, Tilburg University and Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Written by Ernst Hirsch Ballin, this original Advanced Introduction uncovers the foundations of legal research methods, an area of legal scholarship distinctly lacking in standardisation. The author shows how such methods differ along critical, empirical, and fundamental lines, and how our understanding of these is crucial to overcoming crises and restoring trust in the law. Key topics include a consideration of law as a normative language and an examination of the common objects of legal research.

‘In this wonderfully succinct yet always rigorous volume, Ernst Hirsch Ballin models the very open-mindedness that he rightly identifies as essential to pushing beyond traditional jurisprudence. The result is an excellent introduction to various methodological and theoretical approaches to legal scholarship—what we might call semantic-behavioural, critical-discursive, genealogical-historical, empirical-social scientific—which together show the rich potential of law as an innovative discipline. We owe Hirsch Ballin a debt of gratitude for offering this always fair-minded and insightful take on a perennially challenging and contested topic.’
– Peter L. Lindseth, University of Connecticut, School of Law, US