Empirisch-juridisch onderzoek in Nederland: Bespiegelingen over de stand van zaken in de rechtswetenschap, het juridisch onderwijs en de rechtspraktijk

Translated title of the contribution: Empirical legal research in the Netherlands: Reflections on the status of legal scholarship, legal education and legal practice

Nieke Elbers, Marijke Malsch, Peter van der Laan, A.J. Akkermans, Catrien Bijleveld

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1743 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Empirical Legal Studies (ELS) is research in which legal questions are answered using empirical research methods. Traditionally, lawyers conduct normative, non-empirical research. Lately the legal discipline is increasingly interested in ELS. It is argued that we need more ELS. This raises the question to what extent Dutch researchers and practitioners conduct and apply ELS. In this article, we investigate the state of affairs of ELS in the Netherlands. We look at three different areas: legal research, legal education and legal practice. The data we use are legal PhD theses, legal course material, legislative proposals, and questionnaire data from legal practitioners. The methods are a systematic review, a quantitative content analysis, and a questionnaire research. Our study on legal research shows that researchers do apply empirical methods, but mainly the researchers with an education in social science. Our study on legal education shows that lawyers receive hardly any training on empirical research methods. Finally, our research on legal practice shows that practitioners and legislators struggle to apply empirical legal research. We plead for investments to enhance the production and usage of ELS, to prevent wrongful judicial decision-making, to generate effective legislation, and to create scientific innovation.
Translated title of the contributionEmpirical legal research in the Netherlands: Reflections on the status of legal scholarship, legal education and legal practice
Original languageDutch
Pages (from-to)30-42
Number of pages13
JournalRecht der werkelijkheid
Volume39
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Empirical legal research in the Netherlands: Reflections on the status of legal scholarship, legal education and legal practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this