耶鲁法学院现实主义法学教育观及其对中国法学教育的启示

Realistic Legal Education of Yale Law School and Its Enlightenment to Legal Education of China

耶鲁法学院以培养职业法律人才为主要目的,侧重于培养学生的实践能力,奉行的是现实主义法学教育观。在课程设置方面,其注重法学学科与人文社会的其他学科的融合,并模糊部门法之间的界限;在教学方法方面,其采用小班授课法、独创性案例教学法、问题式教学法、法律诊所教学等教学方法;在师资队伍方面,其呈现多元化师资结构,强调与政府、律所等部门的合作。耶鲁法学院的现实主义法学教育观及其现实主义法学教育路径对中国的法学教育发展与改革有着重要的启示:中国的法学教育应该重视法律职业教育,增加人文社会科学的课程设置,并应采取与大课堂相配套的小规模教学方式,同时需要引入相关领域的司法实务专家参与实践教学,建立高校与司法实务部门联合培养法律人才的长效机制。

Yale Law School which pursues the realistic legal education focuses on cultivating students＇ practical ability, and its fundamental purpose is to train professional law talents. In the aspect of curriculum, it lays emphasis on combination of law and other social studies, and blurs the dividing line among department laws. In the aspect of teaching, many educational methods, such as small classes, original case teaching, problem-based teaching and legal clinic and so on, are used in the practical teaching. In the aspect of faculty team, the structure of teachers shows a trend of diversification. In addition, cooperation with government and law offices is em- phasized. The conception and method of Yale Law School＇s realistic legal education give an important enlightenment to the development and revolution of law education in China. Chinese legal education should attach importance to legal occupation education, and increase curriculums on humanities and social sciences. At the same time, small-scale teaching mode should be set up to match with large classes, and juridical practice experts from related fields need to be led into practical teaching. Besides, the long-term mechanism of co-culture of law talents should be set up.