Francis Henry, Kevin Pike: English law and legal language: Introduction. Eine Einführung in das englische Rechtssystem und die englische Rechtssprache. Sprachenzentrum der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, EUR 15. ISBN 3.9810877-0-4 2006

This book is the first of a series to be published for use with law students at Erlangen University, and it’s written by my two successors teaching law at the Institut für Fremdsprachen Fachakademie in Erlangen.

Chapters: The courts, the legal profession, the English legal system, pre-trial criminal procedure, the criminal trial and sentencing, civil procedure, and the United Kingdom constitution.

The book is intended to be used in class, but it has solutions to its exercises. There is a glossary at the back with German translations or explanations of the term. Good layout and diagrams.

I should think this book could be recommended in particular – but not only! – for its brevity. The authors say in the introduction that the materials provide just enough detail to enable students to understand the key concepts, but avoid the depth of most textbooks; and that the emphasis is on understanding and using the key concepts and terminology. They can read more widely later.

There should be a parallel volume for criminal law, but I wasn’t able to get it.

I was told recently that the Introduction was out of print, but I saw two copies in Mencke-Blaesing yesterday, albeit at the wrong end of the shelf.

This entry looks like an answer to the question in the comments to the last-but-one entry, but it isn’t meant that way: it’s just something I’ve been meaning for some time to record. It might be difficult to see this book before buying it, and I think people should look at these books first. If you want to order it, the ISBN is the key. If it really is out of print, I can’t help feeling it will be in print again for the autumn term, so if you order it, ask the bookshop to enquire specifically if it is going to be available again.