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Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

First Page

147

Abstract

The impact of foreign law on the development of national laws has been analyzed and vindicated in numerous studies in comparative legal literature. These studies typically focus on the two most prominent legal systems--common law (the Anglo-American system) and civil law (the Continental system). The historical reasons for this are clear, emanating from the fact that the world's legal systems are based on these legal regimes and are amended in the spirit of changes made to them. Over the years, however, with the many effects of legal and economic globalization, legal systems have become a diverse mosaic which has appropriated doctrines and interpretations on legal issues drawn from various other legal traditions. One of the most prominent legal systems to emerge in recent years is that of the European Union (EU), currently the largest democratic bloc of countries in the world. Despite its relative novelty, EU law has great influence on the development of legal interpretation in many legal systems. This Study, which is laid out in two complementary Articles, is the first to empirically examine the influence that EU law had on the development of a non-EU country. These Articles take Israel as a case study on which normative conclusions can be drawn for other non-EU countries with whom the EU has established close bilateral legal, economic, cultural, and social relations. The importance and significance of comparative sources to the development of Israeli jurisprudence is expressed in local legislation and rulings.

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