No reform anywhere? Yes, in the Lüneburg model! – Verfassungsblog

In the coming weeks, thousands of new students will gain their first experience of studying law at law faculties. If the trend of recent years continues, however, not all courses aimed at the state law examination will be fully booked. The number of law students has been declining for years, although the need for well-trained lawyers is great – not only against the background of current anti-constitutional tendencies or the socio-ecological transformation that needs to be managed – and there are excellent prospects of an interesting, secure and well-paid career. Young people often perceive law studies as an unattractive course of study.

Criticism and reform debate

If you look at the reasons why young people choose alternative courses, you will quickly find them: They see studying law as difficult, anonymous and not very student-friendly. They also often feel that the strong focus of the course content on the state examination is a restriction on their own scientific curiosity and at the same time a significant stress factor. In social media, there are posts in massesin which law students report on their unfamiliarity with the subject, outdated lecture formats, excessive competitiveness among students and psychological stress caused by the exams. Dying today Content Creator In this respect, you are seamlessly following on from Kafka’s criticism of law studies, which he expressed over a hundred years ago.

In view of the emerging gap between the urgent demand for new, bright minds in the legal profession and the supply of young lawyers, as well as the dissatisfaction of law students with their subject, the debate about the reform of law studies, which has been going on for a long time and with varying intensity, has (again) gained momentum. Examples include the recent publication of the survey results from iur.reform and the “Hamburg Protocol” of 2023. The contributions to the local debate “The Law Study under Criticism” also paint an almost unanimous picture of the need for reform.

Existing scope for reforms

One of the issues raised in the debate is the lack of (federal) legal scope for possible reforms, and the proposal for an experimental clause for the German Judges Act is formulated as a result. Such an experimental clause is intended to give the states the opportunity to change examination materials, methods and forms in order to “adapt the study of law to the circumstances of the time”. This is linked to the hope that individual states will, within the framework of a Sandboxing Implement reform projects which, if successful, could then be adopted on a broad scale at a later date. However, the impression that a change in the law was needed to initiate fundamental reforms to law studies is misleading. An initiative by the state of Lower Saxony is already showing that key aspects of the criticism of the established model of law studies can be responded to within the existing (federal) legal framework: In the Lüneburg model, law studies leading to the state examination follow a significantly modified concept.

The Lüneburg model of law studies

At the heart of the model, which has been based at Leuphana University Lüneburg (Leuphana Law School) since 2022, are two special features. First, the integration of law studies into the structure of the Bologna Process. Second, the comprehensive interdisciplinary expansion of legal education.

Although the ten-semester course at Leuphana Law School is still geared towards obtaining the state examination at the Lower Saxony State Judicial Examination Office, students, unlike in Germany, acquire an accredited Bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B.) after six semesters. and after ten semesters – even before completing the state examination – an accredited law master’s degree (LL.M.). Both the bachelor’s and master’s degree are fully integrated into the European Benefit Transfer System (ECTS) and is thus characterized by Europe-wide permeability.

In the first six semesters, which conclude with the LL.B., students receive basic legal training including an intermediate examination and writing a scientific bachelor’s thesis. This is followed by an LL.M. In four semesters, students then complete the “major certificates” in civil law, public law and criminal law, take the core area examination and receive exam preparation integrated into the university studies (including exam courses, mock exams, etc.). The unique Lüneburg core area “Law in Context” places particular emphasis on the critical reflection of the applicable law, whereby it does not differentiate between the specialist pillars, but always focuses on topics at the interfaces of civil law, criminal law and public law.

In addition to its integration into the Bologna Process, the law degree according to the Lüneburg model has another special feature with its comprehensive interdisciplinary additional training. This means that in addition to the main subject of law (so-called major), the bachelor’s degree always includes an independent minor subject (so-called minor) and a complementary course (in the sense of a general studies). Students can choose philosophy, political science or sustainability science as a minor subject at the other Lüneburg faculties. Minor and complementary studies make up around 40% of the six-semester bachelor’s degree program.

Addressing key criticisms

Within the scope of the legal possibilities, the state of Lower Saxony also addresses important points of criticism with the Lüneburg model.

Full integration into the Bologna Process enables students to “Opt out” after completing the LL.B. or LL.M., in order to pursue further (master’s) study projects (possibly abroad) or career paths beyond the traditional legal fields. At the same time, the Lüneburg model ensures that even in the – statistically unlikely – case of ultimately failing the state examination, students are available to the job market “at least” with a master’s degree. This certainty should significantly reduce the psychological pressure to which law students feel exposed.

The interdisciplinary additional training in the bachelor’s degree also enables students to “think outside the box” as they so often want. In the minor and complementary studies, they can deal intensively with the non-legal aspects of current social challenges, such as the sociology of the rise of anti-democratic forces, the ecology of climate change or the computer science behind social networks and AI.

The state examination remains the gold standard

But one thing is also clear: the Lüneburg model cannot and will not call into question the legally stipulated focus of law studies on the state examination. The examination format of the state examination, which is largely not based at the universities but at the state judicial examination offices, ensures the comparability of the results achieved and has proven itself as a quality control in principle. Even under the Lüneburg model, in future you will only become a judge, lawyer or public prosecutor with the state examination. The experiences gained along the way are likely to be different to those gained in a classic law degree.

Prof. Dr. Johanna Croon-Gestefeld LL.M. (EUI) is spokesperson of the Leuphana Law School, Lüneburg.

Prof. Dr. Till Patrik Holterhus MLE. LL.M. (Yale) is head of the state examination program at Leuphana Law School, Lüneburg.