Teacher: Assoc. Prof Nguyễn Thị Phương Hoa
Chapter 1 Introductrion to legal reasoning
I The study of Legal Reasoning
- Why do we focus “Judges” (thẩm phán)?
- Broad sense: “The psychological processes undergone by judges in reaching
decisions in the cases before them”. Psychological processes comprised of:
+ Ideas
+ Belief
+ Conjectures (phỏng đoán)
+ Hunches (linh cảm)
+ Feelings
+ Emotions
==> Judges are also influenced this processes (but we don’t expect they base
most on this)
- Narrow sense: “The argument that judge give, frequently in written form, in
support of the decisions they render”. Argument consist of (need both):
+ Reasons for the decisions (Lý do đơn giản)
+ Justifications for the decisions (Lý do dựa trên thực tế, pháp luật)
- Purpose of legal reasoning study
+ The study of legal reasoning in the broad sense = the study of judical
psychology (Tâm lý tư pháp) and biography ==>
. To know judges and their psychology
. To understand what impacts judges decisions
+ The study of legal reasoning in the narrow sense = an inquiry into the
“logic” of judicial decsion making:
. Kinds of argument judges give
.
.
.
- Skills required for legal reasoning study
+ Skills: ability to do an activity or job well, especially you have practised it
II The art of Legal Reasoning
III Effective Legal Writing
IV Paragraphing
Chapter 2 Reading texts about law and texts of the law
Chapter 3 Legal Argument
Chapter 4 Memoranda and briefs: building a complete documents
Chapter 5 Oral Argument
