01
LAW
A concise introduction to some of its concepts and key takeawaysfrom interviews with law practitioners and students
A concise introduction to some of its concepts and key takeaways
from interviews with law practitioners and students
melina salaka
02
Introduction
This is a small booklet addressed to people who are thinking about studying law in the future. Its aim is to inform the audience and help them set realistic expectations about law studies and pursuing a career in law. It's contain links the official definition of some concepts of law, sourced from legal literature, and the understanding of practitioners, based on their experience, of the same concepts. Advices from them to potential law students are included as well. Concepts include the rule of law, the definition of law itself, the role of the lawyer in the society and more. You can also find a glossary with some of the terms related to law used towards the end of the booklet.
03
table of contents
What is law?
04
Meet the interviewees
05
What is the rule of law?
06
What is the role of the judge in the greek society?
07
Views on the Greek judicial system
08
The development of the role of the judge
09
What is the role of the lawyer in the society?
10
Helpful Advice
12
What you must know before studying law
13
Glossary
15
04
What is law?
Law is conceived by many (lawyers and others) as a set of rules which govern a society and create a structure of authority or government to run the social order.
The separation of law from politics is supposedly accomplished and ensured by a number of perceived attributes of the legal decision-making process, including judicial subservience to the Constitution, statues, and precedent; the quasi-scientific, objective nature of legal analysis; the technical expertise of judges and lawyers. Together, these attributes constitute an idealized decision-making process in which (1) the law on a particular issue is preexisting, predictable and available to anyone with reasonable legal skills;
(2) the facts relevant to dispositions of a case are ascertained by objective hearing and evidentiary rules that reasonably ensure that the truth will emerge; (3) the result in a particular case is determined by a rather routine application of the law to the facts; and (4) except for the occasional bad judge, any reasonably competent and fair judge will reach the ‘correct’ decision.
David Kairys, The Politics of Law: A progressive critique, 3rd edn (New York: Basic Books, 1998), pp.2-4
05
Meet the interviewees
Lawyer with 17 years of experience
Lawyer with 45 years of experience
He was a lawyer in the first instance court for 10 years and 35 years in the council of the state and in Areios Pagos, which is the supreme civil and criminal court of Greece. Has has studied law in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece. When he became a practitioner, expertise were not a trend nor popular. He was involved in both civil and criminal law cases, including some cases of family law such as divorces.
She has practiced law in two jurisdictions, in Greece and the United Kingdom. Throughout her career she has practiced in various of areas of expertise, however her current is Banking and Finance. She wanted to become a biologist, yet she decided that studying law was more practical. She studied and completed her undergraduate studies in law at the University of Athens, Law School, Greece. She completed her post graduate studies in London in Queen Mary Colleges.
Lawyer with 5 years of experience
Lawyer with 26 years of experience
She has spent 1 year as trainee and 4 years as a lawyer. Her area of expertise is Banking and Finance, as well as European law, banking law, company law and in general advisory services. She wanted to become a professional athlete; however, feared injury, therefore she chose to study law because she was fascinated with the way law is involved in everything around us. She completed her undergraduate studies in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece. She holds three LLMs, one on civil law, another one on European and financial law and the last one which focused on European evolvement and Greek law.
His area of expertise is banking and finance, even though he started out as a litigation lawyer. He became a lawyer because he thought that it would assist in having better communication with people and self-expression. He studied law in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece and holds a postgraduate degree (LLM) in International Business Law.
Lawyer with 25 years of experience
Law Student
He is studying in Queen Mary University of London. He is in his third year of his studies, which is the final year. He is conflicted between an expertise in corporate law and telecommunication’s law. He is planning on at least one postgraduate degree.
His area of expertise is tax law, which is a rare expertise in Greece. He studied law in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece and holds a postgraduate degree (LLM) in International Law and International relations and a PhD in tax law.
06
what is the rule of law?
"On one level, to claim that a society is a subject to the rule of law is simply to say that it is governed by fixed rules set down in law, rather than by the arbitrary force of a dictator. But, of course, a society governed by rules will also be governed by individuals who make, change, and enforce the law. Moreover, the simple fact that a society is governed by rules- even lots of rules- may mean that it is subject to the rule of law, but it certainly does not in itself ensure that the society qualifies as a “just” or fair one."
Significance of the Rule of Law:
The concept of the Rule of law by famous jurists:
- The supremacy of law over the arbitrary exercise of power (‘a government of laws, not men’)
- Provides legitimacy and justification for state actions
- Respects human dignity and freedoms
- Provides certainty, transparency and accountability in constitutional relationships
- "An unruly horse" by Robert Yewdall Jennings (Judge)
- "A distinctive characteristic of the English Constitution" by A. V. Dicey (Jurist)
- Too uncertain and subjective a notion to be meaningful by Bingham (Former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom)
07
what is the rule of law?
Stripped of all technicalities the Rule of Law means that government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand
To me the rule of law consists of three parts. The first is the rule according to the law that no individual can be ordered by the government to pay damages or can suffer criminal punishment or any punishment for that matter, unless it is strictly prescribed by law. The second is the rule under law, which means that no one is above the law not even the government and everyone should be equally treated by the law. The third one is that rules should be according to higher law.
The rule of law in my mind is the foundation of democracy. Law is a set of rules which is always introduced to protect the weak, to make sure that human relationships are regulated and ultimately make a society function. Without the rule of law I cannot really see how a society may function. Now, if you take it to its extent then you realize that the rule of law is necessary for the peaceful functioning of states and for the world as a whole. Unless countries respect the rule of law then the ultimately they end up in wars and disrupts of peace.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
For me and in general, it means that in substance it is a principle which prevents an arbitrary exercise of power, an abuse of power from the government or the authorities or any entity to the individual. It actually says and means that nobody is above the law and everybody is equal against the law. Everybody’s conduct shall be evaluated against the law in the same firm manner and if it deviates from what the law dictates it should be penalized.
The rule of law is a measure of justice. It is the foundation of the democratic society.
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
For me it is the way that societies should be build. It is what keeps us organized. For me it should not be a legal concept but a social concept.
-Lawyer with 17 years of experience
-Law Student
What is the role of the judge in the society?
08
The role of the judge can differ from society to society, nevertheless there is on main idea which remains the same in all Democratic driven countries, like Greece. The role of the judge is tied with the central to the general idea of the rule of law, which involves the rule of the law rather than the rule of the people. Judges hold a position of central importance in relation to the concept of the rule of law. They are expected to deliver judgement in completely impartial manner through a strict application of the law, without allowing their personal preference, or fear or favor of any of the parties to the action, to affect their decision in any way.
"In the traditional liberal philosophy judges have an important political function. Their work balances that of the legislature and the executive. Each are seen as semi-autonomous bodies with distinctive roles contributing to the polity as a whole. Each has power over the others and power over the population at large. This idea has, in turn, been seen to be of vital significance in the elaboration of an effective constitutional framework."
“The Judiciary.” The English Legal System, by Gary Slapper and David Kelly, Sixteenth ed., Routledge, 2015, pp. 419–420.
07
the role of the judge and its evolvement
In Greece we have three powers: the judicial which is independent from the other two which are executive and legislative. Of course, their judgements are based on laws and the constitution. What I find really interesting and compared to other law systems like common law, is that judges don’t have to follow previous judgements they can judge and make a decision which may be completely different from what other judges have judged, even if they are based on similar facts.
The judge represents the trust of the Greek citizens, the trust they have in justice. Through this trust and the courts they hope to find their justification even if they are wrong.
-Lawyer with 45 years of experience
I will start by saying that the role of the judge is key to the rule of law. The role of the judge is to enforce and apply law. The judge is there to preserve the rights and to make sure that the rights and the set of freedoms which are set in statute and in jurisprudence are properly applied and preserved whenever there is infringement. The judge is the custodian of democracy. Whenever you have a judicial system which properly functions then it is a sign of a very healthy and properly operating democracy.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
The judge shall ensure that each case and each conflict is resolved and determined in a fair and equal manner after evaluating and applying the legal concepts and legal precedence, of course applying the facts of each individual case. The judicial in general has a role of delivering justice and interpreting the law that is being prescribed by the parliament.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
-Law Student
08
Views on the greek judicial system
The constitutionally established Judicial system of Greece consists of two jurisdictions, the administrative and the civil/criminal, which are in turn organized in three instances: the courts of first instance (lower courts), the courts of appeals (higher, appellate courts) and the Supreme Courts.
I think that there is a need for modernization, but I highly estimate the Greek judicial system, because it is accessible, cheap and it is for everybody. In Greece we have to decide if we want a judicial system for everybody or for somebody. We need to modernize the system so that judges can focus on the cases that need support. In my view the real problem with Greek judges is that because most of the just graduate the law school and take the judges exams, which require you to be over 28 years old, even if they have never exposed themselves to the commercial reality. Before becoming a judge, that person should understand how the society works and functions and expose themselves into the reality of today. The best judges and public notaries have had many years of experience as lawyers before choosing a different profession related to law. I believe that there are a lot of smart people,
judgements, however the system does not support them.
-Lawyer with 17 years of experience
The Greek judicial systems have not been properly developed because more resources human and financial have been spent on increasing the number of judges rather than increasing the quality of the judges and the rulings that come out of them.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
You have to wait two to three years a first instance court judgement, another two to three years for the appeal court and another two to three for the supreme court, which makes in total six to nine years for a judgement. In my opinion you should not have to que in the courts to submit a claim or your pleading this has to be done electronically. For sure this has to be updated.
willing to put their time and energy into making good
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
It is really slow.
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
09
The development of the role of the judge
The development of the role of the judge in the last few years in the Greek society had already started from the economical crisis. Judges were confronted with cases which were highly connected with financial and investment products like bonds or structure deposits. In order to make a decision about these cases they had to study, learn and familiarize themselves with financial law. The development of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and artificial intelligence will force judges to learn about subjects and aspects of law that are not yet familiar to them, so that they can make decisions about cases which involve these new technologies. In other words, the judges of today shouldn’t be like the judges of the past. I believe that judges of today should be younger, more open-minded, they need to be familiar and stay up to date with technological developments. The Covid-19 pandemic forced them to slowly familiarize themselves with new developments.
In the beginning the court was not the same as it is today. He did not judge as fairly as he does today, not only in Greece but also in Europe and everywhere. It is constantly evolving, and they are heading towards the infallible and timeless administration of justice.
-Lawyer with 45 years of experience
Over the past 5-6 years we see very positives signs, in sense that more technology is used by Greek judges as well, more training and in general digitalization is offering to judges the ability to more easily have access to libraries, decisions, argumentations and everything that should be accessed by a judge who is there to deliver his or her wisdom.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
In terms of development, the role of the judge is not constantly evolving, but judicial decisions especially in the UK shape the law. Thus, along with judicial decisions the law develops as well.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
-Law Student
What is the role of the lawyer in the society?
10
The role of the lawyer was and still is very significant in all societies and will always be really significant to all societies, simply because the lawyer is the goal between any civilian who is looking seek protection and access to the judge, who as I said is the foundation of democracy. The role of a lawyer is to translate the legal system and the legal rules, to plain and logical day to day words that can be understood by his or her client. In inspective of whether the lawyer advices the CEO of an international company or an employee with a employment issues, the role of the lawyer is to make sure that no matter how complex a legal issue is he or she may explain it in very simple and understandable terms and words that should not take more than a paragraph. That is the very precious role of a lawyer. He is the translator between the judge and the rule of law and his or her client.
He is a collaborator. He works with the judge. On the one hand there is the lawyer, who presents the case in detail and on the other hand there is the judge who monitors the presentation of the case, in order to have a complete picture of it. The lawyer gathers information in order to assist his client in any kind of law. That is why the code of the lawyer considers the profession to be functional, that is, the lawyer exercises a function, and not a profession.
-Lawyer with 45 years of experience
The lawyer represents interests. The interests of her/his clients. In so far as the interests that the lawyer represents in a particular situation are in line with the lawyer’s value system and the lawyer’s idea of justice, then the lawyer’s work may actually be satisfying and fulfilling for him/herself.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
What is the role of the lawyer in the society?
11
Lawyers have to be role models for the people in the society. They need to know, comply and understand law, to give the proper example for people in the society since they are the ones who know and understand the law. As lawyers we have to promote out of court settlements. In civil and corporate cases, I think, there is merit on trying to settlement out of court.
Lawyer’s role in my opinion is to provide advice to citizens about how the law operates in his specific jurisdiction, since he has an expertise. The law is publicly available to everyone yet, not everyone has the time to interpret it and this is where lawyers come in. He has an advisory role, a role of prosecuting and defending according to each case. He provides a service that’s the key essence.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
-Law Student
12
helpful advice
Technological advances will make many areas of business (including fields of law) outdated and obsolete. The challenge is to understand the needs that will generate in the future. Routine or recurrent legal work may, possibly, be a task for machines (artificial intelligence).
My advice would be if you want to study law, it is an excellent choice to combine it with math and/or philosophy and embrace technological development, because it impacts and it will continue to impact any kind of profession, from a lawyer to a dentist, any kind of profession, and the only way in which one can survive as a professional in the years to come is to make sure that he or she applies human logic and he or she embraces technological development. The more you do these two things the more the chances of excellence and the more the chances of surviving as a top professional. Mathematics, philosophy and technology, base your legal studies on these three foundations and I think that it is going to be a really fascinating and successful career you will be having.
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
Keep your mind open go for an expertise because it’s the trend and because you need a “passport” but stay open in life. There is always something new to learn! This is our profession; you can never know everything. There are always new laws, new rules and so many staff going on. Ask many questions. It’s better to not know it or not be sure and ask about it than make a mistake.Always seek for guidance when starting your career. Be brave. Expect to work long hours. It is not like a mainstream profession with a 9 to 5 job.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
Combine legal and managerial skills. The work of many always pays better than the work of a single person.
-Lawyer with 17 years of experience
13
what you must know before studying law
Spend some time studying the sources of law and how the whole legal system started to operate. Then everything will unfold in a very magic way.
The advie that I would give to anyone that thinks about studying law in the future is that is a fascinating area, and you can do all short of things when you can really understand the mechanics behind the law. In order to achieve this and not be lost in the translation between a practical application logic and law, you must make sure that at the same time you combine law with mathematics or philosophy because these two subjects are the foundation of human logic.
In order to achieve and maintain expertise in any field of law (or otherwise), one needs to study and improve oneself continuously throughout her/his professional career; this is not always an easy task. A lawyer is, normally, paid on the basis of the output produced by her/his own work, i.e. the legal services that she/he provides; so (normally) the overall level / amount of the fees earned shall always be subject to the fact that a day has only 24 hours. Graduating law school doesn’t make you a good practitioner. It is not a failure to graduate from a law school and not become a practitioner. It’s a beginning for a proper profession which fist the young person and will promote their actual skills that they may have.
You should expect a very eye-opening experience. In the sense of law, it allows you to better understand society functions. You must not be passively accepting what may be studied in a university, but you should be very proactive in making sure you understand the many different choices that may be made and may be available to you. Hence, you must spend some time on philosophy of law, which will help you understand the foundations of law.
14
what you must know before studying law
I would also recommend is to go after venues and societies. Law firms tend to host seminars or fairs in universities. Students should really be keen on trying to attend those. Cultivate their network and skills, meet new people who have mass experience in their field. Attending such events will be really beneficial for a student and his or her future career. No teacher nor tutor or lecturer is going to devote time on his own initiative for your own personal gain if you do not take initiative. Ask questions, participate, study on a daily basis it is all for your own personal gain because at the end you are on your own and whether you will grow or not is choice that you can only make.23
A young law student should be patient, it is a painful process. You have to study to get in and you have to study to get out of law school, you have to study for the bar exam and then you have to study all throughout the process even if you do not decide on doing an LLM. Laws are changing all the time. Money and fame don’t come overnight.
Ask for guidance and advice, even for simple things like applications. Apart from devoting a lot of hours to studying and reading, you have to read the cases because many students skip the part in which they read the cases and just read what the textbook says. Read the cases it is very important to understand how a specific interpretation of a specific law or bylaw is reached. This will definitely approve one’s argumentative skills and constructing and understanding a legal argument.
15
glossary
Jurisdiction
Litigation
Litigation refers to the process of resolving disputes by filing or answering a complaint through the public court system.
In federal courts, litigation is governed by a number of federal rules: the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and the Federal Rules of Evidence. These are supplemented by the local rules of each court and the standing orders of judges.
- Power of a court to adjudicate cases and issue orders.
- . Territory within which a court or government agency may properly exercise its power.
Judicial
Descriptive term used to indicate that a thing refers, relates, or pertains to a judge or the court.descriptive term used to indicate that a thing refers, relates, or pertains to a judge or the court.
Jurisprudence
- The first and the most prevalent form of jurisprudence seeks to analyze, explain, classify, and criticize entire bodies of law. Law school textbooks and legal encyclopedias represent this type of scholarship.
- The second type of jurisprudence compares and contrasts law with other fields of knowledge such as literature, economics, religion, and the social sciences.
- The third type of jurisprudence seeks to reveal the historical, moral, and cultural basis of a particular legal concept.
- The fourth body of jurisprudence focuses on finding the answer to such abstract questions as "What is law?" and "How do judges (properly) decide cases?"
LLM
'LLM' is the standard abbreviation for the Master of Laws. The abbreviation is derived from the name of the qualification in Latin, 'Legum Magister', with 'legum' as the plural of 'lex', meaning law.
16
References
The booklet contains excerpts from litigatory literature and references to their content
Bibliography:
Slapper, Gary, and David Kelly. The English Legal System: 2015-2016. Routledge, 2015,
Stychin, Carl F., and Linda Mulcahy. Legal Methods and Systems: Text and Materials. Sweet & Maxwell, 2014, pp.2--30,419-421.
“ What Is 'the English Legal System'?, The Significance of Courts.” English Legal System in Context, by Fiona Cownie et al., Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 1–30.
“The Judiciary.” The English Legal System, by Gary Slapper and David Kelly, Sixteenth ed., Routledge, 2015, pp. 419–420.x
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Transcript
01
LAW
A concise introduction to some of its concepts and key takeawaysfrom interviews with law practitioners and students
A concise introduction to some of its concepts and key takeaways from interviews with law practitioners and students
melina salaka
02
Introduction
This is a small booklet addressed to people who are thinking about studying law in the future. Its aim is to inform the audience and help them set realistic expectations about law studies and pursuing a career in law. It's contain links the official definition of some concepts of law, sourced from legal literature, and the understanding of practitioners, based on their experience, of the same concepts. Advices from them to potential law students are included as well. Concepts include the rule of law, the definition of law itself, the role of the lawyer in the society and more. You can also find a glossary with some of the terms related to law used towards the end of the booklet.
03
table of contents
What is law?
04
Meet the interviewees
05
What is the rule of law?
06
What is the role of the judge in the greek society?
07
Views on the Greek judicial system
08
The development of the role of the judge
09
What is the role of the lawyer in the society?
10
Helpful Advice
12
What you must know before studying law
13
Glossary
15
04
What is law?
Law is conceived by many (lawyers and others) as a set of rules which govern a society and create a structure of authority or government to run the social order.
The separation of law from politics is supposedly accomplished and ensured by a number of perceived attributes of the legal decision-making process, including judicial subservience to the Constitution, statues, and precedent; the quasi-scientific, objective nature of legal analysis; the technical expertise of judges and lawyers. Together, these attributes constitute an idealized decision-making process in which (1) the law on a particular issue is preexisting, predictable and available to anyone with reasonable legal skills;
(2) the facts relevant to dispositions of a case are ascertained by objective hearing and evidentiary rules that reasonably ensure that the truth will emerge; (3) the result in a particular case is determined by a rather routine application of the law to the facts; and (4) except for the occasional bad judge, any reasonably competent and fair judge will reach the ‘correct’ decision.
David Kairys, The Politics of Law: A progressive critique, 3rd edn (New York: Basic Books, 1998), pp.2-4
05
Meet the interviewees
Lawyer with 17 years of experience
Lawyer with 45 years of experience
He was a lawyer in the first instance court for 10 years and 35 years in the council of the state and in Areios Pagos, which is the supreme civil and criminal court of Greece. Has has studied law in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece. When he became a practitioner, expertise were not a trend nor popular. He was involved in both civil and criminal law cases, including some cases of family law such as divorces.
She has practiced law in two jurisdictions, in Greece and the United Kingdom. Throughout her career she has practiced in various of areas of expertise, however her current is Banking and Finance. She wanted to become a biologist, yet she decided that studying law was more practical. She studied and completed her undergraduate studies in law at the University of Athens, Law School, Greece. She completed her post graduate studies in London in Queen Mary Colleges.
Lawyer with 5 years of experience
Lawyer with 26 years of experience
She has spent 1 year as trainee and 4 years as a lawyer. Her area of expertise is Banking and Finance, as well as European law, banking law, company law and in general advisory services. She wanted to become a professional athlete; however, feared injury, therefore she chose to study law because she was fascinated with the way law is involved in everything around us. She completed her undergraduate studies in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece. She holds three LLMs, one on civil law, another one on European and financial law and the last one which focused on European evolvement and Greek law.
His area of expertise is banking and finance, even though he started out as a litigation lawyer. He became a lawyer because he thought that it would assist in having better communication with people and self-expression. He studied law in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece and holds a postgraduate degree (LLM) in International Business Law.
Lawyer with 25 years of experience
Law Student
He is studying in Queen Mary University of London. He is in his third year of his studies, which is the final year. He is conflicted between an expertise in corporate law and telecommunication’s law. He is planning on at least one postgraduate degree.
His area of expertise is tax law, which is a rare expertise in Greece. He studied law in the University of Athens, Law School, Greece and holds a postgraduate degree (LLM) in International Law and International relations and a PhD in tax law.
06
what is the rule of law?
"On one level, to claim that a society is a subject to the rule of law is simply to say that it is governed by fixed rules set down in law, rather than by the arbitrary force of a dictator. But, of course, a society governed by rules will also be governed by individuals who make, change, and enforce the law. Moreover, the simple fact that a society is governed by rules- even lots of rules- may mean that it is subject to the rule of law, but it certainly does not in itself ensure that the society qualifies as a “just” or fair one."
Significance of the Rule of Law:
The concept of the Rule of law by famous jurists:
07
what is the rule of law?
Stripped of all technicalities the Rule of Law means that government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand
To me the rule of law consists of three parts. The first is the rule according to the law that no individual can be ordered by the government to pay damages or can suffer criminal punishment or any punishment for that matter, unless it is strictly prescribed by law. The second is the rule under law, which means that no one is above the law not even the government and everyone should be equally treated by the law. The third one is that rules should be according to higher law.
The rule of law in my mind is the foundation of democracy. Law is a set of rules which is always introduced to protect the weak, to make sure that human relationships are regulated and ultimately make a society function. Without the rule of law I cannot really see how a society may function. Now, if you take it to its extent then you realize that the rule of law is necessary for the peaceful functioning of states and for the world as a whole. Unless countries respect the rule of law then the ultimately they end up in wars and disrupts of peace.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
For me and in general, it means that in substance it is a principle which prevents an arbitrary exercise of power, an abuse of power from the government or the authorities or any entity to the individual. It actually says and means that nobody is above the law and everybody is equal against the law. Everybody’s conduct shall be evaluated against the law in the same firm manner and if it deviates from what the law dictates it should be penalized.
The rule of law is a measure of justice. It is the foundation of the democratic society.
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
For me it is the way that societies should be build. It is what keeps us organized. For me it should not be a legal concept but a social concept.
-Lawyer with 17 years of experience
-Law Student
What is the role of the judge in the society?
08
The role of the judge can differ from society to society, nevertheless there is on main idea which remains the same in all Democratic driven countries, like Greece. The role of the judge is tied with the central to the general idea of the rule of law, which involves the rule of the law rather than the rule of the people. Judges hold a position of central importance in relation to the concept of the rule of law. They are expected to deliver judgement in completely impartial manner through a strict application of the law, without allowing their personal preference, or fear or favor of any of the parties to the action, to affect their decision in any way.
"In the traditional liberal philosophy judges have an important political function. Their work balances that of the legislature and the executive. Each are seen as semi-autonomous bodies with distinctive roles contributing to the polity as a whole. Each has power over the others and power over the population at large. This idea has, in turn, been seen to be of vital significance in the elaboration of an effective constitutional framework."
“The Judiciary.” The English Legal System, by Gary Slapper and David Kelly, Sixteenth ed., Routledge, 2015, pp. 419–420.
07
the role of the judge and its evolvement
In Greece we have three powers: the judicial which is independent from the other two which are executive and legislative. Of course, their judgements are based on laws and the constitution. What I find really interesting and compared to other law systems like common law, is that judges don’t have to follow previous judgements they can judge and make a decision which may be completely different from what other judges have judged, even if they are based on similar facts.
The judge represents the trust of the Greek citizens, the trust they have in justice. Through this trust and the courts they hope to find their justification even if they are wrong.
-Lawyer with 45 years of experience
I will start by saying that the role of the judge is key to the rule of law. The role of the judge is to enforce and apply law. The judge is there to preserve the rights and to make sure that the rights and the set of freedoms which are set in statute and in jurisprudence are properly applied and preserved whenever there is infringement. The judge is the custodian of democracy. Whenever you have a judicial system which properly functions then it is a sign of a very healthy and properly operating democracy.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
The judge shall ensure that each case and each conflict is resolved and determined in a fair and equal manner after evaluating and applying the legal concepts and legal precedence, of course applying the facts of each individual case. The judicial in general has a role of delivering justice and interpreting the law that is being prescribed by the parliament.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
-Law Student
08
Views on the greek judicial system
The constitutionally established Judicial system of Greece consists of two jurisdictions, the administrative and the civil/criminal, which are in turn organized in three instances: the courts of first instance (lower courts), the courts of appeals (higher, appellate courts) and the Supreme Courts.
I think that there is a need for modernization, but I highly estimate the Greek judicial system, because it is accessible, cheap and it is for everybody. In Greece we have to decide if we want a judicial system for everybody or for somebody. We need to modernize the system so that judges can focus on the cases that need support. In my view the real problem with Greek judges is that because most of the just graduate the law school and take the judges exams, which require you to be over 28 years old, even if they have never exposed themselves to the commercial reality. Before becoming a judge, that person should understand how the society works and functions and expose themselves into the reality of today. The best judges and public notaries have had many years of experience as lawyers before choosing a different profession related to law. I believe that there are a lot of smart people,
judgements, however the system does not support them.
-Lawyer with 17 years of experience
The Greek judicial systems have not been properly developed because more resources human and financial have been spent on increasing the number of judges rather than increasing the quality of the judges and the rulings that come out of them.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
You have to wait two to three years a first instance court judgement, another two to three years for the appeal court and another two to three for the supreme court, which makes in total six to nine years for a judgement. In my opinion you should not have to que in the courts to submit a claim or your pleading this has to be done electronically. For sure this has to be updated.
willing to put their time and energy into making good
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
It is really slow.
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
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The development of the role of the judge
The development of the role of the judge in the last few years in the Greek society had already started from the economical crisis. Judges were confronted with cases which were highly connected with financial and investment products like bonds or structure deposits. In order to make a decision about these cases they had to study, learn and familiarize themselves with financial law. The development of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and artificial intelligence will force judges to learn about subjects and aspects of law that are not yet familiar to them, so that they can make decisions about cases which involve these new technologies. In other words, the judges of today shouldn’t be like the judges of the past. I believe that judges of today should be younger, more open-minded, they need to be familiar and stay up to date with technological developments. The Covid-19 pandemic forced them to slowly familiarize themselves with new developments.
In the beginning the court was not the same as it is today. He did not judge as fairly as he does today, not only in Greece but also in Europe and everywhere. It is constantly evolving, and they are heading towards the infallible and timeless administration of justice.
-Lawyer with 45 years of experience
Over the past 5-6 years we see very positives signs, in sense that more technology is used by Greek judges as well, more training and in general digitalization is offering to judges the ability to more easily have access to libraries, decisions, argumentations and everything that should be accessed by a judge who is there to deliver his or her wisdom.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
In terms of development, the role of the judge is not constantly evolving, but judicial decisions especially in the UK shape the law. Thus, along with judicial decisions the law develops as well.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
-Law Student
What is the role of the lawyer in the society?
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The role of the lawyer was and still is very significant in all societies and will always be really significant to all societies, simply because the lawyer is the goal between any civilian who is looking seek protection and access to the judge, who as I said is the foundation of democracy. The role of a lawyer is to translate the legal system and the legal rules, to plain and logical day to day words that can be understood by his or her client. In inspective of whether the lawyer advices the CEO of an international company or an employee with a employment issues, the role of the lawyer is to make sure that no matter how complex a legal issue is he or she may explain it in very simple and understandable terms and words that should not take more than a paragraph. That is the very precious role of a lawyer. He is the translator between the judge and the rule of law and his or her client.
He is a collaborator. He works with the judge. On the one hand there is the lawyer, who presents the case in detail and on the other hand there is the judge who monitors the presentation of the case, in order to have a complete picture of it. The lawyer gathers information in order to assist his client in any kind of law. That is why the code of the lawyer considers the profession to be functional, that is, the lawyer exercises a function, and not a profession.
-Lawyer with 45 years of experience
The lawyer represents interests. The interests of her/his clients. In so far as the interests that the lawyer represents in a particular situation are in line with the lawyer’s value system and the lawyer’s idea of justice, then the lawyer’s work may actually be satisfying and fulfilling for him/herself.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
What is the role of the lawyer in the society?
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Lawyers have to be role models for the people in the society. They need to know, comply and understand law, to give the proper example for people in the society since they are the ones who know and understand the law. As lawyers we have to promote out of court settlements. In civil and corporate cases, I think, there is merit on trying to settlement out of court.
Lawyer’s role in my opinion is to provide advice to citizens about how the law operates in his specific jurisdiction, since he has an expertise. The law is publicly available to everyone yet, not everyone has the time to interpret it and this is where lawyers come in. He has an advisory role, a role of prosecuting and defending according to each case. He provides a service that’s the key essence.
-Lawyer with 5 years of experience
-Law Student
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helpful advice
Technological advances will make many areas of business (including fields of law) outdated and obsolete. The challenge is to understand the needs that will generate in the future. Routine or recurrent legal work may, possibly, be a task for machines (artificial intelligence).
My advice would be if you want to study law, it is an excellent choice to combine it with math and/or philosophy and embrace technological development, because it impacts and it will continue to impact any kind of profession, from a lawyer to a dentist, any kind of profession, and the only way in which one can survive as a professional in the years to come is to make sure that he or she applies human logic and he or she embraces technological development. The more you do these two things the more the chances of excellence and the more the chances of surviving as a top professional. Mathematics, philosophy and technology, base your legal studies on these three foundations and I think that it is going to be a really fascinating and successful career you will be having.
-Lawyer with 25 years of experience
Keep your mind open go for an expertise because it’s the trend and because you need a “passport” but stay open in life. There is always something new to learn! This is our profession; you can never know everything. There are always new laws, new rules and so many staff going on. Ask many questions. It’s better to not know it or not be sure and ask about it than make a mistake.Always seek for guidance when starting your career. Be brave. Expect to work long hours. It is not like a mainstream profession with a 9 to 5 job.
-Lawyer with 26 years of experience
Combine legal and managerial skills. The work of many always pays better than the work of a single person.
-Lawyer with 17 years of experience
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what you must know before studying law
Spend some time studying the sources of law and how the whole legal system started to operate. Then everything will unfold in a very magic way.
The advie that I would give to anyone that thinks about studying law in the future is that is a fascinating area, and you can do all short of things when you can really understand the mechanics behind the law. In order to achieve this and not be lost in the translation between a practical application logic and law, you must make sure that at the same time you combine law with mathematics or philosophy because these two subjects are the foundation of human logic.
In order to achieve and maintain expertise in any field of law (or otherwise), one needs to study and improve oneself continuously throughout her/his professional career; this is not always an easy task. A lawyer is, normally, paid on the basis of the output produced by her/his own work, i.e. the legal services that she/he provides; so (normally) the overall level / amount of the fees earned shall always be subject to the fact that a day has only 24 hours. Graduating law school doesn’t make you a good practitioner. It is not a failure to graduate from a law school and not become a practitioner. It’s a beginning for a proper profession which fist the young person and will promote their actual skills that they may have.
You should expect a very eye-opening experience. In the sense of law, it allows you to better understand society functions. You must not be passively accepting what may be studied in a university, but you should be very proactive in making sure you understand the many different choices that may be made and may be available to you. Hence, you must spend some time on philosophy of law, which will help you understand the foundations of law.
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what you must know before studying law
I would also recommend is to go after venues and societies. Law firms tend to host seminars or fairs in universities. Students should really be keen on trying to attend those. Cultivate their network and skills, meet new people who have mass experience in their field. Attending such events will be really beneficial for a student and his or her future career. No teacher nor tutor or lecturer is going to devote time on his own initiative for your own personal gain if you do not take initiative. Ask questions, participate, study on a daily basis it is all for your own personal gain because at the end you are on your own and whether you will grow or not is choice that you can only make.23
A young law student should be patient, it is a painful process. You have to study to get in and you have to study to get out of law school, you have to study for the bar exam and then you have to study all throughout the process even if you do not decide on doing an LLM. Laws are changing all the time. Money and fame don’t come overnight.
Ask for guidance and advice, even for simple things like applications. Apart from devoting a lot of hours to studying and reading, you have to read the cases because many students skip the part in which they read the cases and just read what the textbook says. Read the cases it is very important to understand how a specific interpretation of a specific law or bylaw is reached. This will definitely approve one’s argumentative skills and constructing and understanding a legal argument.
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glossary
Jurisdiction
Litigation
Litigation refers to the process of resolving disputes by filing or answering a complaint through the public court system. In federal courts, litigation is governed by a number of federal rules: the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and the Federal Rules of Evidence. These are supplemented by the local rules of each court and the standing orders of judges.
Judicial
Descriptive term used to indicate that a thing refers, relates, or pertains to a judge or the court.descriptive term used to indicate that a thing refers, relates, or pertains to a judge or the court.
Jurisprudence
LLM
'LLM' is the standard abbreviation for the Master of Laws. The abbreviation is derived from the name of the qualification in Latin, 'Legum Magister', with 'legum' as the plural of 'lex', meaning law.
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References
The booklet contains excerpts from litigatory literature and references to their content
Bibliography:
Slapper, Gary, and David Kelly. The English Legal System: 2015-2016. Routledge, 2015,
Stychin, Carl F., and Linda Mulcahy. Legal Methods and Systems: Text and Materials. Sweet & Maxwell, 2014, pp.2--30,419-421.
“ What Is 'the English Legal System'?, The Significance of Courts.” English Legal System in Context, by Fiona Cownie et al., Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 1–30.
“The Judiciary.” The English Legal System, by Gary Slapper and David Kelly, Sixteenth ed., Routledge, 2015, pp. 419–420.x