Abstract

The Jurisprudence of Public Law in Administration and Economy

Studying law in Germany is oriented towards an ideal of legal scholarship (“Rechtswissenschaft”) and a “scientific” or exegetical treatment of the law. In spite of this common educational background of all lawyers, however, academia and legal practice tend to form two separate career-paths. A gap exists between the academic teaching of public law on the one hand and its application in the public and private sector on the other hand.

This article examines the institutional and personal links between the practical and academic sides of public law and examines the motives of the persons and institutions involved. From a ministry and agency perspective, links to academia are considered as a means of reinforcing the state-enacted law and its administration/implementation. By way of contrast, from the business perspective, expectations are aimed at domesticating the legislator and strengthening economic rights and the foreseeability of public law. Seen from an academic perspective, there are several valid reasons for furthering the links with public law practitioners: Such contacts provide empirical feedback which allows setting legal reasoning on a firm and realistic footing. Moreover, cooperation between academic and practical actors on concrete subjects and topics may bring about a genuine interdisciplinary dialogue which would be hard to achieve in a merely theoretical discourse.