This wiki will follow the course of the Kira Institute's Comparative Law workshop facilitated by Saki Bailey/Genesis Zhangsun taking place in the virtual world of Second Life starting July 17,2009 and every Friday 2-3pm for one month.

For more on the Kira Institute: http://kira.org/

For more on Saki Bailey/Genesis Zhansgun: http://kira.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=57

This workshop attempts to explore the origins, aims, methodologies, and limitations of the discipline of Comparative Law. Comparative Law is a descriptive discipline and its contributions can be utilized to 1) aid legislators, 2) provide a tool of interpretation/construction 3) systematically unify the law and 4) further international understanding and dissolve national prejudice. This workshop will attempt to provide a brief introduction to Comparative Law for those with little or no background and to explore what it can tell us about: the values of a given society, whether a study of comparative law can reveal "universal values" across all cultures, and whether systematic unification of the law is desirable.

No legal background is necessary and I hope to include participants issues of concern and to talk more generally about our relationship to the legal system, how it impacts regular people and whether/how we perceive the law as connected to our values and ethics as a society.

Here is a description of the initial themes that will be explored:

I. Origins of Comparative Law: "a droit commun de l'humanite"

II. Taxonomy: "The Legal Families of the World"

III. Comparative Law Methodology: Functionality, Legal Formants, and Legal Transplants.

IV. Unification of Law: Is unification desirable? By what means should it take place?

Here is the wiki: http://kiracomparativelaw.wikispaces.com/