COMPARATIVE LAW: Method, Science or Educational Discipline? Djalil I. Kiekbaev(Bashkir State University)(1) Readers are reminded that this work is protected by copyright while they are free to use the ideas expressed in it, they may not copy, distribute or publish the work or part of it, in any form, printed electronic or otherwise, except for reasonable quoting, clearly indicating the source. Readers are permitted to make copies, electronically or printed, for personal and classroom use Notwithstanding the fact that comparative law for several decades has been the subject of ardent academic discussion and scientific scrutiny, there still is some ambiguity as regards its principal designation in contemporary juridical sciences: what is comparative law per se- a scientific method, a pure science or an educational discipline? This problem has been exciting comparatists since the very birth of comparative law at the dawn of the 20th century Let us proceed from the thesis of comparative law as a method of study of various legal phenomena. Thanks to the application of the comparative method, it has become possible to reveal the general and the special in world legal systems of today. Among adherents of this stream are such scientists as Pollock, David, Gutteridge, Patterson, Grossfeld, Kahn-Freund, De Cruz and Szabo. Furthermore, in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s of the 20th century the overwhelming majority of comparatists were inclined to doubt the existence of the science of comparative law, claiming that if comparative law were a distinct science, what should consequently constitute its subject. It was then considered an axiom that comparative law only consisted of a variety of methods of investigation of jurisprudence. (2 The theory of comparative method puts in the forefront comparison itself, while comparative law is frequently associated and even sometimes equated with it. However, there are al ways certain discrepancies about this theory concerning the purpose and the subject matter of comparison. The comparison has to represent a process. H. Gutteridge, for example, devoted an entire of his book on comparative law to the comparison process. ( 3)He discusses various obstacles to comparison, including identifying sources and objects of comparison, and also proposes approaches to surmount these obstacles. Nevertheless, it appears hardly possible to determine the character of the comparison process. The comparatist only refers to the necessity of comparison of sim legal systems. He fails to mention the significance of comparison for the establishment of differences in those legal phenomena which were initially believed to be identical, or similar. In this connection, the well-known German comparatists K. Zweigert and H. Kotz recognize, that the process of comparison represents the most complicated aspect of comparative law and that it is deemed rather problematic to establish any rigid rules regulating this process. The point of view propounded by H. Gutteridge was further elaborated in scientific works of R. David, the founder of the theory of legal systems. (4)R. David holds that comparative law is nothing but a method of study of legal systems. This theory was dominant in the uSsr as well as in the rest of east andCOMPARATIVE LAW: Method, Science or Educational Discipline? Djalil I. Kiekbaev (Bashkir State University)(1) Readers are reminded that this work is protected by copyright. While they are free to use the ideas expressed in it, they may not copy, distribute or publish the work or part of it, in any form, printed, electronic or otherwise, except for reasonable quoting, clearly indicating the source. Readers are permitted to make copies, electronically or printed, for personal and classroom use. Notwithstanding the fact that comparative law for several decades has been the subject of ardent academic discussion and scientific scrutiny, there still is some ambiguity as regards its principal designation in contemporary juridical sciences: what is comparative law per se - a scientific method, a pure science or an educational discipline? This problem has been exciting comparatists since the very birth of comparative law at the dawn of the 20th century. Let us proceed from the thesis of comparative law as a method of study of various legal phenomena. Thanks to the application of the comparative method, it has become possible to reveal the general and the special in world legal systems of today. Among adherents of this stream are such scientists as Pollock, David, Gutteridge, Patterson, Grossfeld, Kahn-Freund, De Cruz, and Szabo. Furthermore, in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s of the 20th century the overwhelming majority of comparatists were inclined to doubt the existence of the science of comparative law, claiming that if comparative law were a distinct science, what should consequently constitute its subject. It was then considered an axiom that comparative law only consisted of a variety of methods of investigation of jurisprudence.(2) The theory of comparative method puts in the forefront comparison itself, while comparative law is frequently associated and even sometimes equated with it. However, there are always certain discrepancies about this theory concerning the purpose and the subject matter of comparison. The comparison has to represent a process. H. Gutteridge, for example, devoted an entire of his book on comparative law to the comparison process.(3) He discusses various obstacles to comparison, including identifying sources and objects of comparison, and also proposes approaches to surmount these obstacles. Nevertheless, it appears hardly possible to determine the character of the comparison process. The comparatist only refers to the necessity of comparison of similar legal systems. He fails to mention the significance of comparison for the establishment of differences in those legal phenomena which were initially believed to be identical, or similar. In this connection, the well-known German comparatists K. Zweigert and H. Kötz recognize, that the process of comparison represents the most complicated aspect of comparative law and that it is deemed rather problematic to establish any rigid rules regulating this process. The point of view propounded by H. Gutteridge was further elaborated in scientific works of R. David, the founder of the theory of legal systems.(4) R. David holds that comparative law is nothing but a method of study of legal systems. This theory was dominant in the USSR as well as in the rest of East and