Teaching Legal Research Methods in the LL.B. Programme of Ethiopian Law Schools

The Need to Revisit Some Key Points

Abstract

After completing the LL.B. programme, graduates are expected to have acquired the skill and competence, among other things, to render high quality research service to organizations, undertake independent research in areas of law, and research and publish to reinforce the Ethiopian legal jurisprudence. To acquire these skills, competence, and knowledge the teaching of legal research methods should be revisited so that students will receive quality education and skill training. Three changes in particular would, in the opinion of this writer, make significant positive differences. First, large class sizes should be reduced to enable more active participation of students and to reduce the heavy teaching load imposed on instructors. Here, it is possible to think of having two small classes instead of one large class. Second, the existing curriculum and the course breakdown should be restructured. Specifically, it would be helpful if Legal Research Methods is offered as a three-semester introductory, core, and advanced course that follows the established substantive and doctrinal knowledge of students. It has been suggested that the Utrecht model might be one to emulate. Finally, it appears that the teaching, research and publication experiences of most of the instructors currently teaching legal research methods at Ethiopian law schools hampers the quality of education and the skill training that they can offer to LL.B. students. With that in mind, law schools should employ and assign competent and qualified senior instructors who have extensive teaching, research, and publication experiences to teach courses in legal research methods. If these three changes are made, it is the opinion of this writer that legal research methods courses can be more fruitfully integrated into the LL.B. programmes of Ethiopian law schools, to the benefit of both students and instructors.