Lawyers have to adapt their reasoning to the increasingly global nature of the situations they deal with. Often, rules formulated in a national, international or European environment must all be jointly applied to a given case. This book seeks to make explicit the analysis the lawyer engages in every time he or she is confronted by the operation of several laws in different contexts. This reasoning is organised according to a basic three-step approach, consisting of the comparison (Part 1), combination (Part 2) and, finally, ordering or 'prioritization' (Part 3) of the methods and solutions of national, international and European law to be used to solve the case. The book conveys in detail how the law is operated through a wide range of concrete examples cutting across domains including criminal law, contract law, fundamental rights, internal market, international trade and procedure. This book focuses on the needs of a global lawyer who must reach conclusions in a pluralistic context. Illustrations from the domestic case law of the UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France and the US are used to demonstrate how lawyers can combine different contexts to improve their legal reasoning. Operating Law in a Global Context will appeal to lawyers in these jurisdictions and beyond, as well as to students training to practice in a global environment.

Contents: Introduction Part I Comparing national, international and European law 2. Comparing scopes of application 3. Comparing conditions of enforceability 4. The comparison of methods and solutions Part II Combining national, international and European law 5. The complementarity of laws 6. The phenomenon and the constraint of circulation Part III The Prioritization of National, International and European Law 7. Prioritization through the application of the law on one level: the appeal to a hierarchy of norms 8. Prioritization through the application of the law at another level: the appeal to a prioritized law 9. Conclusion Index