Description
Title: Introducing A New Visual Model with Potential Benefits for Legal EducationAbstract: Lots of disciplines use images, but despite growing interest in the use of images in the discipline of law we still have nothing that is equivalent to the map in geography, or to symbols in maths: we remain tied in our doctrinal discourse to ‘black-letter law’. This constrains legal education techniques and restricts the accessibility of law for students and the public.
This paper addresses the situation by introducing a new model for the visual representation of fundamental aspects of the legal person in and of itself, and also in its relations with others. Developed from first principles but considered also as in accordance with positivist interpretations of the legal person in domestic and international law, the model is found to be robust enough to represent accurately even advanced and technical aspects of doctrinal law.
However, by design the model is also simple and intuitive, and can be anthropomorphised easily to the point that even children of primary-school age can meaningfully engage with it to represent facts and decisions in case judgments.
The potential benefits for legal education from using this visual model are anticipated to include new techniques for: broadening public and student access to legal education; classroom explanations of theoretical and practical concepts (including case law); remembering key aspects of particular cases when revising for exams; advanced analysis of technical legal questions; and the diversification of forms of assessment.
The model is essentially fully developed and has been applied with success to situations in international law and tort law, and theoretically should be suitable for potentially all other areas of law too. It has not yet been shared publicly and only the basics of the approach have been explored by me with students – but with encouraging initial signs.
| Period | 02 Sept 2025 |
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| Event type | Conference |