Development and Implication of Legal Education in Israel

Abstract

Legal education emerged in the area of Israel during the British rule, characterized by vocational education, strong British influence and on a very small scale. In the early years of the State, it was transformed into an academic education, mixed in style but generally similar to continental Europe, with religious norms incorporated into the secular legal education system. Thereafter, legal education oscillated between continental European and American styles, and eventually became Americanized. Law schools and the government together made efforts contributed to the reform of legal education in Israel. While retaining some traditional features such as religion and ethnicity, Israel has moved toward the Americanization of legal education. The motivations for the development of legal education in Israel include academic legal research, political, cultural and economic interests. The implication that the development of Israeli legal education brings to our country consists of judging the merits of legal education idea according to practice as standards and realizing reform and innovation in legal education, emphasizes the coordination and balance between traditional legal culture and modern value of rule of law, internationalization and nationality. Due to the particularity of cultural and historical background, economic and social structure, legal construction path and legal talents demand, legal education in Israel has certain limitations. The Americanization in Israel alerts that, we should pay particular attention to the reality and the development of our own country, so as to avoid the absurd phenomenon of being too far away from reality.