ELS Academy Research Grant awarded to collaborative research design on comparing case law review method vs court file studies
Last Friday, during the ELS Academy Annual Event, Loran Kostense (VU), Sofia de Jong (Leiden University), Rieneke Stelma-Roorda (VU) and Anne Verboom (Leiden University) were awarded a €5000 research grant to carry out research on comparing the method of case law reviews versus court file studies. In this context they are hoping to get in touch with researchers who have conducted a court file study!
This research project aims to explore the benefits and disadvantages of conducting a case law review (rechtspraakanalyse) through Rechtspraak.nl as opposed to a court file study (dossieronderzoek). This empirical-legal research plan was designed by Loran and fine-tuned and pitched with Sofia, Rieneke and Anne during the Annual Event of the ELS Academy. During the research project, the researchers can benefit from guidance by the board of the ELS Academy and Professor Lee Epstein, who also took part in the jury that awarded the grant.
Why compare these methods?
The case law review method is a well-known and often applied legal research method. In the Netherlands, this research is often conducted with the use of the publicly available database Rechtspraak.nl. However, the case law on Rechtspraak.nl is selectively published by the courts and is of a concise nature. This means that not all cases are represented comprehensively and the information in the published case law is limited, potentially skewing and influencing researchers’ understanding of the broader legal landscape.
An alternative legal research method in which complete court files are examined, referred to as a court file study, potentially yields more reliable and valid results as it is based on all the information in court files. However, conducting court file studies is not always feasible due to the need of explicit consent from the Raad voor de Rechtspraak and the method’s time consuming and complex nature.
By further comparing the strengths and limitations of these two research methods, the researchers aim to get insight into which types of research questions are best suited to each method and in the way these two methods relate to each other. In this way, this study aims to contribute to the ongoing effort to critically assess and enhance legal research methods. In order to execute this research plan, the researchers call for your help!
Call for court file studies – please reach out!
Did you conduct a court file study? Or do you know someone who did? Please reach out to Loran Kostense (l.kostense@vu.nl). This would enable the research team to draw lessons from these studies and make an in-depth comparison with ‘regular’ case law research.