MV002K Methods of Legal Reasoning

Faculty of Law
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
JUDr. Lukáš Hlouch, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. JUDr. Tomáš Sobek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Bc. Linda Tvrdíková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
JUDr. Lukáš Hlouch, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
doc. JUDr. Tomáš Sobek, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Bc. Linda Tvrdíková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
JUDr. Lukáš Hlouch, Ph.D.
Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Tereza Buchalová
Supplier department: Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Prerequisites (in Czech)
CM113Zk Theory of Law I - seminar || MP113Zk Theory of Law I - seminar
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • Law (programme PrF, PR_) (2)
  • Law (programme PrF, M-PPV) (2)
Course objectives
This course is designed to enable students to achieve basic methodological knowledge of legal thought. Students learn theoretical subject matter of legal methodology and practise these skills on concrete examples (model cases of legal inferences, practical examples of case law and statutory law). Modules of the course represent a combination of lectures followed by seminars in which the subject matter of the course is practised. The main emphasis is put on typical legal inferences and their application in various contexts of contemporary legal order.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course, the students shall be able to recognize individual types of legal reasoning and shall be able to apply these skills for creative reasoning of their own legal opinions. Absolving of this course will help students to get better orientation in argumentative structures of lawyers reasoning.
Syllabus
  • Syllabus of the course: 1. Legal interpretation (concept, functions, methods) 2. Linguistic and logical grounds of legal thought. 3. Legal concept and its structure. Subsumtion as a logical and hermeneutical problem. 4. Elimination and analogy as essential juristic methods 5. Treating facts as a lawyer 6. Legal principles and balancing
Literature
    required literature
  • HLOUCH, Lukáš. Teorie a realita právní interpretace. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, 2011, 348 s. ISBN 9788073803032. info
  • SOBEK, Tomáš. Právní myšlení : kritika moralismu. Praha: Ústav státu a práva AV ČR¨, 2011, 620 s. ISBN 9788073803117. info
  • MELZER, Filip. Metodologie nalézání práva : úvod do právní argumentace. 2. vyd. Praha: C.H. Beck, 2011, xviii, 276. ISBN 9788074003820. info
    recommended literature
  • SOBEK, Tomáš. Argumenty teorie práva. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, 2008, 330 s. ISBN 9788073801342. info
  • KNAPP, Viktor. Vědecká propedeutika pro právníky. 1. vyd. Praha: Eurolex Bohemia, 2003, 233 s. ISBN 80-86432-54-8. info
  • TRYZNA, Jan. Právní principy a právní argumentace : k vlivu právních principů na právní argumentaci při aplikaci práva. Vyd. 1. Praha: Auditorium, 2010, 332 s. ISBN 9788087284018. info
  • WINTR, Jan. Metody a zásady interpretace práva. Praha: Auditorium, 2013, 229 s. ISBN 9788087284360. info
  • ROSENKRANZOVÁ, Olga, Filip MELZER, Lukáš HLOUCH, Martin HAPLA, Ondřej HORÁK and Petr OSINA. Praktikum z právní metodologie. Vydání první. Praha: Leges, 2017, 112 stran. ISBN 9788075022356. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminars (practising concrete methodological issues on examples from both theory and practice), preparation for seminars (analysis of the materials). E-learning supported.
Assessment methods
Colloquium - oral discussion on a certain methodological problem (particularly analysis of a judicial decision and creation of one own's point of view)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/spring2025/MV002K