This module offers a general introduction to comparative law. It offers information on other Western legal systems, predominantly as to private law, most notably French and German law, which have strongly influenced many legal systems within Europe and beyond. It will show how legal systems have to be understood in their (historical, social and economic) context and how law in action may sometimes be rather different from law in the books, so that in practice there may be more similarities or differences than the written law would suggest. In order to understand a legal system one has to understand its underlying legal (and general) culture.