ABSTRACT
The question that this chapter will consider is easy enough to state. How does – or, perhaps one ought to say, how should – a comparative lawyer approach the question of lay participation in law? If for reasons of space and convenience one narrows the subject matter of comparison, namely lay participation, down to the single institution of the jury in English and French law the framework would seemingly be straightforward. How should the research student conduct her investigation into this institution in both countries? Yet, as we shall see, the question of research methods in comparative legal studies is by no means as straightforward as it might seem. There are serious methodological issues behind which lie important epistemological questions and difficulties. Consequently while the jury itself will not be ignored, the emphasis will be primarily focused on comparative law method.
