Bachelor of Talmudic Law

The Bachelor of Talmudic law comprises the study, analysis and application of ancient Biblical sources. The laws derived from these texts comprise the origin of many of today’s judicial systems.

The undergraduate programme involves studying the legal principles and concepts of Jewish Law, covering civil, criminal and matrimonial law. The course also includes the study of applicable tort, property and contract law. Furthermore, the programme also covers legal jurisprudence, judicial systems – including the validity of witnesses and judges – and dispute resolution. A large part of the curriculum focuses on textual analysis and linguistics, principles of logic and semantics.

Examples of case studies

An example of a specific case studied is that of an agricultural business with annual tax obligations wanting to pay its tithe early using estimation to evaluate the required amount. Legal discussion is based around the issue of interest charged if the amount proves too high and extra benefit if the approximated figure falls below that for this years crop. Obviously, such cases have clear parallels to those arising in the English legal system.

An additional illustration of the use these ancient concepts in modern day use is the precedent in "Haley v London Electricity Board" holding liable the owner of such holes or public dangers that may cause injury to unaware passers-by. In Jewish law this concept is known as “pits in public thoroughfares” and has wide-reaching tort implications.

Almost all the studied texts are in Aramaic or Hebrew and the programme requires a working knowledge of both languages to facilitate the understanding and examination of these sources.