Geography and law: a method for analysing legal cases in geographical research

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive methodology for reading and analyzing legal cases from a legal-geographic perspective. Despite increasing international recognition and growth of legal geography, the analysis of legal texts and cases remains foreign to the skillset and methods of most geographers. However, such a skill may be highly useful and desirable in the context of legal-geographic research, as it enables engagement with the work of jurists and courts, thus increasing the interdisciplinary exchanges between geography and law. The article provides a methodology that may allow geographers this interaction, focusing specifically on case-law analysis. The method is explained through practice, by reading and analyzing two decisions by the European Court of Human Rights. This article directs attention to how geographers approaching legal cases must first be able to read them within their context, thus understanding the fundamental rules, parameters, and concerns that drive a court’s decision.