Comparative law is not what it used to be. We are less and less looking out from the national legal system for law and legal ideas, and more and more receiving it from the transnational legal orders the nation states are a part of. The internationalization of law that we witness today are not unique, but part of an imminent historical process. But the character of the internationalization of law have an extent and a speed that will make it historically unique if the process goes on interrupted it will then even surpass the High Middle Ages, which till now has been the hay days of legal internationalization of law from a Norwegian perspective. Comparative law used to be a tool that, among other things, was used to identify and adjust law and legal ideas received. Today nations that want to be a part of the emerging transnational legal orders, are obliged to receive law. (And receive legal ideas during the process of receiving law). Adjustment is still required to make received law and legal ideas operational. But an adjustment of what you are obliged to receive, requires justification, analysis and argument. This must be based on how law is practiced and how it is perceived, which is found by studying legal culture. Comparative legal culture is hence an important part of law today.
