NOTICE: EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE LEGAL HISTORY Inaugural Conference (5-6 July 2010)

The Inaugural Conference of the European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) will take place from 5-6 July 2010 at the University of Valencia (Valencia, Spain).

Speakers will include:

• R Jovita Baber, University of Illinois, “Multiplicity of Meanings: Legal Pluralism and the Layer Legality of Land in Sixteenth-century Andes”
• Louis Berkvens, Maastricht University, “An Approach of comparative history of legislation”
• Juan B. Cañizares, University of Valencia / MPIER, Frankfurt/M, “The notion of honour in the injury and slander offences. Normative and scholarly legal comparative approach between Spain and France, late 18th century-late 19th century”
• Chao-ju Chen, National Taiwan University, “In the Name of the Mother: A Feminist Legal History of Naming in Taiwan”
• Serge Dauchy, University of Lille–Nord de France, “A comparative study of legal culture in early Modern Europe”
• Seán Patrick Donlan, University of Limerick, “World is crazier and more of it than we think”: histories of legal and normative hybridity”
• Paul J. du Plessis, Edinburgh University, “Law, modernity and the place of European legal history”
• Matt Dyson, University of Cambridge, “Comparative Legal History: methodology for morphology”
• Francesca Galli, Institut d’Etudes Européennes, Section Juridique, ULB, Brussels, “British, French and Italian measures to deal with terrorism: a comparative study”
• Eduardo Galván, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, “How to govern an archipelago? The Channel Islands and the Canary Islands”
• Jean-François Gerkens, University of Liège, “The Liberation of the Debtor in mora by vis maior, or the Incredible Success Story of a Non Roman Rule”
• Adolfo Giuliani, University of Cambridge, “Two models of fact-finding”
• Jan Hallebeek, VU University Amsterdam, “Some Remarks on the Direct Enforcement of Obligations to Do in the Continental Legal Tradition”
• Karl Härter, MPIER, Frankfurt/M, “The Emergence of the International Order of Criminal Prosecution in the Modern Age: Extradition, Asylum and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters”
• Nikitas Hatzimihail, University of Cyprus, “Pre-Historical Private International Law: A Study in Conflicts Historiography”
• Dirk Heirbaut, Ghent University, “Feudal law in Flanders and the Lotharingian principalities: a comparison”
• David Ibbetson, University of Cambridge, “Comparative Legal History: A Methodology”
• Nir Kedar, Bar-Ilan University, “Transplanted Law v. Transplanted Culture: The Unique Case of Israeli Legal History”
• Marcelo Lacombe, NYU, “Constitutionalism , liberalism and militarism. A comparative approach on the evolution of constitutional systems in Europe and Latin America, during the nineteenth century?”
• Pia Letto-Vanamo, University of Helsinki, “Some Remarks on the History of Legal Argumentation”
• Michael A Livingston, Rutgers School of Law, “One Hatred, Many Laws: The Evolution of Antisemitic Laws in Germany, France, and Italy in Comparative Historical Perspective”

• Lara Magnusdottir, University of Iceland, “How to understand a Concordat when you don‘t know what the word means”
• Aniceto Masferrer, University of Valencia, “The French Codification and the Western Legal Traditions”
• Matthew Mirow, FIU College of Law, Miami, “Codification and the Constitution of Cádiz”
• Thomas Mohr, University College Dublin, “The Constitution of the Irish Free State in Inter-War Europe”
• Olivier Moréteau, Louisiana State University, “The ethnocentrism of French legal culture: origins and effects of a superiority complex”
• Anthony Musson, Exeter University, “Common legal heritage? Visual Representations of Law and Justice in Medieval Europe”
• Michael L Nash, Les Roches/Gruyères University of Applied Sciences, “A contrast in evolution: the legal framework of the British and Continental monarchies”
• Heikki Pihlajamäki, University of Helsinki, “The Need of Comparative Legal History in the Nordic Countries: The Case of Early Modern Sweden”
• Merike Ristikivi, University of Tartu, “Terminological turn as a turn of legal culture”
• Graziella Romeo, L. Bocconi University, “The development of the idea of social citizenship in a comparative perspective”
• Jonathan Rose, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, “Advocatorum Militia: The Chivalric Ethos of the Legal Profession--Loyalty and Honor”
• Judith Rowbotham, Nottingham Trent University, “Narrating Crime: Nineteenth Century Media Depictions of Crime”
• Stephen Skinner, University of Exeter, “Tainted Law: Critical Legal History and the Italian Penal Code”
• Ditlev Tamm, University of Copenhagen, “From a European to a Global Approach. Some Reflections on the Utility of Comparative law for Legal Education”
• Andreas Thier, University of Zurich, “Legal Transplants, Legal Transfers and Comparative Legal History”
• Judit Valls, University of Girona, “The Spanish Commercial Code of 1829”
• Henry Yeomans, University of Plymouth, “Moderate Measures in Alcohol Policy: British Attitudes and Victorian Hangovers, 1914-1921”

The future of the ESCLH and the Western legal traditions casebook project will also be discussed.

The conference fee is €100 and we ask that those planning to attend the conference register by 1 June 2010.

Please contact the conference organiser, Aniceto Masferrer (Aniceto.Masferrer@uv.es), or one of the other members of the ESCLH Executive for the programme or for registration and accommodation information:

• Dr Seán Patrick Donlan (Limerick): sean.donlan@ul.ie
• Professor Jan Hallebeek (VU University Amsterdam): j.j.hallebeek@rechten.vu.nl
• Professor Dirk Heirbaut (Ghent): dirk.heirbaut@UGent.be
• Professor Aniceto Masferrer (Valencia): Aniceto.Masferrer@uv.es
• Professor Remco van Rhee (Maastricht): remco.vanrhee@maastrichtuniversity.nl

NOTICE: Fuzzy Law and the Boundaries of Secularism (24 June 2010)

Professor Werner Menski (Professor of South Asian Laws, SOAS, University of London) will present a paper on 'Fuzzy Law and the Boundaries of Secularism on Thursday, 24 June 2010 fom 6:30-8:00pm.

The lecture will be held at the Clinical Lecture Theatre, Francis Bancroft Building Queen Mary, Mile End Campus, London E1 4NS. Professor Roger Cotterrell (Anniversary Professor of Legal Theory, Queen Mary, University of London) will chair.

NOTICE: Forensic Cultures in Interdisciplinary Perspective

For those unable to attend our Malta Symposium the same weekend, note that a 'Forensic Cultures in Interdisciplinary Perspective' conference is being held at the University of Manchester (UK) on 11-12 June 2010:

This international conference examines in analytical and historical perspective the remarkable prominence of forensic science and medicine in contemporary culture. It brings together leading scholars from history, sociology and socio-legal studies, media and cultural studies, and practitioners working within the diverse locations of forensic culture – from crime scenes and bio-medical laboratories to television studios. Topics for discussion include the politics and practice of DNA evidence, the use of "cold case review" in re-evaluating celebrated murder trials from the past, the historical invention of "crime scene investigation", the work of forensic identification at mass grave sites, and media forensics – including a dinner event featuring the creators of the BBC forensic dramas Waking the Dead and Silent Witness.

Forensic Cultures is sponsored by the University of Manchester's Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM), and by the Wellcome Trust.

For further details, including registration information, please see the conference website at http://www.chstm.manchester.ac.uk/newsandevents/conferences/forensics/ or contact the organisers, Dr Ian Burney (ian.burney@manchester.ac.uk) and Dr David Kirby (david.kirby@manchester.ac.uk)

CALL FOR PAPERS EXTENDED: CONGRESS OF THE WORLD SOCIETY OF MIXED JURISDICTION JURISTS

The deadline for proposals for the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists' Third International Congress has been extened to 15 June 2010.

The Congress is to be held from 20-23 June 2011 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel). Its theme is 'Methodology and Innovation in Mixed Legal Systems':

Mixed legal systems, both the classical ‘mixed jurisdictions’ combining common law and civilian law and more exotic hybrids, are increasingly important touchstones for comparative law. The Third Congress of the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists focuses on legal methodology and innovation in mixed systems in the twenty‐first century: investigating past experiences, exploring present practices, and predicting future possibilities.

Proposals for papers on any of a number of topics are welcome. They may be submitted by jurists from any jurisdiction, and by members and non-members of the Society alike. Proposals should be submitted to the Secretary-General of the Society, Prof. Celia Fassberg (mscelia@mscc.huji.ac.il). They should not exceed 500 words and should be accompanied by a curriculum vitae of one page only. The Planning Committee will make its selection by 1 August 2010. The time allocated for delivery of papers will be no longer than 20 minutes. Papers delivered at the conference will be considered for publication in the conference proceedings. The Society regrets that it cannot guarantee publication of all papers delivered and cannot cover travel expenses of participants in the Congress.