WORKSHOP PROGRAMME: The Method and Culture of Comparative Law

THE METHOD AND CULTURE OF COMPARATIVE LAW

A workshop on epistemology, globalisation and context

15-17 May 2014 - Ghent, Belgium

Participants include: Jacco Bomhoff, Roger Brownsword, Seán Patrick Donlan, Patrick Glenn, Matthew Grelette, Jaap Hage, Jaakko Husa, Susan Millns, David Nelken, Heikki Pihlajamäki, Geoffrey Samuel,Mathias Siems, Catherine Valcke, Rob Van Gestel, and Alain Wijffels.

Thursday, May 15^th

Epistemology session

14.00 Introduction by Maurice Adams (Tilburg)

14.15 What is Legal Epistemology?

Geoffrey Samuel (Canterbury, Kent)

14.45 Comparative Law as Method and the Method of Comparative Law

Jaap Hage (Maastricht)

15.15 Research-Designs of Comparative Law – Methodology or Heuristics?

Jaakko Husa (Rovaniemi, Lapland)

15.45 discussion

16.15 break

16.45 Three Functions of Function in Comparative Law

Catherine Valcke and Matthew Grellette (Toronto)

17.15 Against Method?

Patrick Glenn (McGill, Montreal)

17.45 discussion

19.30 short visit to the law faculty buildings, followed by a drink

Friday, May 16^th

Morning session on Globalisation

09.30 Ius Commune, Comparative Law and Public Governance

Alain Wijffels (Leiden, Louvain-la-Neuve, and Leuven)

10.00 Things Being Various: Normativity, Legality, State Legality

Seán Donlan (Limerick)

10.30 discussion

11.00 break

11.30 The Curious Case of Overfitting Legal Transplants

Mathias Siems (Durham)

12.00 Making the Case for European Comparative Legal Studies in Public Law Susan Millns (Brighton, Sussex)

12.30 discussion

13.00 lunch

Friday, May 16^th

Afternoon session on Context

14.30 Comparative Contexts in Legal History: Are We All Comparatists Now?

Heikki Pihlajamäki (Helsinki)

15.00 Comparative Law and EU-legislation: Inspiration, Evaluation or Justification?

Rob van Gestel (Tilburg)

15.30 discussion

16.00 break

16.30 Comparatively Speaking: ‘Law in its Regulatory Environment’

Roger Brownsword (King’s College, London)

17.00 discussion

19.30 dinner

Saturday, May 17^th

Closing session

10.00  Taking account of the empirical and comparative law

David Nelken (Macerata/Kings College/London)

10.50 reply to Nelken by Jacco Bomhoff (LSE, London)

11.10 discussion

12.00 Conclusions by Dirk Heirbaut (Ghent)

12.30 end of the workshop

Venue:

-          on 15 and 16 May: Ghent University Conference Center ‘Het Pand’, Onderbergen 1, Ghent www.ugent.be/het-pand/en/accessibility

-          on 17 May: Facultaire Raadzaal, Ghent Law Faculty, Voldersstraat 3, Ghent

Workshop papers: All papers presented on 15 and 16 May will be published, together with some more papers, in ‘The Method and Culture of Comparative Law. Essays in Honour of Mark VanHoecke’, edited by M.Adams and D.Heirbaut with Hart Publishing, Oxford. This book is expected to appear by the time of the Workshop.

Fees: A limited number of places are available for interested researchers.

The fees are 140 €, including lunch on Friday and the book with the workshop papers.

They amount to 190 € for those who also want to take part in the dinner on Friday.

Registration with the enclosed registration form. Payment of the fees upon receipt of the invoice.

Boat trip: On Saturday afternoon (14-18 hrs) there will be a trip on the picturesque river Leie, on a reconstructed historical boat (tow barge used on the canal Ghent-Bruges in early 19^th century). Price for taking part in this boat trip is 20 €