NOTICE: Donlan, Andò, and Zammit on Maltese law

The long-awaited ‘“A happy union”?: Malta’s legal hybridity’—by Seán Patrick Donlan, Biagio Andò, and David Zammit—has been published in (2012) 27 Tulane European and Civil Law Forum 165.

NOTICE: Jewish Law and more (apologies for the strange fonts and backgrounds)

These two new books on Jewish law (and legaql pluralism) might be of interest:

Steven H Resnicoff, Understanding Jewish Law (Lexis Nexis, 2012). The book:

• Provides critically important contextual information for any course or seminar in Jewish law; 
• Identifies Jewish law fundamental assumptions, including an individual's responsibilities to and for others; 
• Presents a clear, concise overview not only of Jewish law's institutions, but also of the hierarchies of its literary and human authorities; 
• Differentiates between Jewish law's biblical and non-biblical precepts, explaining their distinct practical and theoretical consequences; 
• Focuses on the processes through which Jewish law unfolds and the roles played by individual autonomy; 
• Compares and analyzes the interrelationships between Jewish and secular law in several key areas, including legal ethics, bankruptcy law, and alternative dispute resolution; 
• Through nine appendices, offers a wealth of material designed to enable students to comprehend Jewish law literature and to engage in Jewish law research. Among many other things, these appendices: (1) Prepare students for the various ways in which Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic words are transliterated; (2) Direct students to a treasury of essential resources, including English translations of primary Jewish law literature that are available, many of which for free on the internet; (3) Describe pertinent English journals, databases and books. 

Hanina Ben-Menahem, Arye Edrei, and Neil S Hecht (eds), Windows onto Jewish Legal Culture: Fourteen Exploratory Essays (Routledge, 2012):

This book opens windows onto various aspects of Jewish legal culture. Rather than taking a structural approach, and attempting to circumscribe and define ‘every’ element of Jewish law, Windows onto Jewish Legal Culture takes a dynamic and holistic approach, describing diverse manifestations of Jewish legal culture, and its general mind-set, without seeking to fit them into a single structure.

Jewish legal culture spans two millennia, and evolved in geographic centers that were often very distant from one another both geographically and socio-culturally. It encompasses the Talmud and talmudic literature, the law codes, the rulings of rabbinical courts, the responsa literature, decisions taken by communal leaders, study of the law in talmudic academies, the local study hall, and the home. But Jewish legal culture reaches well beyond legal and quasi-legal institutions; it addresses, and is reflected in, every aspect of daily life, from meals and attire to interpersonal and communal relations. Windows onto Jewish Legal Culture gives the reader a taste of the tremendous weight of Jewish legal culture within Jewish life.

Among the facets of Jewish legal culture explored are two of its most salient distinguishing features, namely, toleration and even encouragement of controversy, and a preference for formalistic formulations. These features are widely misunderstood, and Jewish legal culture is often parodied as hair-splitting argument for the sake of argument. In explaining the epistemic imperatives that motivate Jewish legal culture, however, this book paints a very different picture. Situational constraints and empirical considerations are shown to provide vital input into legal determinations at every level, and the legal process is revealed to be attentive to context and sensitive to cultural concerns.

Note, too, other new Routledge titles, including many on comparative law and legal systems, at http://www.routledge.com/catalogs/research_in_law_and_law_society_2012/.

NOTICE: New German Law Journal/Symposium

The latest issue of the German Law Journal: Review of Developments in German, European and International Jurisprudence, is out. 

It includes the following articles:

• Marriage, Same-Sex Partnership, and the German Constitution - Anne Sanders
• Freeze-Out Transactions in Germany and the U.S.: A Comparative Analysis - Christian A. Krebs
• Negative and Positive Integration in EU Economic Law: Between Strategic Denial and Cognitive Dissonance?  - Pedro Caro de Sousa

In addition, a German Law Journal Symposium will also take place soon:

Smashing the Machine: 

The Troubled Legacy of Kantorowicz's KAMPF

9-10 September 2012

A Symposium Considering Hermann Kantorowicz's Incendiary Manifesto, The Battle for Legal Science (Der Kampf um doe Rechtswissenschaft) and the Universal Struggle to 'Free Law' from Formalism

NOTICE: Comparative Law on SSRN (by way of the Irish Society of Comparative Law)

Additional articles from SSRN have been noted by our friend in the Irish Society of Comparative Law:

Koessler, James, Is There Room for the Trust in a Civil Law System? The French and Italian Perspectives (March 1, 2012)

It is argued, through the examination of two civil law jurisdictions – France and Italy, that there is room for the trust to be translated – not transplanted – into existing civil law institutions and practice. The extent to which this is the case and the most appropriate model for this introduction will be dependent on the cultural, historical and political background of each such jurisdiction.

Whilst Italy lacks a domestic trust law, it has taken advantage of the Hague Convention to develop a thriving local practice of using foreign law for Italian trusts. This effort, spearheaded by both doctrinal and jurisprudential support, has allowed the development of a consistent framework and the surmounting of the obstacles inherent in the civil law tradition. As a result of this process initiated nearly twenty years ago, these trusts can no longer be said to be ‘foreign.' A more accurate term would be ‘domesticated’ due to the distinctive features they have developed.

Whereas France has its fiducie, a sui generis institution introduced in 2007, which is structurally a trust in comparative law terms, it is, nonetheless, functionally neutered. Trusts can be based on civil institutions, as the examples of Panama and Quebec show, and it is to be hoped that the French fiducie represents such a first step and will, one day, play a similar role. In any case, recent reforms which have increased its flexibility both structurally and functionally are to be welcomed. In particular the decision, albeit unsuccessful, of the French legislature to introduce a concept of ‘economic ownership’ goes to show just how much the lines are blurring between civilian and common law traditions.

Roy Partain. "Comparative Family Law, Korean Family Law, and the Missing Definitions of Family" (HongIk University Journal of Law). June 2012. Vol. 13. No. 2.

NOTICE: New Titles from Hart Publishing

Hart Publishing has recently published the following:

• Cases, Materials and Text on Property Law - Edited by Sjef van Erp and Bram Akkermans
• EU Constitutional Law - Allan Rosas and Lorna Armati
• Ideas and Debates in Family Law - Rob George
• International Economic Law in the 21st Century - Ernst-Ulrich Petersman
• International Investment Law - Surya P Subedi
• Labour Law - Simon Deakin and Gillian S Morris
• Law and Justice on the Small Screen - Edited by Peter Robson and Jessica Silbey
• Rights in Divided Societies - Edited by Colin Harvey and Alex Schwartz
• The Constitution of China - Qianfan Zhang
• The Constitution of Malaysia - Andrew Harding

A complete list of new titles, with additional information, is available at http://www.hartpub.co.uk/books/newtitles.asp.