OPPORTUNITY: Egypt’s Draft Mediation Law

This memorandum is to notify you that the ABA-UNDP International Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has received a request provide a commentary on Egypt’s draft Mediation Law. We are in search of 2-3 mediation experts to review the draft law. The Ministry of Justice of Egypt is currently preparing a draft mediation law that incorporates a mix of mediation models - judicial and private, mandatory (for certain cases) and voluntary. Before finalizing this bill, the Ministry is keen to learn from US experience in implementing these models.

We will host Egyptian delegation (mostly from officials from the Ministry of Justice, judges from Economic Courts and Commercial Circuit Courts) on February 21, 2013 and would like to provide them with feedback on this draft law. Therefore, there is a short turnaround for this review. This a pro bono, home based opportunity. Expert(s) will work remotely and no travel will be required. Expert(s) must be available for the next 3-4 weeks to work on this project. Expert(s) will receive the documents to be reviewed via email and return comments and recommendations within the specified timeframe. We expect to begin this project as soon as possible.

The deadline for expressions of interest is February 11th 2013 at 8:00AM EST. Expressions of interest must be emailed to Jacqueline.Gichinga@americanbar.org and include a CV and a short cover letter detailing related and relevant experience.

CONFERENCE: Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA)

Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA)

EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

In collaboration with Universidad de Santiago de Compostela – GI-Derecho Privado Europeo

Invitation to a Conference

Santiago de Compostela,

07 and 08 June 2013

Friday, 07 June 2013

9.00 Welcome and Introduction

Prof. Javier Lete / Prof. Stefan Grundmann/Prof. Fernando Goméz

9.30–11.15

I. Setting the Framework

Chair: Prof. Hugh Collins

1. Property Structures Underlying Contracts

Prof. Vincent Forray, Montreal

2. Contract Law and Proprietary Remedies

Prof. Sjef van Erp, Maastricht

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Rivonia Trial 50 Years On - the Courtroom as a Space of Resistance

The Rivonia Trial 50 Years On: 

the Courtroom as a Space of Resistance

18-20 June 2013 – University of Pretoria

2014 marks the 50th Anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s historic performance of resistance in the Rivonia Trial, an event widely recognized as “the trial that changed South Africa”. Fifty years after Rivonia, law and the courtroom continued to be the prominent, even the pre-eminent, sites of domination and resistance throughout the world. If communism and Nazism formed the spectre that haunted political justice in the second half of the 20th century, terrorism has become its focal concern in the 21st century.

In recent times, a diverse range of thinkers have attempted to rework and reconfigure conceptions of space, resistance, authority, domination, rights, responsibility, justice, and law’s own place in practices of domination and subjectification. The courtroom has been a key public space where these discursive formations are resignified, articulated, navigated, displaced, and enforced. In celebration of the landmark event that was the Rivonia trial, we want to invite papers that explore the hegemonic and subversive potentials of the space of the courtroom in the light of emerging theoretical, sociocultural, and literary interrogations.

We encourage interdisciplinary contributions that explore not only the Rivonia trial, but also other historically and politically significant trials that open up a space for dialogue on the transformative opportunities, communicative or strategic, of the trial. The organizing committee invites proposals that includes but extends well beyond, the following:

· The legacy of the Rivonia trial1

· The legacy of the Treason trial2

· The courtroom as a site of resistance [specific trials]

· The Courtroom and technologies of domination [specific trials]

· Trials of ‘terrorists’

· The trial of rupture

· Performativity, and theatricality in the courtroom

Selected papers will be published as an edited volume on the ‘Legacy of the Rivonia trial’.

Please submit abstracts and proposals of no more than 350 words to rivoniatrial50@gmail.com by 20 April 2013.

Organised by Professor Emilios Christodoulidis (Glasgow), Professor Karin Van Marle (Pretoria), and Awol Allo (Glasgow)

ARTICLE: Dedek and Schermaier on German law

 

Helge Dedek and Martin Schermaier's 'German Law', from the second edition of Jan Smits (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2012), is on SSRN.

The chapter 'aims at a short introduction into the main features of Germany's legal system and legal culture.'

SEMINARS, CONFERENCES, AND WORKSHOPS: Queen Mary, University of London Legal Theory and Legal History Research Group

LEGAL THEORY AND LEGAL HISTORY RESEARCH GROUP - EVENTS

[Highly Recommended - SPD]

Research Seminars

If you would like to present a paper, please email Dr Maks Del Mar m.delmar@qmul.ac.uk.

6 March 2013
Legalism: Anthropology and History - Dr Paul Dresch
Dr Paul Dresch, St John's College, Oxford, will discuss his introduction and chapter contribution to Legalism: Anthropology and History (2012).

9 January 2013
Minorities, Pluralism and Law - Professor Maleiha Malik (co-hosted with GLOCUL)

21 November 2012
Authority: Pluralism, Relationships and Relativity
The first Legal Theory and History Group seminar will be given by Dr Nicole Roughan JSD, LLM (Yale), BA/LLB (Auckland). Dr Roughan is formerly a temporary university lecturer in jurisprudence at the University of Cambridge, and lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her research interests are in philosophy of law, with a particular focus upon theories of authority, legal pluralism, and philosophy of international and indigenous law. Her current research, and the work which she will be discussing, is an excerpt from her forthcoming book, ‘Relative Authority’, forthcoming with Oxford University Press.

Conferences / Workshops

2-13 April 2013
UK IVR Conference 2013 - hosted by the Legal Theory and Legal History Group
The theme for the Conference is: Legal Theory and Legal History: A Neglected Dialogue?

21 November 2012
Professor Eric Heinze's Inaugural Lecture - What is Injustice? Political, Legal and Literary Perspectives

7 September 2012
Systems Theory Workshop: Socio-legal conversations across systems in a world in crisis

CONFERENCE: The XIXth International Congress of Comparative Law

ACADÉMIE INTERNATIONALE DE DROIT COMPARÉ 

* 

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF COMPARATIVE LAW

Present / présentent

The XIXth International Congress of Comparative Law/Le XIXe Congrès International de droit comparé

Under the patronage of the President of the Federal Republic of Austria / 

Sous les auspices du Président de la République Fédérale de l’Autriche

DR. HEINZ FISCHER

Hosted by Interdisciplinary Association of Comparative and Private International Law (IACPIL) / Interdisziplinäre Gesellschaft für Komparatistik und Kollisionsrecht (IGKK) in cooperation with 

University of Vienna 

and Pan European University Bratislava

July 20 - July 26, 2014 /

20 juillet - 26 juillet 2014

University of Vienna, Austria

ARTICLE: Assier-Andrieu on the Pitcairn Affair and the Ideology of Human Rights

Member Louis Assier-Andrieu’s ‘Le crépuscule des cultures: L'affaire Pitcairn et l'idéologie des droits humains/The Twilight of Culture: The Pitcairn Affair and the Ideology of Human Rights’, on the Pitcairn prosecutions and Lawrence Friedman's Human Rights Culture, is now available in Droit and Société.

SCHOLARSHIP: Postgraduate Research in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK

POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS, HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

A two year scholarship €12,000 p.a. with EU fees is available for an MA by research or PhD in any of the following schools/departments:

• Department of History
• School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication
• School of Law
• Department of Politics & Public Administration
• Department of Sociology.

Applications are invited from all prospective postgraduate students, including current undergraduate students due to graduate in 2013.

Applicants must include ALL of the following

1. A completed Postgraduate Studies Research Application Form (www.graduateschool.ul.ie).
2. A research proposal (for guidelines see www.graduateschool.ul.ie).
3. Original transcripts for all third level degrees.
4. Two academic references.
5. A 200 word statement outlining reasons for applying for a scholarship.

Please forward completed applications to:

Niamh Lenahan, AHSS Graduate Research Centre,

Foundation Building, University of Limerick.

Email: niamh.lenahan@ul.ie

Tel: + 353 61 202945

Closing date for receipt of application forms is Friday 26^th April 2013.

LECTURE/BOOK: Campbell on Organised Crime and the Law - A Comparative Analysis

Organised Crime and the Law:

A Comparative Analysis

By Dr. Liz Campbell 

5:00 p.m., Thursday, March 7^th, 2013

Criminal Courts of Justice, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8, Ireland

Those wanting to attend should contact joanne.davidson@fulbright.ie / 01.660.7670 by February 28^th, 2013 . Please indicate if you will join us for the tour at 5:00 or just the reception at 6:00.

Organised Crime and the Law (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2013)

Organised Crime and the Law presents an overview of the laws and policies adopted to address the phenomenon of organised crime in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It assesses the degree to which these justice systems have been recalibrated in preventing, investigating, prosecuting, and punishing organised criminality. While the notion of organised crime is a contested one, States’ legal responses treat it and its constituent offences as unproblematic in a definitional sense. This book advances a systematic doctrinal critique of those domestic criminal laws, the laws of evidence, and sentencing practices.

Organised Crime and the Law constructs a theoretical framework on which an appraisal of these legal measures may be based, focusing in particular on the tension between due process and crime control, the demands of public protection and risk aversion, and other adaptations. In particular, it identifies parallels and points of divergence between the different jurisdictions in the UK and Ireland, bearing in mind the shared history of subversive threats and anti-terrorist policies. It further examines the extent to which policy transfer is evident in the UK and Ireland in terms of emulating the United States in reacting to organised crime.

Dr. Liz Campbell is a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law and Evidence at the University of Edinburgh School of Law, having being based at the University of Aberdeen previously (2007-2012). Liz carried out her doctoral study at University College Cork as a Government of Ireland scholar (2004-2007) and received her BCL and LLM degrees from UCC also. 

Liz's principal areas of research are criminal law/justice, with a particular interest in the legal responses to organised crime, DNA databases, and the presumption of innocence. She publishes widely in leading academic journals and co-authored a textbook on Irish criminal law. Liz is a regular participant at national and international conferences, frequently provides expert commentary to the media, and was a key participant in an RTÉ documentary on organised crime.

In 2011 Liz was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to support her research on counter-organised crime measures in the UK and Ireland and spent 2011-2012 at the University of Maryland, writing Organised Crime and the Law.

CONFERENCE: The Future of Law School

Conference Announcement
The Future of Law School
 
September 26 - 28, 2013
University of Alberta Faculty of Law
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN AT: http://www.lawschool.ualberta.ca/centenary/conference.aspx

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

- Professor Harry Arthurs, Dean Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Dean Kim Brooks, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University
- Dean Irwin Chemerinsky, California Irvine School of Law
- Dean Ian Holloway, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law
- Professor William Henderson, Indiana Maurer School of Law
- Professor Rosalie Jukier, McGill University, Faculty of Law
- Professor Carrie Menkel-Meadow, California Irvine School of Law
- Dean Lorne Sossin, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Professor Richard Susskind OBE, Independent Scholar & Advisor, UK
- Professor Margaret Thornton, Australian National University, College of Law
- Hugh Verrier, Chair, White & Case LLP

PLACE & PURPOSE: The culminating event to the Faculty of Law Centenary, this Conference is ideally timed to solicit a wide professional, judicial, academic and public response. Witness the 2007 Carnegie Report Educating Lawyers that issued strong criticism of professional legal education and that has had a profound and continuing impact throughout the common law world; the 2009 Federation of Law Societies of Canada's Report on the Common Law Degree in Canada; and the installation of the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) in the UK: the Law School and the Profession it supplies are being criticized from without and contested from within as never before and their futures are now, as never before, very much up for grabs. Indeed, it wouldn't be hyperbole to suggest that this unprecedented contest has risen to the status of a cultural war, within the legal academy and the profession and among the wider public, over the future of law school, of lawyers, and with that, of the law itself.

This Conference is dead set on contributing loudly and meaningfully to this cultural battle. Leading legal thinkers -- academic and practicing lawyers and judges -- are coming together in Edmonton to state the case against the present and for the future, before members of the international common law legal community and before the public at large. The Conference will be structured around the following four themes:

- Foundations: Theories of Contemporary Professional Legal Education
- Circumstances: Law Schools, Regulators, and the Market for Legal Services
- Challenges: Reflecting Changes in the Practice of Law
- Practices: Innovating the Content and Delivery of Legal Education

Wherever you are placed in the legal community, if you find yourself disgruntled by the present legal education and committed to its renewal, you mustn't miss this Conference.

ARTICLE: Stigall on Ungoverned Spaces, Transnational Crime, and the Prohibition on Extraterritorial Enforcement Jurisdiction in International Law

Juris Diversitas member and friend Dan E Stigall’s ‘Ungoverned Spaces, Transnational Crime, and the Prohibition on Extraterritorial Enforcement Jurisdiction in International Law’ has appeared on SSRN:

Driven by internationalization efforts such as those that accompanied the global efforts to combat the illicit drug trade, international law enforcement efforts by the United States have developed markedly over the past few decades. A notable element of this phenomenon has been the increased need by domestic law enforcement agencies to conduct extraterritorial law enforcement operations. This is especially so in "ungoverned spaces" -- areas of the world where there is no governmental counterpart willing or able to take action. The U.S. response to transnational crime has, however, frequently taken on the characteristics of military action -- a trend that has worried policy makers and senior military officials. 

A resort to military assets can be practical on multiple levels. But aside from the myriad practicalities which ordinarily compel national leaders to resort to the most capable organ of state power when difficult situations arise, there are also compelling international legal considerations that make the use of military force an even more tempting option when dealing with the unique challenges posed by transnational criminals operating outside the United States. In fact, as this Article demonstrates, the use of military force may frequently be the only option legally permissible under the current state of international law. This stems from a dramatic dichotomy in international law that tightly constrains the range of conduct permitted during extraterritorial civilian law enforcement operations while granting the military (in certain circumstances) wide latitude to carry out an almost unlimited range of invasive and even lethal activity. 

This Article explicates the international legal rules governing the exercise of extraterritorial enforcement jurisdiction by civilian law enforcement agents. In so doing, the Article reviews the various legal bases under which civilian law enforcement agents may operate abroad, including treaty-based authorities such as the historic capitulatory regime, more modern Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs), and various operations undertaken pursuant to the consent of the host nation. The Article contrasts the limits placed on extraterritorial activity by law enforcement agents to the more extensive activities permitted to military actors under the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC). 

The Article posits that the international legal strictures on unilateral law enforcement activity are, in part, responsible for the militarized approaches to transnational crime which have become a cause of concern for both senior military leaders and human rights advocates. Accordingly the Article advocates for greater latitude under international law. To that end, the trend of militarization in the U.S. approach to transnational crime could be reversed to a degree if international law recognized a greater degree of flexibility for certain limited categories of extraterritorial law enforcement actions by civilian actors. It is argued that permitting such an exception would simultaneously promote 1) policies of refocusing the military on war-fighting by limiting its role in combating transnational crime and 2) rights-based approaches and government transparency by addressing transnational criminality in a way that comports with constitutional due process and international human rights norms.

The article is forthcoming in the Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law. 

JOURNAL: KorEuropa

I was recently asked to post the following information:

KorEuropa is a semiannual telematic review (ISSN 2281-3349) which was born on the initiative of a group of scholars of european and international law with the objective of critically reflecting on the dynamics of the process of European integration and the dynamics of globalization.

The idea is to create a space to debate about the prospects for the future of Europe in the era of globalization. To achieve this aim the Direction wants to involve scholars from different Countries, language areas and disciplinary approaches and has already begun to create an editorial staff of breath international.

The journal is equipped with a system of peer review, and is managed by European Documentation Center at the University "Kore" of Enna.

Contributions can be sent to the email address koreuropa@unikore.it

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CONFERENCE: Society of Legal Scholars

The following notice recently appeared for the Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, to be held at the University of Edinburgh from 3-6 September:

Welcome to the SLS Annual Conference 2013

The Society's 104th Annual Conference will be held at the University of Edinburgh, starting in the afternoon of Tuesday 3 September 2012 and finishing at lunchtime on Friday 6 September. The main theme of the Conference will be Tis' Forty Years Since: Britain in Europe, Europe in Britain; contributions on other topics to Subject Section seminars will, of course, be welcome. The Conference will be based at Pollock Halls, where Scottish Baronial architecture combines with some of the best modern conference accommodation in Edinburgh, offering well equipped en suite rooms with a range of options. Publishers' stands and most conference sessions and refreshments will be at Pollock, and there will also be opportunities to enjoy some of Edinburgh's well-known venues, including a reception at the Castle.

I hope that you will be able to attend the Conference, which promises to be a stimulating occasion with the opportunity to exchange ideas and socialise with colleagues from the UK, Ireland and further afield. Further information on the 2013 Conference will appear here in due course.

Booking
Booking will open May 2013 and members will be able to book via this site.

Subject Sections Programme
The division of Subject Sections into A and B groups will, be confirmed on the Society's website in early 2013. Members will then be able to check the days on which their particular Subject Section programme is running. General enquiries may be addressed to the Subject Sections Secretary on sss®legalscholars.ac.uk

Call for Papers
Subject Section Convenors will be sending out a call for papers in February 2013. Contact details will also be available on the Subject Sections pages. Members are invited to register their interest in delivering a paper with the relevant convenor.

I look forward very much to welcoming you to Edinburgh next September.

Hector MacQueen
President of the SLS
School of Law University of Edinburgh
Scottish Law Commissioner

BOOK: Siems and Cabrelli on Comparative Company Law

Mathias Siems and David Cabrelli (eds), Comparative company law: a case-based approach (2013):

As attention moves rapidly towards comparative approaches, the research and teaching of company law has somehow lagged behind. The overall purpose of this book is therefore to fill a gap in the literature by identifying whether conceptual differences between countries exist. Rather than concentrate on whether the institutional structure of the corporation varies across jurisdictions, the objective of this book will be pursued by focusing on specific cases and how different countries might treat each of these cases. The book also has a public policy dimension, because the existence or absence of differences may lead to the question of whether formal harmonisation of company law is necessary. 

The book covers 10 legal systems. With respect to countries of the European Union, it focuses on the most populous countries (Germany, France, the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland) as well as two smaller Member States (Finland and Latvia). In addition, the laws of two of the world's largest economies (the US and Japan) are included for the purposes of wider comparison. All of these jurisdictions are subjected to scrutiny by deploying a comparative case-based study. On the basis of these case solutions, various conclusions are reached, some of which challenge established orthodoxies in the field of comparative company law. 

You might also check out the Siemslegal blog.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The African Studies Association - Mobility, Migration and Flows

Call For Proposals
56th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association - Mobility, Migration and Flows
November 21-24, 2013, Marriott Baltimore Waterfront Hotel

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: March 15, 2013

PROGRAM CHAIRS:
- Jamie Monson, Professor of History, Macalaster College
- Dianna Shandy, Professor of Anthropology, Macalester College

ABOUT THE MEETING: We are soliciting proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables. Presentations may focus on the theme of "Mobility, Migration and Flows" or on broader social science, humanities, and applied themes relating to Africa. We strongly encourage the submission of formed panels.

PAPER SUBMISSIONS/MEMBERSHIP: Please see the call for papers, submit a proposal or become a member/renew your membership from the ASA website at: http://www.africanstudies.org

ABOUT THE AFRICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION: Established in 1957, the African Studies Association is the largest organization in the world devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa. Our members include scholars, students, teachers, activists, development professionals, policy makers, donors and many others. We encourage interdisciplinary interactions with Africa. We provide access to path breaking research and key debates in African studies. We bring together people with scholarly and other interests in Africa through our annual meeting and seek to broaden professional opportunities in the field of African studies. The organization publishes two leading interdisciplinary journals on Africa, African Studies Review and History in Africa and promotes an informed understanding of Africa to the public and in educational institutions as well as to businesses, media, and other communities that have interests in Africa.

ENQUIRIES: asameeting2013@gmail.com

We welcome your participation in this exciting conference and in the ASA!

REMINDER: Call for Papers - Irish Society of Comparative Law Annual Conference

The School of Law at NUI Galway, Ireland will host the Irish Society of Comparative Law (ISCL) 5th Annual Conference on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of May 2013 in Galway. The theme for the ISCL Conference is ‘Comparative Public Law’. Papers placing Irish public law in comparative perspective are especially encouraged, but any topic in comparative or legal systems may be proposed including private law topics. Proposals for thematic panels of papers are also welcomed.

The primary objective of the ISCL is to encourage the comparative study of law and legal systems. Students fully registered for a masters in law, or law-related area (LL.M, MA) are encouraged to submit papers, and the 2nd ISCL Young Researcher Prize will be awarded to the best paper delivered by a student in this category.

Proposals for papers for the 2013 conference should be short (250 words max) and sent to Charles O’Mahony at charles.omahony@nuigalway.ie. The deadline for receipt of proposals is Friday 15 February 2013. Applicants will be notified by Thursday 28th February 2013 if their paper proposal is successful. There will be an opportunity for poster presentations (Posters A1 size) to be displayed in the foyer of the conference venue, Aras Moyola. Poster presenters are expected to attend the conference in the normal way and to be available to discuss their work. You do not have to be a member of the ISCL to propose a paper or be selected to present a poster. Registration forms and additional information will be available early in 2013.

CONFERENCE: Filling the Gaps - The Study of Judicial Creativity and Equity in Mixed Jurisdictions and Beyond

Filling the Gaps: The Study of Judicial Creativity and Equity in Mixed Jurisdictions and Beyond

Catania, Italy - May 27-28, 2013

The Protection Project at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in cooperation with the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists (WSMJJ), and the Tulane University Law School Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, invite the submission of papers for an international conference on "Filling the Gaps: The Study of Judicial Creativity and Equity in Mixed Jurisdictions and Beyond" scheduled take place in Catania, Italy on May 27-28, 2013: Our host for this conference is the Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e sociali of the University of Catania.

The conference explores the sources, methods and approaches used by the courts in mixed jurisdictions when they face a lacuna in the law, ie when they arrive at a case of first impression without a legal rule.

The following questions are meant to be suggestive, not exhaustive.

• What differences exist in the approaches to gap-filling in mixed, civilian and common law systems?
• What differences in technique exist within the mixed jurisdictions themselves, eg between codified systems and uncodified systems?
• To what extent is the borrowing of common law solutions taken to be "equity" or gap-filling? Is this considered a legitimate form of equity?
• To what extent is "equity" understood as a civilian concept? Is it fully divorced from the "Equity" of the common law?
• How are gaps defined, revealed or recognized? Is their existence a precondition of equitable activity? Is there a taxonomy of gaps?
• Is there an established procedure, a Directory Provision, a hierarchy of sources to be consulted, or is the process of gap-filling left entirely to the discretion of the judge?
• To what extent is this form of judicial activity synonymous with the production of seminal and leading cases?
• Which substantive fields of the law are particularly fertile for gap-filling?

Papers that explore gap-filling in either single or multiple fields of private or public law are welcome.

We invite you to submit a 1-2 page abstract of your paper by email to the selection committee c/o Ms. Anna Koppel, Director of Research and Development, The Protection Project (akoppel1@jhu.edu) no later than February 25, 2013.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by March 15, 2015, and invited to present their papers at the conference. The expenses of conference speakers will be covered by the organizers.

Conference proceedings will be jointly published by The Protection Project, the World Society of Mixed Jurisdictions Jurists, and the Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law.