QUESTION: Comparative Law and Film (A Cry for Help)

Sometime last year, I was asked to put together a list of films involving law. The list I prepared (below) was specifically limited to English-language films and is probably a bit old-fashioned and predictable. So am I. 

I can already see, too, that I missed some obvious titles (Eveline, Judgment at Nuremburg, etc).

I've wanted, however, to use film in teaching comparative law, legal history, and legal philosophy, among other classes, for a long time. I've hoped to give students some small insight in how things are done outside of the time/space with which they're familiar. 

I wonder if anyone out there is willing to help me? I'd be grateful for suggestions. 

For practical purposes here, recommendations should be available either dubbed or subtitled in English. The films could revolve around law (eg, a famous constitutional development) or law-like norms (eg, other types of social regulation in the past or present). 

Fiction and non-fiction, cinema and television, dramas and comedies, Laurel and Hardy, etc are all welcome.

- SPD (sean.donlan@ul.ie)

PS I should also ask about Comparative Law and Literature ...

[PLEASE CHECK AND ADD TO THE COMMENTS.]

*

1. Adam’s Rib
2. A Few Good Men
3. Anatomy of a Murder
4. And Justice for All
5. Beckett
6. Breaker Morant
7. The Caine Mutiny
8. Dead Man Walking
9. Gideon’s Trumpet
10. The Gods Must Be Crazy
11. In Cold Blood
12. Inherit the Wind
13. The Insider
14. Let Him Have It
15. A Man for All Seasons
16. The Ox-Bow Incident
17. The Paper Chase
18. A Place in the Sun
19. Presumed Innocent
20. The Star Chamber
21. The Trial
22. The Verdict
23. The Winslow Boy
24. Witness for the Prosecution
25. The Wrong Man

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Summer Institute for Law and Policy

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS:  Summer Institute for Law and Policy

Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law invites applications for its three week Summer Institute for Law and Policy, June 1-20, 2014.

ABOUT HU: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) is the first and leading university in Israel (ranked 59 in the world in http://www.shanghairanking.com). The Faculty of Law, which has long been considered the most prestigious law school in the country and a world-reputed academic institution, is inviting applications for the first of its Summer Institutes for Law and Policy. The Program, offered in English, is dedicated to International Law and Human Rights, and the Middle East Conflict, fields for which the HU Law Faculty has been known as an international hub of academic excellence.

THE SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR LAW AND POLICY, PROGRAM DETAILS: The program offers four academic courses with top Israeli legal experts; The Legal Aspects of the Middle East Crisis, Prof. Robbie Sabel, Israel's Human Rights Challenges, Prof. David Kretzmer, Information Law and Technology, Dr. Guy Pesach, and International Economic Law in the Age of Globalization, Prof. Tomer Broude.

The program begins June 1st, 2014 and runs through June 20th, 2014. It is run in cooperation with the Rothberg International School, creating a supportive environment, both academically and socially for foreign students.

The program offers an excellent study program in a top notch university, located in an intellectually stimulating environment: the City of Jerusalem, with its long history of conflict and diversity, and the State of Israel - a Start-Up Nation, confronting difficult international law and human rights challenges.

Academically and practically inclined students and practitioners with strong legal backgrounds are invited to apply to the HU Summer Institute. Language of Instruction: English

TUITION: $3,250

ACCOMMODATIONS AT HEBREW UNIVERSITY: $750 (Participants may make alternate hotel arrangements of their choosing). Airfare not included.

Scholarships, stipends and partial tuition waivers will be offered to all qualifying candidates based upon available funding.

FURTHER INFORMATION: See http://instituteforlawandpolicy.com/ or irisa@savion.huji.ac.il

WORKSHOP: Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship

WORKSHOP:  Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship

Washington University Law and University of Southern California Gould School of Law are presenting a workshop: Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship.
June 9 - 11, 2014

The 13th Annual Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship workshop will take place at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. The workshop is for law school faculty, political science faculty, and graduate students interested in learning about empirical research and how to evaluate empirical work. Leading empirical scholars Lee Epstein and Andrew Martin will teach the workshop, which provides the formal training necessary to design, conduct, and assess empirical studies, and to use statistical software (Stata) to analyze and manage data. Participants need no background or knowledge of statistics to enroll in the workshop.

CONFERENCE FACULTY:
Lee Epstein, http://lawweb.usc.edu/who/faculty/directory/contactInfo.cfm?detailID=70057, Provost Professor and Rader Family Trustee Chair in Law and Political Science at University of Southern California, is a leading empirical legal scholar and a Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has co-organized and co-led this annual empirical scholarship workshop for the past eleven years. Professor Epstein has received 10 grants from the National Science Foundation for her work on judicial politics and has also authored, co-authored, or edited more than 100 articles and essays, as well as 14 books. Her empirical research focuses on U.S. Supreme Court, as well as constitutional courts abroad.

Andrew D. Martin, http://adm.wustl.edu, Vice Dean of Washington University Law, Professor of Law and Political Science, and Director of the Center for Empirical Research in the Law at Washington University, specializes in political methodology and has written widely on American political institutions, including the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals. He has co-organized and co-taught the empirical scholarship workshop with Professor Epstein for the last eleven years. Professor Martin has received grants from the National Science Foundation for his work on the U.S. Supreme Court, and his research has appeared in a number of outlets, including the Journal of Legal Studies; Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization; California Law Review; Columbia Law Review; North Carolina Law Review; and other law reviews as well as leading social science and applied statistics journals.

REGISTRATION: Tuition for the Empirical Scholarship Workshop is $850, which includes all session materials, temporary access to statistical software (STATA), three lunches, three continental breakfasts, and one evening reception. You will need a laptop for this workshop. You may register and pay online or by check for $850 made payable to Washington University Law and must be included with the registration form. Registration and payment should be received by May 30, 2014.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Full refunds for cancellation of attendance to the Empirical Scholarship Workshop will be made for all written cancellation received before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 30. No refunds will be given for any cancellations received after Friday, May 30, 2014.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Special hotel rate for workshop participants are available at the Knight Executive Education & Conference Center, on campus, and at the Chase Park Plaza, three miles from campus.

SCHEDULE: All sessions, meals, and the reception will be held at:

Washington University Law
Anheuser Busch Hall
St. Louis, MO

Check-in will begin at 8:30 am on June 9. Classes are in session from 9 am to 5 pm on June 9 and June 10 with a one-hour break for lunch (provided) and brief mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks each day. Class will end at 12 pm on June 11 to allow participants time to head to the airport.

Monday, June 9

Group Discussion:
- Sunstein, Schkade & Ellman, Ideological Voting on Federal Courts of Appeals: A Preliminary Investigation

Lecture Topics:
- Research Design
- Theory to Observable Implications
- Collecting Data
- Sampling Issues
- Measurement
- Database Management
- Statistical Software (Stata)
- Homework
- Coding exercise

A cocktail reception will take place following class.

Tuesday, June 10

Group Discussion:
- Coding exercise

Lecture Topics:
- Data Analysis
- Sampling
- Statistical Inference
- Descriptive Statistics
- Cross-Tabulations
- Hypothesis Testing

Small Group Exercises:
- Basic Database Manipulation
- Generating Descriptive Statistics
- Significance Testing

Wednesday, June 11

Lecture Topics:
- Simple Linear Regressions
- Inference from Linear Regression
- Statistical Control

Small Group Exercises:
- Bivariate Regression Analysis

Lecture Topics:
- Multiple Regressions
- Logit/Probit
- Displaying Data
- Miscellaneous Statistical Topics (based on student interest)

Question and Answer Session

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION & TO REGISTER: Please visit: http://cerl.wustl.edu/training/cels14.php

ARTICLE: Hatzimihail on Cyprus as a Mixed Legal System

One of our own, Nikitas Hatzimihail, has posted an article on SSRN. The article is on 'Cyprus as a Mixed Legal System' and the abstract reads:

This article attempts to provide a comparative lawyer’s introduction to Cyprus law, as well as a first examination of Cyprus law in the light of modern theories of comparative law, especially the mixed-jurisdictions sub-genre. It consists of three parts: a general historical overview, an examination of the administration of justice system (legal profession and court structure), and an evolutionary examination of the sources of Cyprus law (hierarchy of sources, legislation and case law).

The legal system of Cyprus - an independent country since 1960 and EU Member State since 2004 - both confirms and challenges the basic premises of mixed jurisdiction theory. Not unlike the "classic" mixed jurisdictions, the law of Cyprus is built on the twin foundations of common law and continental law, each in control of different legal subjects. Cyprus law is rather unique, however, among mixed legal systems, in the sense that it is private law (in most subjects) and criminal law that follow the English common law, whereas public law has a continental orientation. Ironically, almost all subjects are covered by comprehensive legislative instruments - colonial-era "codifications" of the common law, transplants of English statutes but also transplants of Greek law in continental enclaves. Procedural law is purely common law - a major factor in the mutation of the "continental" elements of the legal system. 

NEW SERIES: Elgar Monographs in Constitutional and Administrative Law

Edward Elgar Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new series:

Elgar Monographs in Constitutional and Administrative Law

Series editors: Rosalind Dixon, University of New South Wales, Australia, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University and Mark Tushnet, Harvard University, US

Constitutions are a country’s most important legal document, laying the foundation not just for politics, but for all other areas of law. They allocate power among different levels and branches of government, record and promote a society’s shared values, and protect the rights of citizens. Countries around the world are adopting written constitutions, though what defines a constitution is evolving to include a variety of sources beyond canonical texts, such as political conventions, statutes, judicial decisions and administrative law norms.

This cosmopolitan monograph series provides a forum for the best and most original scholarship in constitutional and administrative law, with each book offering an international, comparative, or multi-jurisdictional approach to this complex and fascinating field of research.

ARTICLE: Paul Miller's The Fiduciary Relationship

New article from Canada on SSRN might be of interest: Paul B. Miller ‘The Fiduciary Relationship'.

The abstract for Muller’ paper reads:

Fiduciary law is rife with references to fiduciary relationships. Most notably, the attribution of fiduciary duties turns on the existence of a "fiduciary relationship." But does private law admit of such a construct, and if it does, is the fiduciary relationship distinctive relative to other kinds of private law relationship? Many fiduciary law scholars are skeptical on both counts. Leading scholars have claimed that the fiduciary relationship is indefinable. Others say that, when properly defined, the fiduciary relationship is seen to be non-distinctive. In this chapter I argue that the fiduciary relationship is both definable and distinctive. I advance a theory of the fiduciary relationship – the fiduciary powers theory – which suggests that fiduciary relationships are typified by the fiduciary’s exercise of powers derived from the legal personality of persons (normally, the person of the beneficiary or her benefactor). I argue for the viability and utility of the fiduciary powers theory by demonstrating that it can account for the fiduciary nature of relationships of recognized fiduciary status and by showing how it can help resolve disputes over the characterization of other relationships.

OPPORTUNITY: Senior Researcher at the Hague Institute for Global Justice

The Hague Institute for Global Justice is looking for senior researcher.

The Hague Institute for Global Justice is an independent, nonpartisan institution established to undertake high-quality interdisciplinary policy relevant research, training and facilitation activities on issues at the intersection of peace, security and global justice.

The Institute uses a combination of internal and external experts to conduct research, implement practical projects, and convene a range of topical workshops, conferences, and seminars that bring together practitioners and scholars. The institute’s research, analysis and programming are of use to the Dutch government, multilateral institutions, and NGOs.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Conducting policy relevant original research on topics falling within the Rule of Law program and the regional focus areas;
• Contribution to the development and implementation of the substantive long-term program on Rule of Law;
• Coordination and management of projects and project staff;
• Publishing in academic and policy orientated journals and other outlets;
• Representation of The Hague Institute in public debates and in (inter)national media;
• Development activities in cooperation with the development office;
• Setting up and maintaining relevant networks of national and international stakeholders.

Qualifications:

• A PhD or JD in public international law, international relations, political sciences, conflict studies or economics
• At least 3 years of work experience in one or more of the following fields: rule of law, governance, peacebuilding, conflict prevention/ resolution
• Demonstrated affinity with the mission and objectives of The Hague Institute
• An entrepreneurial attitude and a demonstrated experience in obtaining funds
• The capacity to manage and embrace the opportunities and challenges of an innovative and growing institution in an international environment
• Demonstrated experience and affinity with initiating and carrying out international academic/ policy research in the field of Rule of Law
• Demonstrated experience in setting up, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary and international projects and research groups
• Demonstrated managerial and interpersonal skills, including a track record of successful project management
• A track record in building and developing relevant international networks
• Knowledge of and experience with international organizations and the international courts and tribunals located in The Hague
• Knowledge of the English language (fluent) and of at least one and preferably two other official languages of the UN
• Excellent diplomatic and communications skills.

Details and how to apply are here.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Limits of Limited Liability

Limits of Limited Liability

The Editorial board of the 'ACTA UNIVERSITATIS SAPIENTIAE - LEGAL STUDIES  [ISSN 2286-0940 (online version), ISSN 2285-6293 (printed version), ISSN-L 2285-6293] is inviting articles form the legal academia for the December, 2014 issue [Vol-3, No-2].

Deadline for submission: 15 September 2014

This special issue of the journal is dedicated to an analysis of the following important topics in company law:

• piercing the corporate veil
• responsability of company executives toward third parties on delictual basis for breaching a contract concluded by the company
• special responsability of shareholders, associates and company executives for fiscal debts
• responsability of company executives in case of insolvency
• liability of company group member for the debts of another member of the same group

Papers are to be submitted in English, French or German, in A4 format, electronically (in .doc or .docx format) to the e-mail address of the executive editor, Prof. Tamás Nótári: tnotari@kv.sapientia.ro .

CONFERENCE: Legal Research, Sudan and the Durham Archive

LEGAL RESEARCH, SUDAN AND THE DURHAM ARCHIVE

Islam, Law and Modernity, 

Grey College and the Bill Bryson Library

University of Durham

16-17 December 2013

This conference is intended to encourage and support legal research on Sudan. It is jointly organised by Islam, Law and Modernity, a research group based in Durham Law School, and Grey College.

Durham is ideally placed to host the Conference, as it is the home of the Sudan Archive and Collection. The Archive is the leading collection of material on Sudan outside Khartoum. It was founded in Durham in 1957 to collect and preserve the papers of administrators from the Sudan Political Service, missionaries, soldiers, businesses, doctors, agriculturalists, teachers and others who had served or lived in the Sudan during the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (1898-1955). The Archive also includes a significant amount of material relating to the period before and after the Condominium, as well as material relating to other countries in the region.