ARTICLE ANNOUNCEMENT: Rule of Law Reforms and Institutional Change Processes in Eastern DR Congo: Neo-institutional Economics vs Multijuralism

By Évelyne Jean-Bouchard
From Global Jurist, Volume 15, issue 1

Abstract

In development approaches, the link between rule of law institutional reforms and economic development is theorized by neo-institutional economics (NIE). From an economic analysis of law, NIE interprets the institutional variable through its ability to reduce uncertainty. The analysis of the relationship between institutions and development then leads to the study of institutional and normative changes. In this context, authors are referring to path dependence theory in order to explain the recurrent failure of rule of law reforms. However, I will argue that while NIE, by referring to path dependence theory, acknowledges that reforms take place within a complex set of particularities, I suggest that the notion of multijuralism, elaborated by the French legal anthropologist Étienne Le Roy, is more appropriated to describe this set of particularities in an African context. Using empirical data collected during an anthropological study regarding women’s rights in Democratic Republic of Congo, we will see that normative changes usually occur on the margins of State institutions. In addition, the embedded norms considered by NIE immobile through time are actually much more fluid than it seems.

Click here to download this paper

CONFERENCE: Oxford Lawyers Without Borders Annual Conference on "The Rule of Law and International Development"

Oxford Lawyers Without Borders has announced Annual Conference on "The Rule of Law and International Development" next Saturday 8th March at T S Eliot Theatre, Merton College.

Early Bird Tickets: £7 (conference only - Sponsored by Linklaters), £27 (conference and dinner - Sponsored by DLA Piper).

Oxford Lawyers Without Borders is delighted to extend an invitation to upcoming annual conference. After a successful inaugural conference last year, we seek to continue building a legacy of thought provoking, inspiring conversations about international law with some of the world's foremost practitioners and advocates in the field. This year, we will be hosting a human rights colloquium unlike any seen in Oxford before.

Already announced:

• A keynote address on the "Rule of Law and Innovation" from leading law and development practitioner Monjurul Kabir, UNDP's Rule of Law, Human Rights and Justice Adviser and Team Leader for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
• A panel discussion on "Does a International Rule of Law Exist?" (in Development) with leading lawyers and development practitioners from Transparency International, Advocates for International Development, Namati and the IBA Human Rights Institute
• An "innovation competition", in which six student teams from universities across the UK will be presenting prospective, plausible one-year projects geared towards implementing and improving the rule of law in developing countries.
• Creative workshops to help you better understand the rule of law and implementing legal innovation
• A "Pro Bono in the City" Fair with representatives from several major firms including Linklaters, Gibson Dunn, and DLA Piper
• A dinner for delegates, which will allow for ample opportunities to interact with invited speakers, law firm representatives, and fellow law students.

If you are interested in finding out more, please see website http://oxlwob.wordpress.com/conference-2014/, which includes information on ticket purchasing.
Please also follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OxLWOB<http://e.groupspaces.com/click/48cbb-29fqh-yapnm6v6m?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FOxLWOB>
And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/592288817522902/

BOOK: Frankenberg’s 'Political Technology And The Erosion Of The Rule Of Law. Normalizing the State of Exception'

Edward Elgar Publishing has issued a new title. It’s Günter Frankenberg’s ‘Political Technology And The Erosion Of The Rule Of Law. Normalizing the State of Exception’.

Abstract

This timely volume by distinguished scholar Günter Frankenberg offers a sophisticated analysis and sharp critique of the reactions of nations such as the US, Great Britain and Germany to perceived terrorist threats, organized crime actions and other political emergencies that have occurred in recent years.

The author demonstrates how governments have increasingly sacrificed the rule of law and human rights for the benefit of security programs – as evidenced by a rise in extraordinary measures such as surveillance, detention and torture – thus normalizing the state of exception and privileging preemptive, proactive and coercive methods of political engineering. An interdisciplinary and multi-jurisdictional study, this book develops and implements a unique theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding the rise of technical-political rationality and the fall of the rule of law, and submits both to a firm critique.

Particularly relevant in light of current controversies, this provocative book will appeal to scholars and students of international and constitutional law, legal theory, political science, and terrorism studies.

On the book

‘Books abound on the question whether states of emergency can be legally controlled. But Frankenberg’s account stands out because of his mastery of the political and legal contexts in which the terms of the debate about states of emergency were framed for us – the situation of Weimar and the constitutional reaction in postwar Germany. In addition, Frankenberg has an astonishing command of the history of political theory from Hobbes to the present. His innovative but scholarly analyses permit him to construct a narrative about the potential of the rule of law to respond to emergencies that includes detailed examinations of Schmitt, Foucault, Habermas, Agamben, and many others. His treatments of these figures seek to draw out the genuine insights they might offer, so that, even though none of the figures escapes the force of his criticism, his argument will challenge the assumptions of all involved in the debate.’

– David Dyzenhaus, University of Toronto, Canada

ARTICLE: Hamoudi on Legal Pluralism and the Rule of Law’

Haider Ala Hamoudi (Pittsburgh), a friend of Juris Diversitas, has posted his ‘Decolonizing the Centralist Mind: Legal Pluralismand the Rule of Law’ on SSRN.

The abstract reads:

By and large, in the study of the rule of law and in programmatic efforts in the field to develop it, sufficient heed has not been paid to the lessons that legal pluralism has laid bare. These are that in any social field, there is more than one legal system in operation, and state law by no means reigns supreme over all. State law quite often plays a role of course, and in some cases, that role is quite significant. Yet invariably it operates together — in coordination or competition, as the case may be — with other legal systems in the same social field, each of which is “semi-autonomous” in its workings and none of which enjoys any sort of monopoly on the maintenance of order. Indeed, there is much evidence that the role of the state as a global matter is evolving in a fashion that might very well decrease its influence in this complex system of multiple sources of order, rather than the reverse. Until and unless rule of law reformers grow acculturated to these realities, internalize them and incorporate them into their operations, efforts to institute the rule of law are likely to fall well short of expectations.