Comparative Law News

(image source: yale.edu)
Theb Catholic University of Leuven organizes a two-day conference at the occasion of the conferral of a doctorate honoris causa to Prof. dr. James Whitman (Yale Law School).

Program:
Day 1
9.30
Welcome
Opening remarks and introduction by Prof. Dr. Matthias E. Storme and Prof. Dr. Wim Decock (Law, KU Leuven)
Introductory lecture by Prof. Dr. Andrea Robiglio(Law, KU Leuven), ‘The Unbearable Obsolescence of the Concept of Honor
10.10 – 12.30
Honour, Reputation, Business,Creditworthiness and Insolvency (Session 1)
Chair: Prof. Dr. Laurent Waelkens (Law, KU Leuven)
Reporter: Drs. Matthias Castelein (Law, KU Leuven)
Speakers:
1. Dr. Rowena Olegario (Oxford Saïd Business School), ‘Reputation and Creditworthiness’
2. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Förster (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen), ‘Vom Schandstein zum Konkursverfahren -- die rechtshistorische Entwicklung’
3. Drs. Wouter Druwé (Law, KU Leuven), ‘Dignity and Cessio Bonorum in 16th-century Consilia”.
Q&A

lunch break
14.00 – 15.50 Honour, Defamation and Legal Remedies (Session 2)
Chair: Prof. Dr. Stephan Parmentier (Law, KU Leuven)
Reporter: Dra. Huma Saeed (Law, KU Leuven)
Speakers:
1. Dr. Eric De Scheemaeker (Edinburgh Law School),‘The Amende Honorable’
2. Dr. Gijs Van Dijck (Universiteit Tilburg)‘Tort Law, Compensation and Respect’
Q&A


16.10 – 18.00 Honour (Codes) as Competitor for Law (Session 3)
Chair: Prof. Dr. Wim Decock (Law, KU Leuven)
Reporter: Drs. Rafael Van Damme (Law, KU Leuven)
Speakers:
1. Prof. Dr. Letizia Paoli (Law, KU Leuven),‘Honour Codes (of Criminal Organizations) as Alternative Legal Orders’
2. Prof. Dr. Marco Cavina (History of Law, Università degli studi di Bologna), ‘La 'codification' du droit des gentilhommes (de la science 'normative' del'honneur [XVI-XVIII s.] aux codes du duel [XIX-XX s.])’
Q&A

Day 2
9.00 – 10.50 Harsh Justice and Symbolic Sanctions (Session 4)
Chair: Prof. Tom Daems (Law, KU Leuven)
Reporter: Dra. Brunilda Pali (Law, KU Leuven)
Speaker:
1. Dra. Tine van den Driessche (Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven), ‘Symbolic Punishment’
Q&A

11.00 – 12.50 Honour and the Law of War and Peace (Session 5)
Chair: Prof. Dr. Jan Wouters (Law, KU Leuven)
Reporter: Dra. Nele Verlinden (Law, KU Leuven)
Speakers:
1. Prof. Dr. Randall Lesaffer (Law, KU Leuven/Tilburg University), ‘Warmongers, Disturbers of the Peace and Violators of Sacred Trust: War, crime and infamy before Versailles’
2. Prof. Dr. Tom Ruys (Law, UGent), ‘Honour and the Modern Law of Non-international Armed Conflict’
Q&A


12.50 Closing Remarks
Prof. Dr. Matthias E. Storme (Law, KU Leuven)

Practical information:
• VENUE
- Faculty of Law, Leuven
Auditorium Zeger Van Hee, College De Valk
Tiensestraat 41, 3000 Leuven
• TIMING:
Wednesday 25 February 2015: 9.30 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Thursday 26 February 2015: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• FEE: 25 euros. Registration is required.
Please note that the honorary doctorate of
Professor Whitman is free of charge and takes place on Thursday 26 February 2015 at 5 p.m. in the Promotiezaal, Universiteitshallen, Naamsestraat 22, 3000 Leuven.
Attendance by registration only.
• FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, including the online registration tool, please visit
www.pvthemis.be or www.law.kuleuven.be
For more information, please contact Erik De Dijn (erik.dedijn@law.kuleuven.be, + 32 16 32 51 16)

Max-Planck Summer Academy for Legal HistoryThe Max-Planck Summer Academy for Legal History, offered by the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History (MPIeR), provides an in-depth introduction to methods and principles of research in legal history. Although its main focus is on European legal history, there is special emphasis on global perspectives on legal history. It addresses a selected group of highly motivated early-stage researchers, usually PhD candidates, working on a research project with an interest in the basic research of historical formation and transformations of law and other normative orders.The academy consists of two modules and lasts two weeks; the first week provides an introduction to the study of sources, methodological principles, as well as theoretical models and controversial research debates on basic research fields of legal history (module 1). During the second week the participants discuss a special research theme and develop their own approach to the theme (module 2).DateThe next Summer Academy will take place from July 27 until August 7, 2015.Course aimThe overall aim of the Max Planck Summer Academy for Legal History is to provide PhD candidates with an expertise on the methods and principles of legal history and to equip them with the ability to apply this knowledge to their research projects and other research in legal history or related disciplines.CurriculumLectures and workshops in history of legal history, methodological principles of legal history, antiquity, legal history in antiquity, Ius Commune, legal bibliography, history of private law in the modern era, constitutional history, history of criminal law, and history of international law form the core of the academy.

• History of Legal History
• Antiquity
• An introduction into the secular Ius Commune I (12th-16th century)
• Ius Commune II – Classical and Post-Classical Canon Law (12th-16th century)
• History of Private Law in the Modern Period
• Constitutional History
• History of Criminal Law
• Contemporary Legal History Introduction to Legal Theory
• History of International Law

In addition to the lectures and workshops the participants have the opportunity to work on their individual research projects which should reflect the special theme (see below) and present and discuss them in plenum. Furthermore, the academy offers additional courses in complementary skills. As a summer academy should not consist of academic activities only, a variety of extra-curricular activities, such as visits to nearby historical sites and several get-togethers in the evenings are offered.

Max-Planck Summer Academy for Legal HistoryThe Max-Planck Summer Academy for Legal History, offered by the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History (MPIeR), provides an in-depth introduction to methods and principles of research in legal history. Although its main focus is on European legal history, there is special emphasis on global perspectives on legal history. It addresses a selected group of highly motivated early-stage researchers, usually PhD candidates, working on a research project with an interest in the basic research of historical formation and transformations of law and other normative orders.The academy consists of two modules and lasts two weeks; the first week provides an introduction to the study of sources, methodological principles, as well as theoretical models and controversial research debates on basic research fields of legal history (module 1). During the second week the participants discuss a special research theme and develop their own approach to the theme (module 2).DateThe next Summer Academy will take place from July 27 until August 7, 2015.Course aimThe overall aim of the Max Planck Summer Academy for Legal History is to provide PhD candidates with an expertise on the methods and principles of legal history and to equip them with the ability to apply this knowledge to their research projects and other research in legal history or related disciplines.CurriculumLectures and workshops in history of legal history, methodological principles of legal history, antiquity, legal history in antiquity, Ius Commune, legal bibliography, history of private law in the modern era, constitutional history, history of criminal law, and history of international law form the core of the academy.

• History of Legal History
• Antiquity
• An introduction into the secular Ius Commune I (12th-16th century)
• Ius Commune II – Classical and Post-Classical Canon Law (12th-16th century)
• History of Private Law in the Modern Period
• Constitutional History
• History of Criminal Law
• Contemporary Legal History Introduction to Legal Theory
• History of International Law

In addition to the lectures and workshops the participants have the opportunity to work on their individual research projects which should reflect the special theme (see below) and present and discuss them in plenum. Furthermore, the academy offers additional courses in complementary skills. As a summer academy should not consist of academic activities only, a variety of extra-curricular activities, such as visits to nearby historical sites and several get-togethers in the evenings are offered.

NOTE: CALLS FOR PAPERS
The Juris Diversitas and Irish Society of Comparative Law (ISCL) annual conferences will be hosted back-to-back at the School of Law of the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland.

Please feel free to submit the same proposal for both conferences.
The theme of the Juris Diversitas conference is ‘The State and/of Comparative Law’ and the deadline for proposals is 28 February 2015.

The theme of the ISCL conference is ‘Comparative Law: From Antiquity to Modernity’ and the deadline for proposals is 30 January 2015.
See the links here and here.

H-France Reviews, vol. 13 (2013) contains a review by a work of interest to legal historians. Prof. Reynald Abad (Paris IV-Sorbonne/Centre Roland Mousnier) published an elaborate study on the practice of royal mercy in 18th Century France. Focusing on the responses by the proctor-general of the Parliament of Paris, Joly de Fleury (father and son) to inquiries by chancellor d'Aguesseau, Abad (according to the reviewer, Julius R. Ruff) has written 'a book that all students of old regime French law and society will wish to consult'.
Full text of the review on H-France.

Reference: Reynald Abad, La grâce du roi: lettres de clémence de Grande Chancellerie au XVIIIe siècle (Paris: Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2011, 964 p.). More information on the PUPS' website.

The 2014 vol 17 no 5 issue of the Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (PER) is now freely available on our website at http://www.nwu.ac.za/p-per/2014%2817%295You can access and download the following manuscripts in pdf format from the website:1.     Transboundary Movements of Genetically Modified Organisms and the Cartagena Protocol: Key Issues and Concerns
OJ Lim Tung
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295LimTung%20.pdf2.     Defending the Absurd: The Iconoclast's Guide to Section 47(1) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013
H McCreath and R Koen
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295McCreath%26Koen.pdf3.     The Legal Status of the Spanish Imperial Eagle in Spain and Thoughts on Environmental Law and Policy as Contributing Factors in the Conservation of Species
JC Knobel
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Knobel.pdf4.     Barriers to Advocacy and Litigation in the Equality Courts for Persons with Disabilities
W Holness and S Rule
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Holness%26Sarah.pdf5.     Reassessing Judicial Independence and Impartiality against the Backdrop of Judicial Appointments in South Africa
K Malan
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Malan.pdf6.     The Different Worlds of Labour and Company Law: Truth or Myth?
MM Botha
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Botha.pdf7.     The Regulation of Acid Mine Drainage in South Africa: Law and Governance Perspectives
L Feris and LJ Kotzé
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Feris%26Kotze.pdf8.     Spatial Practices in Lowliebenhof: The Case of Maphango v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd
I de Villiers
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295DeVilliers.pdf9.     Rectification and Party Misdescription: To what extent is Rectification Competent or Useful?
R Sharrock
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Sharrock.pdf
10.   Limiting Organisational Rights of Minority Unions: POPCRU v Ledwaba 2013 11 BLLR 1137 (LC)
T Cohen
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no5/2014%2817%295Cohen.pdf

The 2014 vol 17 no 4 issue of the Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (PER) is now freely available by clicking here.You can access and download the following manuscripts in pdf format from the website:1.     Unlawful Occupation of Inner-City Buildings: A Constitutional Analysis of the Rights and Obligations involved
J Strydom and S Viljoen
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Strydom%26Viljoen.article.pdf2.     Managing the Trade-Public Health Linkage in Defence of Trade Liberalisation and National Sovereignty: An Appraisal of United States-Measures affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes
TV Warikandwa and PC Osode
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294WarikandwaOsode.article.pdf3.     Shaken Baby Syndrome: A South African Medico-Legal Perspective
A le Roux-Kemp and E Burger
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294LeRouxKemp%26Burger.article.pdf4.     Legislative Prohibitions on wearing a Headscarf: Are they justified?
F Osman
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Osman.article.pdf5.     The Potential of Capstone Learning Experiences in addressing perceived Shortcomings in LLB Training in South Africa
G Quinot and SP van Tonder
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Quinot%26vanTonder.article.pdf6.     Is Law Science?
MC Roos
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Roos.article.pdf7.     Regulating Traditional Justice in South Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Aspects of the Traditional Courts Bill
CB Soyapi
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Soyapi.article.pdf8.     The Incorporation of Public International Law into Municipal Law and Regional Law against the Background of the Dichotomy between Monism and Dualism
G Ferreira and A Ferreira-Snyman
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Ferreira%26Ferreira-Snyman.article.pdf9.     Reformation from Criminal to Lawyer: Is such Redemption Possible?
M Slabbert and DJ Boome
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Slabbert%26Boome.article.pdf10.   "Contributory Intent" as a Defence Limiting Delictual Liability
R Ahmed
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Ahmed.article.pdf11.   A Panoramic View of the Social Security and Social Protection Provisioning in Lesotho
KE Mosito
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Mosito.article.pdf12.   Public Servants' Right to Strike in Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa – A Comparative Study
T Cohen and L Matee
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Cohen%26Matee.article.pdf13.   Localising Environmental Governance: The Le Sueur Case
T Humby
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Humby.NOTE.pdf14.   Peel v Hamon J & C Engineering (Pty) Ltd: Ignoring the Result-Requirement of Section 163(1)(A) of the Companies Act and Extending the Oppression Remedy Beyond its Statutorily Intended Reach
HGJ Beukes and WJC Swart
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294Beukes%26Swart.Note.pdf
15.   Sailing between Scylla and Charybdis: Mayelane v Ngwenyama
H Kruuse and J Sloth-Nielsen
http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-per/issuepages/2014volume17no4/2014%2817%294KruuseSloth-Nielsen.NOTE.pdf

The research project “Reinventing the Foundations of European Legal Culture 1934-1964” in the University of Helsinki (FoundLaw.org) is looking for a scholar to engage in a study of narratives arising from different strands of European thought on law, tradition and history. 
The closing date for applications is the 2nd of March 2015. The starting date is flexible. 

Link to ad: http://www.helsinki.fi/recruitment/index.html?id=99023

A new issue (vol. 7, issue 2) of the European Journal of Legal Studies has just been published.
Click here to download this issue.

Ann Black, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, Hossein Esmaeili, Associate Professor of Law, Flinders Law School, Flinders University and Nadirsyah Hosen, Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong, Australia
This well-informed book explains, reflects on and analyses Islamic law, not only in the classical legal tradition of Sharia, but also its modern, contemporary context.

The book explores the role of Islamic law in secular Western nations and reflects on the legal system of Islam in its classical context as applied in its traditional homeland of the Middle East and also in South East Asia. Written by three leading scholars from three different backgrounds: a Muslim in the Sunni tradition, a Muslim in the Shia tradition, and a non-Muslim woman – the book is not only unique, but also enriched by differing insights into Islamic law.

Sir William Blair provides the foreword to a book which acknowledges that Islam continues to play a vital role not just in the Middle East but across the wider world, the discussion on which the authors embark is a crucial one.

The book starts with an analysis of the nature of Islamic law, its concepts, meaning and sources, as well as its development in different stages of Islamic history. This is followed by accounts of how Islamic law is being practised today. Key modern institutions are discussed, such as the parliament, judiciary, dar al-ifta, political parties, and other important organizations. It continues by analysing some key concepts in our modern times: nation-state, citizenship, ummah, dhimmah (recognition of the status of certain non-Muslims in Islamic states), and the rule of law. The book investigates how in recent times, more and more fatwas are issued collectively rather than emanating from an individual scholar. The authors then evaluate how Islamic law deals with family matters, economics, crime, property and alternative dispute resolution. Lastly, the book revisits certain contemporary issues of debate in Islamic law such as the burqa, halal food, riba (interest) and apostasy.

Modern Perspectives on Islamic Law will become a standard scholarly text on Islamic law. Its wide-ranging coverage will appeal to researchers and students of Islamic law, or Islamic studies in general. Legal practitioners will also be interested in the comparative aspects of Islamic law presented in this book.
2013 320 pp Hardback 978 0 85793 446 8 Regular Price £88.00  Web Price £79.20 ebook 978 0 85793 447 5
2014 Paperback 978 1 78254 552 1  Regular Price £30.00  Web Price £24.00

Click here to visit the ElgarOnline page regarding this book.

All information here
SOLON ON LINE JOURNALLaw, Crime and History Volume 4 Issue 3 (2014)
EditorialArticlesColin R. Moore and Gerry R. Rubin,  Civilian Detective Doctrine in the 1930s and its Transmission to the Military Police in 1940-42, 1-30David E. Ruth,‘Our Free Society is Worthy of Better’: Caryl Chessman, Capital Punishment, and Cold War Culture, 31-55
Robert S. Shiels, The Structure of Authority and the Prosecution of Crime in the Sheriff Courts of Mid-Victorian Scotland, 56-73 
Debate ForumIan Marsh,Conceptualising Media Representations of Crime and Justice within Historical and Contemporary Criminology, 74-83



Book Reviews
David Beckingham,Alcohol and Moral Regulation: Public Attitudes, Spirited Measures and Victorian Hangovers, 84-86John Walliss,Crime in England, 1688-1815 and Crime in England, 1880-1945: The rough and the criminal, the police and the incarcerated, 87-89John Walliss, Capital Punishment in Twentieth-Century Britain: Audience, Justice, Memory, 90-92Judith Rowbotham,City of Gangs. Glasgow and the Rise of the British Gangster, 93-96
Conference Reports Cerian Charlotte Griffiths, British Crime Historians Symposium 2014, 97-100

(image: Gallimard) 
Prof. em. Arlette Jouanna (Paul Valéry-University, Montpellier III) published a second book in her series on the representation of power in Early Modern France (cf. earlier on this blog). This second volume treats the 17th century.

Book abstract:
Le Prince absolu fait suite au Pouvoir absolu (2013). Déplaçant le regard vers la France de Richelieu et de Louis XIV, Arlette Jouanna interroge les caractères distinctifs de l'idéologie absolue comme système de légitimité. Elle explore dans la longue durée les constructions intellectuelles, théologiques, philosophiques de la pensée du pouvoir, ses avatars, ses infléchissements, ses excès et ses tribulations. Au XVIIe siècle, après la terrible déchirure des guerres de Religion, la croyance en la sacralité du prince fait de lui l'unique source du droit, ce qui tend à assimiler le légitime au légal. D'extraordinaire et dangereux, le pouvoir absolu est devenu ordinaire et bénéfique ; l'art de gouverner y gagne une autonomie temporelle inédite, faisant surgir la notion neuve de l'impersonnalité de l'Etat. Les résistances à ce modèle politique, qui marie le droit divin et la raison d'Etat, ne réussiront pas à s'imposer pendant la Fronde. Louis XIV incarne magnifiquement la majesté de l'Etat absolu ; mais sa puissance même d'incarnation finit par rendre opaque le lien entre pouvoir et justice, donnant prise à l'accusation d'arbitraire. Son règne marque à la fois l'apogée et le début du déclin de l'imaginaire sacral de la monarchie. Prof. Jouanna also presented her book in the popular radio broadcast 'La Fabrique de l'Histoire' (France Culture). See podcast here.

More information on the publisher's website.

 (image source: dalloz)
Nomôdos announced the publication of  Prof. Véronique Champeil-Desplat (Paris X)'s Méthodologies du droit des des sciences du droit (Dalloz).

Abstract and contents:
Le droit est animé par un ensemble de raisonnements, de catégorisations, d'argumentations, de justifications, bref de méthodes propres qui le différencient d'autres activités de la pensée humaine.Or ces méthodes du droit se déploient à deux niveaux de langage distincts: il existe d'une part les méthodes des acteurs du droit produisant des normes juridiques (constituant, législateur...) et d'autre part les méthodes de ceux qui analysent la production des normes juridiques avec des visées pratiques ou théoriques (théoriciens du droit, sociologues...).L'ambition de cet ouvrage est de distinguer et de mettre en évidence la pluralité des méthodes utilisées dans les textes juridiques et dans les analyses effectuées par les différentes sciences du droit. Une telle étude est quasi-inexistante dans la littérature juridique française. Elle est pourtant essentielle pour la formation des étudiants tant de Licence que de ceux qui s'engagent dans la rédaction de mémoires et de thèse. Elle doit permettre de donner des grilles de compréhension et d'analyse des arrêts et des textes juridiques, mais aussi des commentaires et des controverses doctrinales.Sommaire1. Le modèle des sciences exactes. La structuration formaliste des programmes méthodologiques des sciences du droit.
2. L'horizon des sciences sociales. Distanciations et réformation du formalisme.
3. Perspective analytique. De l' usage de quelques méthodes dans les discours juridiques.
More information (including a free excerpt) on the publisher's website.

 (image source: wikimedia commons)




The Dutch-Belgian Society for Eighteenth Century Studies announces a lecture on the 'Return of the History of Ideas' by Prof. Darrin McMahon (Darthmouth College).

Abstract:
Long dismissed as a hopelessly outdated form of inquiry, the “history of ideas” is today making a comeback as a viable form of intellectual history.  What are the promises and the pitfalls of a renewed history of ideas?  In this discussion, Professor McMahon will take up the question both from the standpoint of past criticism and current methodological concerns.  Venue:
Doelenzaal, UB Amsterdam, Singel 425, Amsterdam  More information on the Society's blog.

(image source: EEHAR)

Calenda.org announced an interesting call for papers for a conference to be held in Rome (Escuela Española de Historia y Arqueología en Roma, in september 2015:

Abstract:
Merchants, farmers, jurists, clerks in large institutions, secretaries, independent landowners, local elites and highly sought master craftsmen, among many others, are individuals with an ambiguous social status. Looking at who was not born exactly noble, nor exactly commoner, but stood on the border between one world and the other, is one of the goals of this initiative.
The so-called ‘intermediate groups’ often appear in researches on mobility processes. And, although that may be an interesting means to approach and study the problem, it is surely not the only one. We can walk other paths, and try to find out, for instance, how did those groups got to that level. What kind of factors (if any) differentiated them? Does it make any sense to speak of ‘intermediate groups’ in colonial Ibero-America? Is it eventually possible to draw their profile? How did they socially interact? In the Iberian Peninsula, many of their presumed members enjoyed prestigious places in religious organizations or were familiares of the Inquisition. What other types of social distinctions did they get? Similar strata seem to have existed throughout southern Europe. What features did they present?
As part of a project developed in Portugal focusing on the Holy Office’s familiaturas, it will be held on September 16 and 17, 2015, a workshop at Escuela Española de Historia and Archaeological in Rome. Our aim is to select a total of 8 applicants, that will be joined by 4 guest speakers, for a joint reflection on the dynamics and profiles of ‘intermediate groups’, as well as on the methodologies for their study in Early Modern Times.
Submission guidelinesIf you are interested in this theme and some or all of the above related issues, please send a title, an A4 page summary and a brief CV to cidehus@uevora.pt , before 15 FEBRUARY 2015 The full text of the trilingual call can be found here.

(image source: amazon) 
The Legal History Blog announced a new book by Richard S. Kay (Wallice Stevens Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law), on The Glorious Revolution and the Continuity of Law.

Abstract:
The Glorious Revolution and the Continuity of Law explores the relationship between law and revolution. Revolt - armed or not - is often viewed as the overthrow of legitimate rulers. Historical experience, however, shows that revolutions are frequently accompanied by the invocation rather than the repudiation of law. No example is clearer than that of the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89. At that time the unpopular but lawful Catholic king, James II, lost his throne and was replaced by his Protestant son-in-law and daughter, William of Orange and Mary, with James's attempt to recapture the throne thwarted at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland. The revolutionaries had to negotiate two contradictory but intensely held convictions. The first was that the essential role of law in defining and regulating the activity of the state must be maintained. The second was that constitutional arrangements to limit the unilateral authority of the monarch and preserve an indispensable role for the houses of parliament in public decision-making had to be established. In the circumstances of 1688-89, the revolutionaries could not be faithful to the second without betraying the first. Their attempts to reconcile these conflicting objectives involved the frequent employment of legal rhetoric to justify their actions. In so doing, they necessarily used the word "law" in different ways. It could denote the specific rules of positive law; it could simply express devotion to the large political and social values that underlay the legal system; or it could do something in between. In 1688-89 it meant all those things to different participants at different times. This study adds a new dimension to the literature of the Glorious Revolution by describing, analyzing and elaborating this central paradox: the revolutionaries tried to break the rules of the constitution and, at the same time, be true to them.
More information on the publisher's website.

Thursday & Friday, 5-6 February 2015, Faculty of Law, National University of SingaporeExisting jurisprudential analyses of law beyond the state have focused upon substantive questions surrounding the institutional, normative and systemic character of non-state law, both on its own and in interaction with state law. That scholarship, however, has revealed a significant gap surrounding questions of jurisprudential methodology, purpose and scope. These are the broad themes the conference will aim to address.PROGRAMME: The programme has been arranged to cover the following sessions.Thursday, 5 Feb 2015SESSION I (Chair: Andrew Harding)Do Lawyers Need a Theory of Legal Pluralism? Roger Cotterrell (Queen Mary University of London)
Tribal Executive Power in the Settler States: Legal and Political Theories of Inter-indigenous Pluralism. Kirsty Gover (University of Melbourne)SESSION II (Chair: Terry Nardin)Three Concepts of Legal Pluralism: A Jurisprudential Assessment. Mattias Kumm (The WZB Berlin Social Science Center)
Law and Legitimacy for Global Institutions. Pavlos Eleftheriadis (University of Oxford)SESSION III (Chair: Maksymilian Del Mar)Legal Pluralism and the Rule of Law. Martin Krygier (University of New South Wales)
The Many Uses of Law: Connecting an Instrumental and an Interactional Perspective. Sanne Taekema (Erasmus University Rotterdam)Friday, 6 Feb 2015SESSION IV (Chair: Tony Anghie)Metaphors of the New Legal Theory. Margaret Davies (Flinders University)
Towards a Genealogical Understanding of Transnational Law. Detlef Von Daniels (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)SESSION V (Chair: Kevin Walton)Legal Theory and Global Justice: The Gap. Neil Walker (University of Edinburgh)
Collectivist Authority and International Customary Law. Stefan Sciaraffa (McMaster University)SESSION VI (Chair: Nicole Roughan)
Law and Recognition-Towards a Relational Concept of Law. Ralf Michaels (Duke University)
Against a General Jurisprudence of Pluralism. Cormac Mac Amhlaigh (University of Edinburgh)

"Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement and Beijing's Failure to Honor the Basic Law" 
University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2014/043MICHAEL C. DAVIS, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law
Email: mcdavis@hku.hkOver the past few months Hong Kong has been deeply embedded in political change and protests. These debates and confrontations in Hong Kong have had a particular constitutional character grounded in disputes over interpretation of the Hong Kong Basic Law’s constitutional text. Recent actions initiated by Beijing have, in the public eye, called into question solemn commitments made to Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” model promised in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. A series of reports and decisions issued this past year have been the source of public discontent. This paper will consider these causes and suggest avenues to a solution going forward.

"China & the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Tibetan Case"  University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2014/044MICHAEL C. DAVIS, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law
Email: mcdavis@hku.hkUsing sovereignty as a shield, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has generally sought a pass in regard to enforcing international human rights compliance. Though it has signed numerous human rights treaties, its state-centered approach has sought to avoid all efforts at enforcement. This avoidance has nowhere been more absolute than its disavowal of any obligations regarding indigenous peoples’ rights. The PRC actually voted in support of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) (UN General Assembly 2008). It then promptly disavowed any obligation under the declaration, proclaiming there were no indigenous peoples in China. It proclaimed 5,000 years of unity and harmony with its 55 designated national minorities living in peace on their own land. Though a bloody history and recent protests by the most prominent of these minorities – Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Mongols – would tend to belie such assertion, the international community has rarely challenged this claim.

From PHILOSOPHY OF LAW eJOURNAl, we suggest the following article: 
"Muslim Law: Judicial and Legislative Changes Around the World" MOSLAY UDDIN, University of Dhaka
Email: moslayudden@gmail.com
MD AYATULLAH, University of DhakaThe prime objective of this paper is to find a way out to the discomfiting situation that now exists. An attempt has been made to point out the exact sites of contradiction with the orthodox law and to link between the mainstream Islamic law and the present judicial thought. Here, the limitations that we have not crossed yet in the field of reforms in Islamic principles have been incorporated.

This paper is divided into eleven chapters. The first chapter presents the scope and objectives of the research along with a short description of the methodology of the research. The second chapter narrates the fundamental issues of the Islamic law of reforms and a short description of our present legal system. The third chapter deals with the concept of Muslim marriage and certain other mandatory issues that validate the marriage, with a discussion of certain reforms. Fourth chapter deals with the provision of dower and some reforms regarding the implementation of this right. The fifth chapter deals with the maintenance right specially focusing the post divorce maintenance. Chapter six describes the provisions of dissolution of marriage and reforms regarding women’s right to divorce, and restriction on husband’s capricious exercise of divorce. Chapter seven contains the discussion of polygamy and intervening marriage with reforms that has taken place in the contemporary world. Eighth chapter deals with custody and guardianship of Muslim child and judicial review. Under chapter nine inheritance rights and the question of equality has been described. This chapter also contains a discussion on the application of the doctrine of representation. The last chapter enunciates the findings and concludes the study.