Comparative Law News

The Société d'histoire du droit et des institutions des pays flamands, picards et wallons, founded in Lille (France) in 1929, unites historians from France, Belgium and the Netherlands in a yearly gathering, rotating every year between these three countries. This year's meeting is scheduled for 30 and 31 May 2014, in the City of Utrecht, which recently celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Treaties of Peace concluded on 11 April 1713.

Fittingly, this year's theme is "War" in legal history, from Antiquity to the Contemporary era, across all sections of society and human behaviour. Contributions can be mailed until 30 April 2014 to prof. Emese von Boné. A registration form for the conference can be found here.

Nomôdos signals a work potentially of  interest to historians of public law: Olivier Christin's Vox Populi. Une histoire du vote avant le suffrage universel. The author examines distinct procedures of designating public officials in towns and villages, religious orders and conclaves, universities and academies. A just distribution of posts, or the selection of the best and most able were far from the essential objective. Instead, elite reproduction and the defense of orthodoxy were central.

To trace "democracy" back to representative institutions from the Late Middle Ages to the end of the Ancien Régime, is a commonplace all too often asserted. Christin challenges this assumption and forces the reader to adopt a critical approach to contemporary institutions and the social objectives their selection mechanisms serve.

What: Compromiso literario y derechos humanos. El modernismo hispanoamericano frente al Affaire Dreyfus, workshop in the Master on HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY AND INTERNATIONAL JUSTICEWhere: Institut Universitari de Drets Humans. Facultat de Dret. Universidad de València, Edificio Departamental Occidental, aula 4P12, València, EspañaWhen: 24 March 2014, 4:30 pm

Speaker:
Jose Calvo, Catedratico de Filosofia del derecho

What: La democrazia costituzionale il suo passato, series of meetings organized by Prof. Pietro Costa

Where: Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza e Scienze politiche, economiche e sociali, aula 209, Via Cavour 84, Alessandria, Italy

When: 17 - 25 March 2014.








Calendar:La democrazia costituzionale e la sua crisi, 17 march, 3:00 pm - Aula 209
La rappresentanza e i partiti politici,18 march, 11:00 am-1:00 pm - Sala seminari iSGe
La rappresentanza e i partiti politici, 19 march, 10:00 -12:00 am - Aula 209
La sovranità popolare, 24 march, 3:00 - 5:00 pm - Aula 209
Diritti e democrazia, 25 march, 10:00 -12:00 am - Aula 209
Lo stato di diritto e la giustizia costituzionale, 25 march, 2:30 -4:30 pm - Aula 209

What: Doctoral Meeting Where: University of Milan, Law Faculty, Civil Law and Legal History Department, room "Senato", Via Festa del Perdono 7, Milan  When: 21 March 2014, 11:00 am
Speakers:Prof. David Deroussin, Université Jean Moulin Lyon III, Le consensualisme dans le droit coutumier médiéval en France Prof. Sara Parini, Università degli studi di Milano, Pacta sunt servanda. Profili problematici della transazione dall'età moderna ai codiciProf. Giovanni Chiodi, Università degli studi Milano-Bicocca, La responsabilità contrattuale per inadempimento nella civilistica italiana del primo Novecento
All information here

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UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DELL’INSUBRIA 
DIPARTIMENTO DI DIRITTO, ECONOMIA E CULTURE 
Via S. Abbondio, 12 – 22100 Como 

Il giorno 13 marzo 2014 
alle ore 15.00 

nell’Aula Magna dell’Università degli Studi dell’Insubria 

Via Sant’Abbondio 12 - Como 

avrà luogo la presentazione 

dell’ANNUARIO DI DIRITTO COMPARATO 2013 
pubblicato da ESI – Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane 

Diritto comparato e sistemologia: 
 le nuove sfide 

Introduce: 
Prof. Barbara Pozzo (Università degli Studi dell’Insubria) 

Guest Professor: 
Prof. Jaakko Husa (University of Lapland – Finland) 

Ne discutono: 
Prof. Vincenzo Varano (Università degli Studi di Firenze), Prof. Antonio Gambaro 
(Università degli Studi di Milano), Prof. Maria Paola Viviani Schlein (Università 
degli Studi dell’Insubria), Prof. Michele Carducci (Università degli Studi del 
Salento), Prof. Mario Serio (Università degli Studi di Palermo), Prof. Cristoforo 
Osti (Università degli Studi del Salento), Prof. Guido Smorto (Università degli 
Studi di Palermo) Prof. Gabriella Mangione (Università degli Studi dell’Insubria).

We are pleased to inform you about the new article of Prof. Howard Kislowicz (Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick) on "Sacred Laws in Earthly Courts: Legal Pluralism in Canadian Religious Freedom Litigation".
Abstract: In three cases, Amselem, Multani and Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony, the Supreme Court of Canada examined conflicts between state law and the religious practices of litigants. While much has been written about the holdings in these cases, less is known about the experience of the participants. Based on in-depth interviews with litigants, lawyers and experts involved in these cases, this article examines how the participants viewed their relationship to the Canadian legal system. Drawing on critical legal pluralist scholarship, the author demonstrates that in many instances, participants (i) considered their religious norms as legally binding; (ii) placed their religious obligations above Canadian law; and (iii) filtered state law through the lens of their normative, religious beliefs. The author also examines how participants, in their submissions to the court, challenged the status of Canadian law as the sole legal system governing their lives. For many participants, these cases represented a conflict between religious law and state law that could not be easily reconciled. The overlap of legal systems in the participants’ lives is complex and the boundaries between state and religious principles are often blurred. With a greater awareness of these issues, courts could be more conscientious in applying the proportionality test of section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in religious freedom cases.

The organizers of the XXth European Forum of Young Legal Historians (Cambridge, 2-5 April 2014) have published a provisional programme for the conference.

Highlights include a keynote lecture by prof. David Ibbetson (Cambridge), speeches by Lord Sumption (Supreme Court of the UK) and prof. Mark Godfrey (Edinburgh). In conformity with previous editions, the Forum covers a broad array of topics in the field of European, comparative and national legal history in no less than 22 panels, featuring 66 papers.
More information on the AYLH website.

What: the Law and Humanities Course 2014, by Prof. Emanuele Conte, Dr. Stefania Gialdroni, Dr. Angela Condello
Where: Roma Tre University, Law Faculty, Via Ostiense 161, 00154, Rome
When: Spring semester 2014 (march-may), wed 2:00 pm - thur/fri 10:00 am
All information available here: Blog and Facebook page

What: La gestion des déchets nucléaires et le Bien commun. Une expérience citoyenne, 5th meeting of the séminaire de casuistique Le Bien commun, les biens communs, les choses communes, la collectivisation des intérêts organized by Emanuele Coccia, Emanuele Conte, Marie-Angèle Hermitte and Paolo Napoli 
Where: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Centre d'études des norme juridiques Yan Thomas (CENJ), Salle D & M Lombard, 96 boulevard Raspail, 75006, Paris
When:  11 March 2014, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Speakers:
Marie-Angèle Hermitte, Directeur de recherche au CNRS, Directeur d’études à l’EHESS

All informations available here

The excellent 'Nouvelles du monde’, 'Au fil des revue', and 'Repères'--both Anglophone and Francophone--of the European Network on Law and Society (Réseau Européen Droit and Société) are now available.  ALWAYS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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/

The Surrey International Law Centre of the School of Law of the University of Surrey with the support of the Institute of Advanced Studies, the McCoubrey Centre of the University of Hull and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law ('BIICL') will host a two-day workshop on the identification of core standards of procedural fairness before international courts and tribunals 19 - 20 September 2014. A topical and timely subject for study, the question of procedural fairness entails the identification of fundamental principles inherent to the judicial and arbitral processes. Whilst the manifestation of such core standards of fairness will necessarily diverge according to the particular forum, the workshop aims to identify their essence with reference to the procedural issues arising in practice.
The aim of this workshop is to bring academics and practitioners together to initiate ground-breaking research into this novel topic. The workshop employs a comparative approach whereby participants will analyse the procedures and practices of various international courts and tribunals. It aims to identify patterns of commonality and divergence in the core standards of procedural fairness of international courts and to develop a holistic understanding of the nature of procedural fairness and the challenges to its realisation in the international judicial system.
Proposals are invited on topics relating to the aforementioned themes in addition to specific aspects of international judicial procedure. In addition, the workshop welcomes contributions on the theoretical question of the implications that fairness in international procedural law may have for general international law, such as its systemic traits, the 'humanisation' of international procedure and the responsibility of international courts and tribunals for failure to meet standards of fairness.
This call is directed to academics at all career stages who wish to bring fresh perspectives to the workshop with established scholars and practitioners.

Submissions: Interested parties should submit an abstract of maximum 500 words by the 1st of April 2014 at:http://ocs.som.surrey.ac.uk/index.php/SILC/SILC2014. Speakers will be informed of acceptance by the 1st of May, 2014 and will be expected to submit a paper by the 1st of August, 2014. Participants will be expected to pay a fee and to cover their travel and accommodation, details of which will be announced in due course.

PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED: 15 March 2014

CALL FOR PAPERS/APPEL À COMMUNICATIONSJURIS DIVERSITASANNUAL CONFERENCE/CONGRÈS ANNUEL17 July (evening) to 19 July 2014/17 juillet (soir) au 19 juillet 2014Faculty of Law and Political Science/Faculté de droit et de science politiqueAix-Marseille University/Aix-Marseille Université - Aix-en-Provence, France
COMPARATIVE LAW AND …/LE DROIT COMPARÉ ET …

Inherently interdisciplinary, the conference’s primary focus will be comparative law’s links to a wide variety of other disciplines and themes (e.g., anthropology, economics, feminism, history, the humanities, legal education, legal philosophy, literature, politics …). Proposals may be theoretical analyses or case studies on the past or present, North or South, East or West …
Le congrès sera interdisciplinaire et explorera les liens entre le droit comparé et toute branche, discipline ou thématique des sciences humaines et sociales (anthropologie, économie, féminisme, histoire, éducation juridique, philosophie, littérature, science politique etc.). Les propositions peuvent prendre la forme d’approches théoriques ou pratiques, portant sur le passé ou le présent, le Nord ou le Sud, l’Orient ou l’Occident…
Proposals may be in either English or in French. Any proposal on comparative law will be considered. Panel proposals are strongly encouraged, as is the participation of doctoral students and scholars from outside of the discipline of law. Proposals of circa 250 words (or 1000 words for panel proposals) should be submitted to Olivier Moréteau at moreteau@lsu.edu by 28 February 2014. Please attach a short biography or resume.
Toute proposition portant sur le droit comparé, en anglais ou en français, sera considérée. Les offres de table ronde sont bienvenues, de même que la participation de doctorants et d’universitaires non juristes. Les propositions de 250 mots environ (ou 1000 mots pour une proposition de table ronde) sont à envoyer à Olivier Moréteau (moreteau@lsu.edu) avant le 28 février 2014. Merci de joindre une biographie ou un bref CV.
Registration fees are €200 (€125 for Juris Diversitas members paid up for 2014). Membership information and information on fee payment is available on the Juris Diversitas Blog (http://jurisdiversitas.blogspot.ie/).  Note that registration fees don’t cover travel, accommodation, or the conference dinner (€50).
Les droits d’inscription sont de €200 (€125 pour les membres de Juris Diversitas à jour de leur cotisation pour 2014). Les informations pratiques sont disponibles sur http://jurisdiversitas.blogspot.ie/.  Les droits ne couvrent pas les frais de voyage et de logement, ni le banquet du congrès (€50).

PhD Top Up Scholarship - Law Reform and Development in Plural Legal Regimes

Job No: 3018561

Area: TC Beirne School of Law
Salary (FTE): Research Scholar BAND
Work type: Full Time - Scholar
Location: St Lucia

TC Beirne School of Law



Generous PhD Top Up Scholarship: A PhD candidate is being sought to research the issues raised by legal pluralism. The project is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Project: ‘The State and Indigenous Legal Cultures: Law in Search of Legitimacy’. A top-up scholarship is offered to students who successfully secure a fully funded national or international scholarship and are enrolled through the TC Beirne School of Law to do a PhD.

The TC Beirne School of Law is one of the largest Schools of this type in Australia with 34 full-time academic staff who are widely published internationally and have extensive research backgrounds. It is a vibrant, multidisciplinary School with extensive teaching and research programs. The School has a strong international research profile with active Research Centres across its fields of expertise.


The role: This PhD project will work on issues raised by legal pluralism and will explore in detail the uncertainties and tensions which arise between very different systems of law in practice. It will also examine the broader issues that occur from legal pluralism. The focus area for the project will be the South Pacific with the studentship located at The University of Queensland's St Lucia campus within The Centre for Public International and Comparative Law.

The person: The successful candidate will have a 1st class Honours degree (or equivalent) in the field of Law, with a strong interest in comparative law and legal pluralism.

Remuneration: The Top Up Scholarship is for approximately $6,000 for 2 years in the first instance, with the possibility of further funding. Students must already hold, or obtain an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) at UQ (or equivalent scholarship). Research expenses associated with the project will be covered.

Enquiries: High-calibre candidates interested in this position, contact Professor Jennifer Corrin j.corrin@law.uq.edu.au. All applicants must supply the following documents: Cover letter, Resume and a one page expression of interest detailing their experience and interests.

Applications close on 9 March 2014

TRACING ELIGIBILITIES:Moralities, performances, practices
Convenors: Heike Drotbohm (Albert-Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg) and Julia Eckert (University of Bern)
The network "anthropology of Law and Rights" calls for papers on eligibility as an ethnographic field, which combines moralities, performances, and social practices:
The politics of 'eligibility' refer to imaginations of deservingness and vulnerability. In this panel we will bring together papers, which trace moralities, performances and practices of eligibility in different institutional contexts and from different actors' perspectives. The creation (and disolution) of eligibility can be understood as a dialogical moment of collaboration between state bureaucrats, lawyers, medical assessors, aid organizations, witnesses, and the applicants/potential claimants/candidates themselves, in which the credibility of certain stories, the authenticity of persons, and 'truth' is judged. We enquire into the criteria mobilized by different actors for creating eligibility and into the determination of evidence for justifying decisions on eligibility. We are interested in understanding the ways in which different actors come to imagine 'the vulnerable other', in how ideas of eligibility respond to historical shifts, are adapted, and how their relation to ideas of a body politic is assessed from different perspectives. We would also like to understand how apparent non- or misunderstandings as well as failures or refusals are interpreted from different points of view. Last but not least, we ask what kind of dilemmas and methodological challenges do ethnographers face when researching eligibility from different angles? This panel seeks papers drawing from anthropological fieldwork, which trace eligibilities refering to individual (e.g. access to territory/residence/citizenship, access to health/medical care, protection from violence, financial support) or collective bodies (e.g. collective rights, humanitarian aid).

It is a great pleasure to inform you of the publication of the latest issue of Trade, Law and Development (Vol. 5, No.1) [TL&D]. This issue is a Special Issue on India & The World Economic Order and deals with a wide range of topics, from investment treaties of India to its pharmaceutical policies . The issue and its contents can be accessed online on our website here 
The Contents of this Special Issue are as follows:

I. EditorialsA Bittersweet Celebration
Shashank P Kumar, Meghana Sharafudeen, Yogesh Pai

First Generation Indian External Sector Reforms In Context
Raj Bhala


II.  ArticlesTrade, Development and Competition Law: India and Canada Compared
Aditya Bhattacharjea

‘Naming, Shaming and Filing’: Harnessing Indian Capacity for WTO Dispute Settlement
James J. Nedumpara

India’s Twin Concerns over Energy Security and Climate Change: Revisiting India’s Investment Treaties through a Sustainable Development Lens
Vyoma Jha

India’s Pharmaceutical Innovation Policy: Developing Strategies for Developing Country Needs
Swaraj Paul Barooah
III. Notes and CommentsFDI in Multi-Brand Retail Trading and India’s Bilateral Investment Treaties
Prabhash Ranjan
We would be extremely grateful if you could publish the call for the same on your blog, Juris Diversitas in the form of an announcement.
Thanking You,Thomas J. VallianethManaging Editor | Trade, Law and Development.

Abstract:By an exclusive choice-of-court agreement the parties to a contract may avoid the imperative provisions of a country whose courts would have jurisdiction in the absence of such an agreement. A comparative survey shows that the reactions of the deselected courts differ considerably in European countries. While some courts accept their deselection, others invoke the overriding mandatory character of the provisions they would have enforced in order to disregard the choice-of-court agreement. The article discusses the proper approach under the recast version of the Brussels I Regulation, under other emerging international rules and under national law. It distinguishes the deselection of a forum from the deselection of a national law and advocates the recognition of forum selection clauses even where they lead the non-application of mandatory laws of the deselected forum.
Prof Jürgen Basedow : Director of Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
To download this paper, please click here.

AIX MARKS THE SPOT!

If you're planning on being with us at the Juris Diversitas Conference in Aix, let us know on our Facebook Event Page.
Oh, and a Happy Carnival Season (Mardi Gras, etc) to all!!