Comparative Law News

(Source: MPI for European Legal History)
The Max Planck Research Group “Translation and Transitions. Legal Practice in 19th Century Japan, China, and the Ottoman Empire” invites researchers of related fields to work with the group for a period of 1-3 months in the calendar year 2020.
The research group has started its work in 2017. Its aim is to compare the legal transformations that took place in 19th and early 20th century Japan, China and the Ottoman Empire. Even though not being colonized, all three countries faced the pressure to adopt Western standards.
Applications are possible for researchers of any stage, starting from advanced PhD students who have been working on their project for at least two years. 
Please contact for further information the head of the research group Dr. Lena Foljanty (foljanty@rg.mpg.de). If you are interested in this program, please send a description of your project (2-3 pages) and a CV before 31st May 2019 to the same email address.
(Source: MPI for European Legal History)

(image source: Blogger)
Abstract:Le droit international et sa doctrine sont en pleine crise existentielle. C’est à leur chevet que se porte ce recueil d’articles signés par Anne Peters. Il faut repenser le droit international, écrit-elle. Pour cela, cependant, il faut repartir des fondamentaux, c’est-à-dire de l’épistémologie. Ici, les qualités et l’érudition de l’auteure comme internationaliste, constitutionnaliste et comparatiste apportent un regard original et très riche qui revisite non seulement le droit international mais également la manière dont il se pense. En particulier, l’auteure se livre à une critique des critiques faites au modernisme. S’il y a de vrais apports de la part de la critique post-moderne, elle y voit également des limites, contradictions et exagérations. Il faudrait donc tenir compte de ce mouvement pour le dépasser pour un « post-postmodernisme » qui emprunte ce qu’il y a de bon dans les divers courants de doctrine(s). Deux des directions proposées sont une nouvelle approche du constitutionnalisme mondial et une reformulation du droit international fondée sur le respect des droits de la personne humaine.(source: International Law Reporter)

(image source: Cambridge Core)
Abstract:
This paper is concerned with how law organises and controls space. It offers a new history of enclosure in the context of early English colonialism. By drawing this connection, the paper opens up new lines of enquiry into how law organises and produces space at both the domestic and international scale.Read more on Cambridge Core.

(Source: Amazon)
Prospecta Press has published a new book on the (defunct) oldest law school of the US, the Litchfield Law School.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this well-researched and engaging book, Paul DeForest Hicks makes a convincing case that the Litchfield Law School provided the most innovative and successful legal education program in the country for almost fifty years (1784-1833). A recent history of the Harvard Law School acknowledged, “In retrospect, both Harvard and Yale have envied Litchfield’s success and wished to claim it as their ancestor.”
Upwards of twelve hundred bright and ambitious students came from all over the country to study law at Litchfield with Tapping Reeve and James Gould, who took a national rather than state perspective in their lectures on the evolving principles of American common law.
In every year from 1791 to 1860, there were law school alumni, including Aaron Burr and John C. Calhoun, who served at high levels in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal and state governments. Hicks gives fascinating details about many who succeeded as lawyers and in public office but also in the fields of business, finance, education, art and the military. Whether they practiced law or pursued other careers, their collective achievements continued to enhance the prestige of the Litchfield Law School long after it closed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul DeForest Hicks is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School. After practicing law in Denver, Colorado, he returned to New York where he joined J.P. Morgan. Retiring as a Managing Director after more than thirty years with JPM, he began a third career as a writer. 
More info here

(image source: univ-droit)
Abstract:« Tout fait quelconque de l’homme, qui cause à autrui un dommage, oblige celui par la faute duquel il est arrivé à le réparer ». Cet article 1384 du code civil français, devenu l’article 1240 en 2016, est un texte d’anthologie, sans doute le plus célèbre en matière de responsabilité. Notion cardinale du droit dans nombre de traditions nationales, la responsabilité ne concerne pas que le droit civil. Elle irrigue autant les autres branches du droit – pénal, administratif ou constitutionnel – au sein desquelles elle n’a cessé d’occuper une place grandissante. La responsabilité n’a pas qu’un présent riche et un avenir fructueux. Elle a aussi un long passé, qui, en dépit des brillants travaux historiques qui lui ont déjà été consacrés dans différentes langues, recèle beaucoup de zones d’ombre. C’est à jeter des éclairages nouveaux qu’une soixantaine de savants se sont essayés lors des mémorables Journées Internationales de la Société d’Histoire du Droit tenues à Tours en 2017. Le présent recueil livre au lecteur l’essentiel de ces contributions, espérant combler des lacunes dans la connaissance scientifique et susciter des pistes de recherches nouvelles.See here for table of contents and publisher's website.
(source: univ-droit)

Book abstract:
The aim of this collection is to illustrate the pervasive influence of humanist rhetoric on early-modern literature and philosophy. The first half of the book focuses on the classical rules of judicial rhetoric. One chapter considers the place of these rules in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, while two others concentrate on the technique of rhetorical redescription, pointing to its use in Machiavelli's The Prince as well as in several of Shakespeare's plays, notably Coriolanus. The second half of the book examines the humanist background to the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. A major new essay discusses his typically humanist preoccupation with the visual presentation of his political ideas, while other chapters explore the rhetorical sources of his theory of persons and personation, thereby offering new insights into his views about citizenship, political representation, rights and obligations and the concept of the state.Read more on Cambridge Core.

The scientific association Standen en Landen/Anciens Pays et Assemblées d'Etats presents the 113rd volume in its collection on Friday 24 May 2019 at the Coudenberg Palace, where Charles V abdicated in 1555.

The event consists of a lecture by Gilles Lecuppre (UCLouvain/Nanterre), a free tour of the remains of the palace and a reception.

Mandatory registration with info@aspeditions.be.

More information on the event here. See also publisher's website.

(source: Standen en Landen/Anciens Pays et Assemblées d'États)

(image source: European Society for History of Law)
ARTICLESChristian Neschwara: „Zum immerwährenden Gedenken an die Ausrufung des Freistaates“: Das Selbstbild der (deutsch-)österreichischen Republik 1918/19 und seine Verdrängung  Martin Paar: Zur Geschichte des österreichischen Weinrechts von 1907 bis 1985  Thomas Gergen: Entscheidungsfindung auf kommunaler Ebene vor 80 Jahren – Mobilmachung 1939 im Landkreis Saarlouis Malte Wilke, Stefan Segerling: Politisierte Beleidigungsprozesse in der Weimarer Republik Martin Löhnig: Die norwegische Verfassung von 1814 in der deutschen Verfassungspublizistik des 19. Jahrhunderts Javier Belda Iniesta, Michela Coretti: The Clementines Dispendiosam and Saepe Contingit and the Evolution of the Medieval Summary Procedure Dmitry Poldnikov: Two Divergent Approaches to Comparative Legal Studies in Europe and Their Implications for Legal History Bartosz Kamil Truszkowski: Registration of Civil Status in the Second Polish Republic (1918 – 1939) Karol Siemaszko: Criminals and Criminality on the so–called Recovered Territories (Poland) after the End of WW II (1945 – 1950) in the Light of Judicature of the Selected Polish Regional Courts József Szalma: Die Kodifikationsentwicklung des Zivilrechts in Serbien – insbesondere über den Vorentwurf des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches und über das neue Handelsgesetzbuch der Republik Serbien Pavel Salák: The Dating of Last Wills in the Territory of the Czech Lands from the 19th to the 21st CenturyPál Sáry: The Ancient Roman Pollicitatio and a Similar Hungarian Legal Institution  Kinga Beliznai Bódi: Judicial Robe. The Insignia of the Judicial Profession  Jenő Szmodis: Some Newer Views to the Problems of the Hungarian Holy Crown and Holy Crown-Doctrine. (Considerations from Historical and Legal Historical Aspects) Árpád Olivér Homicskó: The History of the Hungarian Social Security Regulation until the Present DayZoltan J. Toth: The Last Three Decades of Capital Punishment in Hungary: The Process of Abolition between 1961 – 1990 Katalin Siska: “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing, it is against nature.” A Review of the Evolution of Women’s Rights since the Establishment of the Republic of Turkey Barbara Ellen Logan: Pedagogy and Punishment: Distinguishing Between Erudire and Iniuria in Roman Education and Law Thomas Gergen: Le concile de Charroux (989) et les coutumes du comté de la Marche: A la recherche des mécanismes de règlement de conflits  BOOKDiemut Majer, Wolfgang Höhne: Europäische Einigungsbestrebungen vom Mittelalter bis zur Gründung der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (EWG) 1957 – Teil IV. 
BOOK REVIEWSCosmin Sebastian Cercel: Towards a Jurisprudence of State Communism: Law and the Failure of Communism  Siegfried Hanke / Rainer Vogel (Hg.): Urbar Freudenthal / Bruntál 1604. Urbar der Herrschaft Freudenthal / Bruntál von 1618 Bernd Rüthers: Die unbegrenzte Auslegung Peter Landau: Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte im Kontext Europas. Vierzig Aufsätze in vier JahrzehntenJoão Nuno Pereira, Jochen Zenthöfer: Einführung in das luxemburgische Recht Markus Gehrlein: Franz Schäfer – Ein Juristenleben vom Kaiserreich bis zum Bonner Grundgesetz Silke von Lewinski / Heinz Wittmann (Hg.): Urheberrecht! Festschrift für Hon.-Prof. Dr. Michel M. Walter zum 80. Geburtstag Stephan Meder (Hg.): Geschichte und Zukunft des Urheberrechts
REPORTS FROM HISTORY OF LAWBericht zum Symposium für Hans Jürgen Becker zum Thema Deutscher Bund und nationale Rechtseinheit an der Universität Regensburg am 21. und 22. März 2019Christian Neschwara: „Zum immerwährenden Gedenken an die Ausrufung des Freistaates“: Das Selbstbild der (deutsch-)österreichischen Republik 1918/19 und seine Verdrängung  Martin Paar: Zur Geschichte des österreichischen Weinrechts von 1907 bis 1985  Thomas Gergen: Entscheidungsfindung auf kommunaler Ebene vor 80 Jahren – Mobilmachung 1939 im Landkreis Saarlouis Malte Wilke, Stefan Segerling: Politisierte Beleidigungsprozesse in der Weimarer Republik Martin Löhnig: Die norwegische Verfassung von 1814 in der deutschen Verfassungspublizistik des 19. Jahrhunderts Javier Belda Iniesta, Michela Coretti: The Clementines Dispendiosam and Saepe Contingit and the Evolution of the Medieval Summary Procedure Dmitry Poldnikov: Two Divergent Approaches to Comparative Legal Studies in Europe and Their Implications for Legal History Bartosz Kamil Truszkowski: Registration of Civil Status in the Second Polish Republic (1918 – 1939) Karol Siemaszko: Criminals and Criminality on the so–called Recovered Territories (Poland) after the End of WW II (1945 – 1950) in the Light of Judicature of the Selected Polish Regional Courts József Szalma: Die Kodifikationsentwicklung des Zivilrechts in Serbien – insbesondere über den Vorentwurf des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches und über das neue Handelsgesetzbuch der Republik Serbien Pavel Salák: The Dating of Last Wills in the Territory of the Czech Lands from the 19th to the 21st CenturyPál Sáry: The Ancient Roman Pollicitatio and a Similar Hungarian Legal Institution  Kinga Beliznai Bódi: Judicial Robe. The Insignia of the Judicial Profession  Jenő Szmodis: Some Newer Views to the Problems of the Hungarian Holy Crown and Holy Crown-Doctrine. (Considerations from Historical and Legal Historical Aspects) Árpád Olivér Homicskó: The History of the Hungarian Social Security Regulation until the Present DayZoltan J. Toth: The Last Three Decades of Capital Punishment in Hungary: The Process of Abolition between 1961 – 1990 Katalin Siska: “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing, it is against nature.” A Review of the Evolution of Women’s Rights since the Establishment of the Republic of Turkey Barbara Ellen Logan: Pedagogy and Punishment: Distinguishing Between Erudire and Iniuria in Roman Education and Law Thomas Gergen: Le concile de Charroux (989) et les coutumes du comté de la Marche: A la recherche des mécanismes de règlement de conflits  BOOKDiemut Majer, Wolfgang Höhne: Europäische Einigungsbestrebungen vom Mittelalter bis zur Gründung der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (EWG) 1957 – Teil IV. 
BOOK REVIEWSCosmin Sebastian Cercel: Towards a Jurisprudence of State Communism: Law and the Failure of Communism  Siegfried Hanke / Rainer Vogel (Hg.): Urbar Freudenthal / Bruntál 1604. Urbar der Herrschaft Freudenthal / Bruntál von 1618 Bernd Rüthers: Die unbegrenzte Auslegung Peter Landau: Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte im Kontext Europas. Vierzig Aufsätze in vier JahrzehntenJoão Nuno Pereira, Jochen Zenthöfer: Einführung in das luxemburgische Recht Markus Gehrlein: Franz Schäfer – Ein Juristenleben vom Kaiserreich bis zum Bonner Grundgesetz Silke von Lewinski / Heinz Wittmann (Hg.): Urheberrecht! Festschrift für Hon.-Prof. Dr. Michel M. Walter zum 80. Geburtstag Stephan Meder (Hg.): Geschichte und Zukunft des Urheberrechts
REPORTS FROM HISTORY OF LAWBericht zum Symposium für Hans Jürgen Becker zum Thema Deutscher Bund und nationale Rechtseinheit an der Universität Regensburg am 21. und 22. März 2019


(source: dr. Jaromir Tauchen/European Society for History of Law)

Second conference, Bordeaux, March 13th, 2020

« Pedagogic  Content  and  Goals of  Legal  Education  Outside  National Borders »
Organisation
Silvia Falconieri (chargée de recherches CNRS, IMAF) : silviafalconieri@gmail.comCatherine Fillon (professeur, Université Jean MoulinLyon III) : catherine.fillon@univ-lyon3.frLaetitia Guerlain (maître de conférences, Université de Bordeaux) : laetitia.guerlain@u- bordeaux.frFlorence Renucci (directrice de recherches CNRS, IMAF) : florence.renucci@univ-amu.fr
For the secondconference (Bordeaux, March 13th, 2020),proposals shall be sent to the four convenors with a brief résumé,no later than sept. 1st, 2019. Answers shall be given to the candidates by oct. 15th).
Argument
These past few decades, French historiography has made important progress regarding the history of legal education. A Société pour l’histoire des facultés de droit was foundedin 1983, allowing the development and coordination of research in this specific field. Despite thisprogress, the history of legal educationhas, for a long time, remained a mere historyof ideas and schools of thought, and has only considered law schools as a mere structure enablingideas to emergeand develop. More recently however, French historiography has paid more attention to the law schools themselves, in the perspective of a socialhistory. Studies have been publishedabout the functioning of law schools,their staff, theirstudents or theirbudget. Such studiesalready existed in otherfields of highereducation (Charles, 2004 ; Picard,2007 ; Singaravelou, 2009 ; Ferté et Barrera, 2010), but legal historians have only recently engaged in them. This historiographical turn is sometimes linkedwith the currentdebates regarding globallaw and the transformations of French legal education (Ancel et Heuschling, 2016 ; Jaminet Van Caeneghem, 2016).
This renewal of research led legal historians to investigate, for example, the birth of legal disciplines and the carriers of law professors. A database of 600 lawprofessors (1804-1950) called Siprojuris has been launchedon line a few years ago, underthe supervision of Catherine Fillon. This important collective work has openednew perspectives for the social history of legal elites. It has also made intellectual portraits easier. One must also mention the creation, in 2008, of a European networkdedicated to the history of legal education(Réseau européen pour l’histoire de l’enseignement du droit).
Thus, the progress of the history of legal education in the contemporary era has been substantial. This cycle of conferences intends to build on this dynamism to address a phenomenon that has notbeen investigated enoughso far : the history of legal education outside national borders in the 19th and 20th centuries. Even if the 19th and 20th centuries are undeniably a time of nationalisation of law and its teaching(compared, for instance, to the Middle Ages or the Modern Times), they also are a time of spreading of the French academic world (Audren et Halpérin, 2013).
-          Firstly, in thecontext of militaryor colonial expansion, mainland France triedto duplicate its legaleducation system withinnew institutions (creation of law schoolsin countries that fell under the rule of the Napoleonian Empire ; law schools in the colonies (Alger or Hanoï, for instance) ; law schoolsin eastern countriessuch as Egypt or Lebanon,etc.).
-          Secondly, outside those authoritarian contexts, many law professors, especially from the 1920s-1930s onward, travelled abroadin order to promote Frenchlegal culture (lectures, lessons in many cultural institutes, etc.).
Therefore, this transnational approach of legal education intendsto address three issues that have recently emerged : the raise of a transnational historyof education in other fieldsthan law ; the historiographical turn towards global or connected history ; the current reflection on global legal education. We are very much interested in inviting foreigncolleagues that could enlighten us about similar experiments in their own countries, thus making comparison possible. This research programm will be developed within 3 conferences :
1)      Lyon, November 22nd, 2018 : « Places and Shapes of Legal Education Outside National Borders».
This first colloquium intends to understand better the structures of legal education outside national borders. We know that in the colonies, the French state has sometimes created law schools similarto those existingin metropolitan France.Yet, in the most numerouscases, France had to be more inventive in territories that did not abdicate their sovereignty, especially when other countries intended to promote their own legal cultures in such places. This first meeting will seek to sketch the multiple forms that legal education can take depending on the context (lectures, creation of law schools, creation of cultural institutes, control on local institutions already existing, etc.). With what partners and with what money was France able to promoteits legal education system ?
2)      Bordeaux, March 13th, 2020: « Pedagogic Content andGoals of LegalEducation Outside National Borders ».
This second symposium will specifically addressthe question of the contentand goals of law courses outside national borders. What are the purposes of such teachings depending on the local context ? (educating local elites ? making French students familiar with local law ? promoting French legal culture in occupied countries ? etc.). For example, do law professors teach French civil law the same way in the coloniesand in cultural institutes ? Do they adapt the pedagogic content of their teachings accordingto the kind of studentsthey address ?
3)      Aix-Marseille, 2021 : « The Actors of Legal Education Outside National Borders».
This last colloquium will question the actors of legal education outside national borders, namely professors and students. As for law professors, the main questionwill be aboutthe reasons of their exile, be it temporary or long-lasting. For what reasonsdoes a law professor choose to go abroad to teach ? For materialreasons ? Intellectual reasons ? Ideological ones ? What does this experience abroad teach us about those scholars ? Is it a sign of theiropenmindedness ? Does is have an influence on their way of teaching law ? Does it bear a political meaning ? As for law students, prosopography studies would be very welcome. Students’ migrations can do a lot for the circulation of knowledge. They can also put the states’ stabilityto risk.

Bibliography
COLL., Actes des Étatsgénéraux de la recherche surle Droit et la Justice, Paris, Lextenso, 2018, voir en particulier les articles de la partie« professions juridiques et judiciaires ».
ANCEL (P.) et HEUSCHLING (L.) (dir.), La transnationalisation de l’enseignement du droit, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2016.
AUDREN (F.) et HALPERIN (J.-L.), Laculture juridique française entre mythes et réalités, XIXe-XXe siècles, Paris, CNRS éd., 2013.
AUDREN (F.), « Alma Mater sous le regard de l’historien du droit. Cultures académiques, formation des éliteset identités professionnelles », in KRYNEN (J.) et D’ALTEROCHE (B.) (dir.), L’histoire du droit en France. Nouvelles tendances, nouveaux territoires, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2014, p. 145-172.
BASTIER (J.), « L’enseignement du droit à Alger de 1879 à 1914 », in NELIDOFF (Ph.) (dir.), Les facultés de droit de province au XIXe siècle, tome 1, Bilan et perspectives de la recherche, Toulouse, Presses de l’Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, 2009, p.519-542.
CHARLE (Ch.), « Enseignement supérieur et expansioninternationale (1870-1930). Des instituts pour un nouvel empire ? », in HEILBRON (J.), LENOIR (R.) et SAPIRO(G.) (dir.), Pour unehistoire des sciences sociales.Hommage à PierreBourdieu, Paris, Fayard,2004, p. 323-347.
CHARLE (Ch.), SCHRIEWER (J.) et WAGNER (P.) (dir.), Transnational Intellectual Networks. Forms of AcademicKnowledge and the Search for Cultural Identities, Francfort, New York, Campus, 2004.
DE MARI (E.), FABRE (M.), RENUCCI (F.), Cours d’histoire du droit colonial, UNJF (en ligne), leçon 10 « De la connaissance à la réorganisation du droit ».
FALCONIERI (S.), « Le « droit de la race ». Apprendre l’antisémitisme à la Faculté de droit deParis (1940-1944) », Clio@themis. Revue électronique d’histoire du droit, n° 7, 2014(en ligne).
FERTE (P.) et BARERRA (C.) (dir.), Étudiants de l’exil. Migrations internationales et universitésrefuges (XVIe-XXe  s.), Toulouse, Pressesuniversitaires du Mirail, 2010.
FILLON (C.), « L’enseignement du droit, instrument et enjeu de la diplomatie culturelle française. L’exemple de l’Égypte au débutdu XXe siècle », Mil neuf cent.Revue d’histoire intellectuelle, n° 29[La Belle Époque des juristes. Enseigner le droit dans la République], 2011/1, p. 123-144.
FILLON (C.), « Le Jésuite, l’Universitaire et le Politique : stratégies de recrutement du corps enseignant de l’École Française de droit de Beyrouth (1913-1939) », in GAVEN (J.-C.)et AUDREN (F.) (dir.), Les facultés de droit de province aux XIXe et XXe siècles, tome 3, Les conquêtes universitaires, Toulouse,Presses Universitaires de Toulouse1 Capitole, 2011, p. 115-138.



GAILLARD (A.-M.) et (J.), Les enjeux des migrations scientifiques internationales. De la quête du savoir à la circulation des compétences, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1999.
GONZALEZ (C.), « Education and Empire : Colonial Universities in Mexico, Indiaand the United States », Researchand Occasional Paper Series, CSHE-Berkeley, 2014 (en ligne).
HALARY (Ch.),Les exilés du savoir.Les migrations scientifiques internationales et leursmobiles,Paris, L’Harmattan, 1994.
HALPERIN (J.-L.) (dir.), Paris, capitale juridique (1804-1950). Études de socio-histoire sur la Faculté de droit de Paris, Paris, Éditions rue d’Ulm, 2011.
JAMIN (Ch.) et VAN CAENEGEM (W.) (dir.), The Internationalisation of Legal Education, Switzerland, Springer, 2016.
Outre-Mers. Revued’histoire, t. 105, n° 394-395 [Enseignement supérieur et universités dans les espaces coloniaux : histoire, comparaisons (du XIXe siècle aux indépendances)], 2017, coordonné par Hélène CHARTON et Marc MICHEL.
PICARD (E.), « Étudiants et enseignants : du dossier individuel à la prosopographie », Revue administrative, 2007, p. 55-58 (en ligne sur HAL).
PONTHOREAU(M.-Cl.) (dir.), La dénationalisation de l’enseignement juridique. Comparaisonsdes pratiques, Paris, Institut Universitaire Varenne, coll. « Colloques & Essais », 2016.SINGARAVELOU (P.), « L’enseignement supérieur colonial. Un état des lieux », Histoire del’éducation, 122/2009, p. 71-92
RENUCCI (F.) (dir.), Dictionnaire des juristes ultramarins (XVIIIe-XXe  siècles), rapport de recherche GIP « Mission de recherche Droit et Justice », 2012.
TRONCHET (G.), Savoirs en diplomatie. Une histoire socialeet transnationale de la politique universitaire internationale de la France (années 1870-années 1930), thèse de doctoraten histoire contemporaine, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2014.
SCIENTIFIC BOARD
Frédéric Audren (directeur de recherches CNRS, École de droit de Sciences Po) Isabelle Giraudou (professeur associée, Université de Tokyo)Jean-Louis Halpérin (professeur, ENS)Béatrice Jaluzot (maître de conférences, Sciences Po Lyon) Emmanuelle Picard (maître de conférences, ENS Lyon) Guillaume Tronchet (chercheur affilié à l’IHMC, ENS-Paris 1)

(Source: Princeton University Press)
Princeton University Press has published a newly edited edition of Thomas Jefferson’s Legal Commonplace Book.
ABOUT THE BOOK
As a law student and young lawyer in the 1760s, Thomas Jefferson began writing abstracts of English common law reports. Even after abandoning his law practice, he continued to rely on his legal commonplace book to document the legal, historical, and philosophical reading that helped shape his new role as a statesman. Indeed, he made entries in the notebook in preparation for his mission to France, as president of the United States, and near the end of his life. This authoritative volume is the first to contain the complete text of Jefferson’s notebook. With more than 900 entries on such thinkers as Beccaria, Montesquieu, and Lord Kames, Jefferson’s Legal Commonplace Book is a fascinating chronicle of the evolution of Jefferson’s searching mind.

Jefferson’s abstracts of common law reports, most published here for the first time, indicate his deepening commitment to whig principles and his incisive understanding of the political underpinnings of the law. As his intellectual interests and political aspirations evolved, so too did the content and composition of his notetaking.

Unlike the only previous edition of Jefferson’s notebook, published in 1926, this edition features a verified text of Jefferson’s entries and full annotation, including essential information on the authors and books he documents. In addition, the volume includes a substantial introduction that places Jefferson’s text in legal, historical, and biographical context.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
David Thomas Konig is professor of law and professor emeritus of history at Washington University in St. Louis. Michael P. Zuckert is the Nancy R. Dreux Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame University.
More information here

(image source: Les belles lettres)
Book abstract:
Au début des années 1880, le Japon est traversé par un vaste mouvement démocratique réclamant une constitution et les libertés fondamentales. Le journaliste et penseur Nakae Chômin (1847-1901) y joue un rôle majeur. En 1874, Chômin traduit Du contrat social en japonais avant de le faire en chinois classique, en 1882-1883, sous le titre Min.yaku yakkai (Traduction commentée du Contrat social). Cette traduction sera l’un des livres de chevet des démocrates japonais des années 1880 ainsi que des réformateurs chinois en 1898. Dans cette œuvre, Chômin réussit à expliquer nombre d’idées complètement nouvelles en vidant les notions du confucianisme de leur sens usuel pour leur donner celles du Contrat social. À ce titre, le Min.yaku yakkai n’a pas été une traduction mais bien une réinvention. Chômin utilisa le chinois classique pour traduire d’autres textes (Constitution française de 1793, Déclaration d’indépendance américaine) et écrire de courts essais, tous inclus ici, qui témoignent de son souci de penser la transition vers une société nouvelle, faire connaître Rousseau et promouvoir les droits du peuple.
On the author:
Nakae Chômin est l'un des principaux penseurs du Japon moderne et contemporain. Journaliste et fondateur d’une école d’études françaises, il a été surnommé le « Rousseau de l’Orient » pour son engagement dans le Mouvement pour les libertés et les droits du peuple (Jiyû minken undô), dans les années 1880, et aussi pour ses traductions du Contrat social, du Discours sur les sciences et les arts. Ces dernières ne constituent qu’une partie d’un important travail de traduction, qui fait de Nakae un précurseur dans l’acquisition de la philosophie européenne, dont il s’est nourri lors de son séjour à Paris et Lyon en 1872-3. Il est notamment le traducteur du Fondement de la Morale d’Arthur Schopenhauer de La Morale dans la démocratie de Jules Barni. Nakae est aussi l’auteur d’un des tout premiers ouvrages de synthèse consacré à la philosophie européenne, La Quête philosophique (Rigaku kôgen, 1886). La parution en 1887 de sa fiction politique, Dialogues politiques entre trois ivrognes (Sansuijin keirin mondô, 1887), son plus grand succès éditorial, marque l’apogée de son activité. Nakae est élu à la Chambre basse lors de sa constitution en 1890, en tant que représentant du Parti libéral (Jiyûtô), mais il démissionne très vite, refusant les compromis qu’opèrent certains de ses alliés avec le gouvernement.On the translators/editors:
Eddy Dufourmont est maître de conférences en langue et civilisation japonaises à l'université de Bordeaux III. Ses recherches portent sur l'histoire intellectuelle du Japon moderne. Avec Christine Lévy il a déjà traduit, de Nakae Chômin, Dialogues politiques entre trois ivrognes (CNRS éditions, 2008). Il a récemment contribué à La Famille japonaise moderne (1868-1926). Discours et débats, ouvrage dirigé par E. Lozerand et Ch. Galan (Picquier, 2011). Jacques Joly, né en 1948, docteur en études de l’Extrême-Orient de l’université Paris 7, est philosophe de formation. Il a accompli toute sa carrière universitaire à l’université Eichi à Amagasaki. Il a publié Le Naturel selon Andô Shôeki (1996), « La recherche philosophique au Japon de l’après-guerre à nos jours » (in C. Galan et A. Gonon, Le Monde comme horizon, 2008). Ses recherches actuelles portent principalement sur la pensée et la traduction des œuvres de Maruyama Masao. 
See publisher's website for an audio sample.

(Source: Éditions de la Sorbonne)
Éditions de la Sorbonne has published a new edited collection of articles on the rise of government by written word in the Middle Ages.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Cet ouvrage propose une série d'études fondées sur des travaux de jeunes chercheurs éclairant la façon dont l'essor de l’écrit documentaire au cours d’un long XIIIe siècle a transformé en profondeur les pratiques administratives des sociétés médiévales occidentales. De la Sainte-Trinité de Caen au Mont-Cassin, de Paris au Midi toulousain, ces textes interrogent la façon dont l’écrit administratif est produit, utilisé, archivé. Écrire, est d’abord une façon d’appréhender le territoire, par l’inventaire des ressources d’une institution, par l’enquête, par l’enregistrement d’actes, renvoyant aux préoccupations propres au contrôle d’un espace éclaté, ou dans l’affirmation d’une personnalité institutionnelle. Les formes prises par ces documents administratifs et leur place dans les processus de gouvernement dépendent des hommesqui en gouvernent lagenèse, de leur conception à leur rédaction, que ces dynamiques soient collectives, comme dans l’administration du comte de Toulouse, ou individuelles, comme dans la pratique toute personnelle de l’artisan Jean Teisseire. L’objet-document ainsi produit résulte d’une stratification de pratiques évoluant dans le temps, que seule une étude codicologique minutieuse et rigoureuse peut restituer, comme dans le cas du livre-outil de Saint-Martin de Pontoise. Enfin, la dimension archivistique de l’écrit apporte un recul sur la constitution de mémoires documentaires indissociables de certaines transformations sociales de la fin du Moyen Âge. L’étude des cartulaires de Notre-Dame de Paris et des regards croisés sur la documentation de la Sainte-Chapelle, par exemple, viennent ainsi compléter notre compréhension des mécanismes d’archivage et de la fonction des archives au sein des institutions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Avant-propos
Étienne Anheim, Pierre Chastang, Laurent FellerIntroduction
Harmony DewezL'ÉCRIT AU SERVICE DE LA GESTION D’UN TERRITOIREAdministrer par l’écrit dans une grande abbaye de femmes anglo-normande. La Sainte-Trinité de Caen (XIIe-XIIIe siècles)
Catherine Letouzey-RétyS’emparer du territoire dans la Terra Sancti Benedicti. Le castrum Cervarii sous les abbés Bernard et Thomas (fin du XIIIe siècle)
Albane Schrimpf-PateyPatrimoine foncier et pratiques documentaires des chanoines de la chapelle de Saint-Piat de Chartres aux XIVe et XVe siècles
Charlotte FainOUTILS ET ACTEURS DE L’ADMINISTRATION PAR L’ÉCRITLa transformation des pratiques administratives dans le Midi toulousain (années 1230-1250)
Gaël Chenard, Gabriel PoissonAdministrer et gérer l’écrit et par l’écrit. Les pratiques scripturales de Jean Teisseire, petit entrepreneur du XIVe siècle
Mélanie Morestin-DuboisHistoire d’un outil de gestion. Enquête codicologique sur le registre 9H2 de l’abbaye de Saint-Martin de Pontoise (1328-1603)
Anne-Laure Alard-BonhoureL’ADMINISTRATION DE L’ÉCRITDes archives aux cartulaires. L’administration de l’écrit au chapitre de Notre-Dame de Paris (XIIe-XIIIe siècles)
Lucie TryoenLa force de l’écrit. Méthodes et objectifs de l’administration par l’écrit à la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris à la fin du Moyen Âge
Christophe Boucheron, Vianney Petit, Alisée RosaConclusion
Lucie TryoenBibliographieIndex des noms de lieux et d’institutionsIndex des noms de personnes
More information here

(image source: Renaud Adam/ULiège)
Presentation
Nowadays, the law is the sparkling star of a complex normative galaxy. The purpose of the law is to provide a reference point for a community while it manifests the sovereign’s will. If this situation does not entirely reflect the status of the law in the early modern period, it must be recognized that early modern lawyers like Jean Bodin did not hesitate to place the legislative power at the forefront of princely prerogative. The law is therefore a legal instrument in the service of the government of a given territory, but it is also a means of communication between rulers and subjects.
The drafting and publication of the law are two sides of the same coin. The early modern period paved the way for the printing of legislative acts and, consequently, for the wide dissemination of promulgated texts. However, there is no evidence of the vanishing of handwritten texts. In addition to the printing of new laws, in the form of placards and ordinances, we should also recognise the importance attached to more substantial customs.  Indeed, princes and sovereigns were keen to ensure that customs were repeatedly renewed and updated to reinforce the legislative corpus. With each successive round of amplifications the authorities - central, provincial or local - turned again to the printing presses.
This international conference aims to question the topic of the printing and distribution of laws in the early modern period by comparing the Habsburg Netherlands, the Dutch Republic and the Prince-Bishopric of Liege. The authorities in all three territories made extensive use of printing to ensure the rapid mass dissemination of official documents - including legislation. At the local level, for example, the arrival of the first printers in several cities is directly linked to the willingness of the municipal authorities to have a press at their disposal. The advent of the privilege system also allowed some printers to secure monopolies that they tried to transform into dynastic monopolies in order to secure substantial revenues.
While several investigations have been dedicated to this topic, it must be noted that this phenomenon has not yet received all the attention it deserves and that many issues still need to be addressed; we have thus far had an incomplete and unrepresentative perspective on the printing of laws in the early modern period.


The organizers welcome contributions on any facet of this subject. Possible themes include:
- which formats are used for printing laws? Does the layout of legislative texts meet a particular standard or not?
- Relationship between printers and authorities: What links do the authorities - central, provincial or municipal - have with printers? Can we establish an accurate profile of printers active in the field of ordinance printing? What status did these printers have in urban society? What role did these documents play in their output? What were the advantages of being an official printer? By what means was legislative production supervised and monitored by the various authorities?
- The effects of print on law-making: did the printing of laws have an influence on the decision-making process? Are explicit references to the printing of laws included in the promulgated acts themselves?
- The dissemination of the law: is it possible to trace the distribution channels? What are the roles of the different actors in the book trade? Is it possible to know the places and times of publication of printed texts?


**  *


Please submit a proposal (300 words maximum) and a CV (maximum 1 page) by 30 June 2019 to Renaud Adam (renaud.adam@uliege.be) and Nicolas Simon (n.simon@uclouvain.be). Participants will be notified by the end of August. The conference proceedings will be published in English.
Organizing Committee: Renaud Adam (ULiège), Annick Delfosse (ULiège), Julien Régibeau (ULiège), Nicolas Simon (UCL/USL-B), Arthur der Weduwen (University of St Andrews).
Scientific Committee: Renaud Adam (ULiège), Wim Decock (KUL, ULiège), Annick Delfosse (ULiège), Frederik Dhondt (VUB/UAntwerpen), Nicolas Simon (FNRS-UCL/USL-B), Andrew Pettegree (University of St Andrews), Arthur der Weduwen (University of St Andrews).

(source: Renaud Adam/ULiège)

(image source: C&F Editions)
Book abstract:
Peu connu en France, Thomas Paine fut pourtant député de la Révolution française et ardent défenseur des droits de l'homme. Après avoir été parmi les organisateurs de l'Indépendance américaine en 1776, il a rejoint Paris pour défendre, par la plume et par le verbe, les valeurs fondamentales de liberté, d'égalité et de fraternité, et leur inscription juridique dans la Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen. Guidé par sa confiance dans l'humanité, il condamne dans ses ouvrages la corruption et le pouvoir héréditaire. Il y développe l'idée d'une connaissance universelle émancipatrice. Le présent recueil contient les deux textes fondamentaux de Thomas Paine sur les droits de l'homme. Il est introduit par Peter Linebaugh, historien spécialiste des communs. Pour compléter la documentation, nous y avons joint la Déclaration universelle des droits humains de 1948, et la Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne rédigée par Olympe de Gouges. Deux petits essais permettent une mise en perspective de l'héritage et du génie visionnaire de Thomas Paine, et une découverte de sa biographie rocambolesque.More on the publisher's website.

(source: Société Française d'Etude du Dix-Huitième Siècle)

(Source: Classiques Garnier)
Classiques Garnier has published an edited collection on Medieval penal law, punishment and the human body.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Interroger la peine par son emprise sur le corps sur un temps long, telle est l’ambition de cet ouvrage qui montre que quels que soient les temps et les lieux, le corps est l’objet d’une attention constante de la peine car il permet d’objectiver le monopole répressif de la justice.
The table of contents can be found here

(image source: OUP)
Book abstract:
The language of international criminal law has considerable traction in global politics, and much of its legitimacy is embedded in apparently 'axiomatic' historical truths. This innovative edited collection brings together some of the world's leading international lawyers with a very clear mandate in mind: to re-evaluate ('retry') the dominant historiographical tradition in the field of international criminal law. Carefully curated, and with contributions by leading scholars, The New Histories of International Criminal Law pursues three research objectives: to bring to the fore the structure and function of contemporary histories of international criminal law, to take issue with the consequences of these histories, and to call for their demystification. The essays discern several registers on which the received historiographical tradition must be retried: tropology; inclusions/exclusions; gender; race; representations of the victim and the perpetrator; history and memory; ideology and master narratives; international criminal law and hegemonic theories; and more. This book intervenes critically in the fields of international criminal law and international legal history by bringing in new voices and fresh approaches. Taken as a whole, it provides a rich account of the dilemmas, conundrums, and possibilities entailed in writing historiesContents:
 1: Editors' Introduction, Immi Tallgren & Thomas Skouteris 2: Foreword, Martti Koskenniemi 3: Unprecedents, Gerry Simpson 4: Founding Moments and Founding Fathers: Shaping Publics Through the Sentimentalization of History Narratives, Kamari Clarke 5: From the Sentimental Story of the State to the Verbrecherstaat; Or, the Rise of the Atrocity Paradigm, Lawrence Douglas 6: International Criminal Justice History Writing as Anachronism, Frederic Megret 7: Redeeming Rape: Berlin 1945 and the Making of Modern International Criminal Law, Heidi Matthews 8: 'Voglio una donna!': Of Contributing to History of International Criminal Law with the Help of Women Who Perpetrated International Crimes, Immi Tallgren 9: Writing More Inclusive Histories of International Criminal Law: Lessons From the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Emily Haslam 10: The 'Africa Blue Books' at Versailles: World War I, Narrative and Unthinkable Histories of International Criminal Law, Christopher Gevers 11: Crimes Against Humanity: Racialized Subjects and Deracialized Histories, Vasuki Nesiah 12: Nazi Atrocities, International Criminal Law, and War Crimes Trials. The Soviet Union and the Global Moment of Post-World War II Justice, Franziska Exeler 13: Theodor Meron and the Humanization of International Law, Aleksi Peltonen 14: Histories of the Jewish 'Collaborator': Exile, not Guilt, Mark Drumbl(source: ESILHIL)

(Source: University of Chicago Press)
The University of Chicago Press has just published a new book on lawyers during the civil rights era.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The civil rights era was a time of pervasive change in American political and social life. Among the decisive forces driving change were lawyers, who wielded the power of law to resolve competing concepts of order and equality and, in the end, to hold out the promise of a new and better nation.
          
The Search for Justice is a look the role of the lawyers throughout the period, focusing on one of the central issues of the time: school segregation. The most notable participants to address this issue were the public interest lawyers of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, whose counselors brought lawsuits and carried out appeals in state and federal courts over the course of twenty years. But also playing a part in the story were members of the bar who defended Jim Crow laws explicitly or implicitly and, in some cases, also served in state or federal government; lawyers who sat on state and federal benches and heard civil rights cases; and, finally, law professors who analyzed the reasoning of the courts in classrooms and public forums removed from the fray. With rich, copiously researched detail, Hoffer takes readers through the interactions of these groups, setting their activities not only in the context of the civil rights movement but also of their full political and legal legacies, including the growth of corporate private legal practice after World War II and the expansion of the role of law professors in public discourse, particularly with the New Deal. Seeing the civil rights era through the lens of law enables us to understand for the first time the many ways in which lawyers affected the course and outcome of the movement.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Charles Hoffer is distinguished research professor of history at the University of Georgia and coauthor, most recently, of The Federal Courts: An Essential History.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Lawyering in the Civil Rights Era
Prologue: The Long Night of Jim Crow
1 The Road to Sweatt v. Painter
2 Brown v. Board of Education
3 Making the Case for Segregation
4 They Had a Dream
5 Whose Victory? Whose Defeat?
6 Legal Academics and Civil Rights Lawyering
Conclusion: Politics or Law? Legacies of Lawyering in the Civil Rights Era

Index
More information here

(Source: Portail universitaire du droit)

The Université Paris-Descartes is organising an international colloquium in honor of Professor Christian Chêne. Here the programme:
Programme
10h00 – Ouverture
Mme Anne Laude, professeur à l’Université Paris Descartes, doyen de la Faculté de droit, d’économie et de gestionIntroduction
M. Arnaud Vergne, professeur à l’Université Paris Descartes, directeur de l’Institut d’Histoire du Droit (EA 2515)
Première session - Exploration des fondements du droitSous la présidence de M. Vincenzo Mannino, professeur à l’Université Roma Tre, Vice-président de l’Université Roma Tre, chargé des relations avec les universités10h30 Otto Lenel et le développement d’une étude historique sur le droit romain
M. Jose Javier de Los Mozos Touya, professeur à l’Université de Valladolid11h00 Georges Boyer, une figure de la Faculté de droit de Toulouse
Mme Sophie Démare-Lafont, professeur à l’Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, directeur d’études à l’École Pratique des Hautes Études, PSL11h30 L’anthropologie du droit dans l’oeuvre d’Alain Testart
Mme Soazick Kerneis, professeur à l’Université Paris Nanterre12h00 - Débat
Deuxième session - Innovations de juristes français contemporainsSous la présidence de Mme Isabelle Urbain-Parléani, professeur à l’Université Paris Descartes, membre du CEDAG (EA 1516)14h00 Auguste-Charles Renouard (1794-1878), pionnier de la doctrine du droit d’auteur
M. Laurent Pfister, professeur à l’Université Paris II Panthéon-Sorbonne14h30 La contribution de Théophile Ducrocq au droit de l’extradition
M. Jean-Marie Augustin, professeur émérite à l’Université de Poitiers15h00 Michel Cabrillac, un juriste visionnaire
M. Dominique Legeais, professeur à l’Université Paris Descartes, directeur du CEDAG (EA 1516)15h30 - Débat et pause
Troisième session - Apports européensSous la présidence de M. Jean-Yves de Cara, professeur émérite à l’Université Paris Descartes, membre du Centre Maurice Hauriou (EA 1515)16h00 Joseph Unger, père fondateur de la science civiliste autrichienne
M. Franz-Stefan Meissel, professeur à l’Université de Vienne16h30 Notes sur le précédent en Common Law au regard de l’œuvre de William Searle Holdsworth
M. Frédéric Rideau, maître de conférences à l’Université de Poitiers17h00 Norberto Bobbio : entre positivisme juridique et histoire
M. Paolo Alvazzi Del Frate, professeur à l’Université Roma Tre, membre associé de l’Institut d’Histoire du Droit (EA 2515)
17h30 - Débat et conclusions
More information with the Portail universitaire du droit

(Source: CUP)

Cambridge University Press has published a new book on natural law thinking.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book provides the first systematic, book-length defence of natural law ideas in ethics, politics and jurisprudence since John Finnis's influential Natural Law and Natural Rights. Incorporating insights from recent work in ethical, legal and social theory, it presents a robust and original account of the natural law tradition, challenging common perceptions of natural law as a set of timeless standards imposed on humans from above. Natural law, Jonathan Crowe argues, is objective and normative, but nonetheless historically extended, socially embodied and dependent on contingent facts about human nature. It reflects the ongoing human quest to work out how best to live flourishing lives, given the natures we have and the social environments we inhabit. The nature and purpose of law can only be adequately understood within this wider context of value. Timely, wide-ranging and clearly written, this volume will appeal to those working in law, philosophy and religious studies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Crowe, Bond University, Queensland
Jonathan Crowe is Professor of Law at Bond University, Queensland. He is the author or editor of several books, including Legal Theory (3rd edition, forthcoming) and Research Handbook on Natural Law Theory (forthcoming). His work has appeared in leading international journals, including the Modern Law Review, the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Jurisprudence, Ratio Juris and Law and Critique.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IntroductionPart I. Normative Foundations:1. Normative inclinations2. Theorising human goods3. Acting for reasons4. The common good5. Rights and freedoms6. The role of the statePart II. The Nature Law:7. The natural law thesis8. Law as an artifact kind9. The function of law10. Law without authority11. Contextual interpretation12. The value of integrityConclusion.
More information here

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Abstract:
This chapter examines how the title of founder of the law of nations was bestowed upon Grotius and how the liberal internationalist interpretation of the existence of a Grotian tradition in international law came into being. It also reviews the extent to which both historical constructs have been challenged by new historical research and contemporary re-interpretations of Grotius’ works and figure. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first part accompanies the reception of Grotius by international lawyers from the time of the discovery of his De Jure Praedae in 1864 to the establishment of the Grotius Society in England during the First World War. The second part examines the revivals of Grotius among international lawyers in the aftermaths of both world wars and considers a number of Grotius-related historiographical developments during the Cold War period. The third part examines how, in recent decades, on the one hand Grotius has become more mainstreamed and further institutionalised as a global symbol of international law while on the other hand his reputation has suffered from him being labelled a handmaiden of European colonialism and exploitation. The concluding section reflects on the lasting fame of the ‘miracle of Holland’ among international lawyers and suggests that the history of international law as a research field should now take a break from Hugo Grotius.Read the fulltext on SSRN.
(source: ESILHIL Blog)