BOOK: S.C. Neff, Justice Among Nations: A History of International Law (Harvard UP, 2014)

 

Harvard UP published Stephen Neff (University of Edinburgh's) new work, an all-encompassing standard work on the history of international law. The author previously gained fame with his works on the law of neutrality (Manchester UP, 2000) and the laws of war (Cambridge UP, 2005). The 640 pages of this most recent work can be yours for € 40 (publisher's website).

Source: Legal History Blog.

NOTICE: A panoramic view of English criminal law, by Otto Vervaart, Rechtsgeschiedenis Blog

 

"In this post I look at several connected projects on the history of English criminal law. At the center of a constellation of websites are the Digital Panopticon project and the digitized Old Bailey proceedings. Sharon Howard (University of Sheffield), coordinator and webmaster of the Digital Panopticon, maintains a number of other websites, blogs and blog aggregators which can bring you to other aspects of medieval and Early Modern history", Otto Vervaart, Rechtsgeschiedenis Blog

Full text available here 

CONFERENCE: Regulae Iuris.Their roots in experience and legal logic, their practical conferences (Naples, 16-20 September 2014)

What: Regulae Iuris.Their roots in experience and legal logic, their practical conferences, 68th session of the Société Internationale Fernand de Visscher pour l'Histoire des Droits de l'Antiquité (SIHDA)

Where: University "Federico II", Department of Law, Naples, Italy

When: 16th-20th September 2014

BOOK REVIEW: Th. Deswarte (ed.), Le droit hispanique latin du VIe au XIIe siècle (Francia:Recensio 2013/4)

Recensio.net published a review by Adeline Rucquoi of Th. Deswarte (ed.), Le droit hispanique latin du VIe au XIIe siècle (Madrid: Casa de Velazquez, 2012). This collection of conference papers dating from 2009 tries to nuance stereotypes on Spanish legal history up to the reception of Roman Law and the supposed decay of society following the 711 invasion from North-Africa.

Fulltext on recensio.net.

CALL FOR PAPERS (student conference): Violence - History - Society (Freiburg, 30 May-1 June)

The History and German Studies Association at the University of Freiburg (Germany) hosts a student conference on the transversal theme "Violence - History - Society", open to all social sciences. Details (in German):

Gewalt – in ihren verschiedenen Formen, aber auch in ihrer Abwesenheit – strukturiert Gesellschaften auf vielfältige Art und Weise. Gleichzeitig beeinflusst Gewalterfahrung den Menschen unmittelbar in seiner physischen und psychischen Existenz und in seinem Verhältnis zur Umwelt. Diese Allgegenwärtigkeit der Gewalt spiegelt sich in vielen geisteswissenschaftlichen Disziplinen wider und bietet Anknüpfungspunkte für die Arbeit mit verschiedenen Fragen, Ansätzen und Fallbeispielen.
Unsere Tagung will daher den gesamten Komplex von Gewalt, Geschichte und Gesellschaft epochenübergreifend und interdisziplinär betrachten. In der gemeinsamen Diskussion wollen wir einen differenzierten Blick auf das Phänomen Gewalt entwickeln.
Der „Call for Papers“ richtet sich an Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen unterschiedlicher Fachrichtungen und bietet den Teilnehmenden die Möglichkeit, eigene Arbeiten vorzustellen und zu diskutieren. Sowohl theoretische Auseinandersetzungen als auch Arbeiten zu konkreten Gewaltausprägungen sind gewünscht.
Folgende Fragen könnten als Denkanstöße dienen:
- Wie gehen Gesellschaften mit verschiedenen Formen von Gewalt um?
- Wie und warum ändert sich die Rezeption von Gewalt?
- Ist Gewalt eine anthropologische Konstante?
- Kann Gewalt als Motor für Fortschritt wirken?
- Was ist „Nicht-Gewalt“ und was kann Friedensforschung leisten?
- Gibt es eine historische Tendenz zur Zu- oder Abnahme von Gewalt?
Falls Du Interesse hast, Deine Gedanken und Thesen vorzustellen und zu diskutieren, dann schicke uns ein Exposé (ca. 600 Wörter) Deines Vortrags (20 Minuten Redezeit). Bitte teile uns auch Deine Kontaktdaten sowie den Namen der Universität, des Studiengangs und die Semesterzahl mit.
Kontaktadresse: ggg-tagung@geschichte.uni-freiburg.de

 More information on HSozUKult.

CONFERENCE: The Animal in Legal History (Heidelberg, 2-4 April 2014)

 

The Forschungsstelle Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences organizes a conference on animals in legal history, from the Sachenspiegel to the Preussisches Landrecht.

Program (in German):
Tagungsbeginn am 2. April 2024 um 10.30 Uhr.
2. April, 10.30 Uhr: Grußworte.
1. Sektion: Zum Umgang mit Tieren – eine interdisziplinäre Annäherung
11.00 Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang U. Eckart, Universität Heidelberg: Philosophisch-kulturgeschichtliche Aspekte der Tier-Mensch-Beziehung aus medizinisch-historischer Perspektive
11.45 Prof. Dr. phil. Anja Lobenstein-Reichmann, Universitäten Göttingen und Prag: Zur Tier-Metapher im Recht
12.30 Prof. Dr. iur. Dres. h.c. Friedrich-Christian Schroeder, Universität Regensburg: Geschichte der Strafbarkeit von Tierquälerei
13.15 Mittagspause

2. Sektion: Zur Rolle der Tiere in ausgewählten Rechtsquellen
14.30 Dr. phil. Hans Höfinghoff, Ennepetal: Tiere in den frühmittelalterlichen Leges. Aus Sicht der historisch-philologischen
Bezeichnungsforschung
15.15 Dr. iur. Dietlinde Munzel-Everling, Wiesbaden: Tierdarstellungen in den Sachsenspiegel-Bilderhandschriften
16.00 Kaffeepause
16.30 Prof. Dr. phil. Michael Prosser-Schell, Universität Freiburg: Zur Rolle des Tiers in den Weistümern
17.15 Prof. Dr. iur. Inge Kroppenberg, Universität Göttingen: Römische Tierprozesse? Rechtskulturelle Aspekte der damnatio ad bestias

3. Sektion: Zivil- und öffentlich-rechtliche Aspekte im Umgang mit Tieren in Land und Stadt
3. April, 9.00 Prof. Dr. iur. Dr. hc. mult. Andreas Wacke, Universität Köln: Der Vogel Strauß als Beispiel für Gesetzesanalogie – ein Phantasma? Grenzfragen bei der römischen Tierhalterhaftung
9.45 Prof. DDr. Martin P. Schennach, Universität Innsbruck: Jagdrecht, Wilderei und „gute Policey“. Normative Ordnungsvorstellungen in der Frühen Neuzeit
10.30 Kaffeepause
11.00 Prof. Dr. iur. Hans-Georg Hermann, Universität München: Die Stellung der Tiere im Almrecht
11.45 Prof. Dr. phil. Kurt Andermann, Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe und Universität Freiburg: Das Huhn im Recht. Zinshühner im Spiegel der spätmittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Überlieferung
12.30 Mittagspause
4. Sektion: Tiere im Strafrecht: „Täter“, „Opfer“ und „Objekt“
14.30 Prof. Dr. phil. Peter Dinzelbacher, Universität Wien: Tierprozesse und Tierstrafen
15.15 Prof. Dr. iur. Stephan Meder, Universität Hannover:
Hängen von Hunden (mit Ausblick in die Spätzeit)
16.00 Kaffeepause
16.30 Prof. Dr. phil. Francisca Loetz / Dr. phil. Aline Steinbrecher, Universität Zürich: Wenn Sodomie Bestialität ist. Tierische
Kriminalität im frühneuzeitlichen Zürich
17.15 Prof. Dr. iur. Wolfgang Schild, Universität Bielefeld: Tiere und Hexerei
18.30 Stadtführung „Das Tier in der Stadt“ -

5. Sektion: Tiere und Recht in Sprache und Kunst 
4. April, 9.00 Prof. Dr. phil. Georg Scheibelreiter, Universität Wien: Tiersymbolik in der Heraldik
9.45 Prof. Dr. phil. Johannes Tripps, HTWK Leipzig: Tierdarstellungen in rechtlichen Kontexten aus kunsthistorischer Sicht
10.30 Kaffeepause
11.00 Prof. Dr. theol. Martin Jung, Universität Osnabrück: „Der Umgang mit den Tieren als Thema der frühneuzeitlichen protestantischen Theologie“
11.45 Dr. phil. Jana Jürgs, Universität Bremen: „Wo das Löwenfell nicht zureicht, muss man den Fuchspelz anziehen“: Reineke Fuchs im frühneuzeitlichen Diskurs um Recht und Gerechtigkeit
12.30 Mittagspause

6. Sektion: Ein Ausblick auf Europa
14.00 Prof. Dr. iur. Marita Giménez-Candela, Autonome Universität Barcelona: Zur Rechtsgeschichte des Tiers aus spanischer Sicht
14.45 Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kronauer, Universität Karlsruhe: Von der Grausamkeit gegen Tiere – in der französischen und deutschen Aufklärung
15.30 Schlussdiskussion
anschließend Ende der Tagung.

More information on HSozUKult.

JOURNAL: Nordic Journal of International Law

International Law Reporter signals a new issue of the Nordic Journal of International Law (LXXXIII (2014), No. 1), containing a contribution relevant to both legal theorists and historians:

Alexander Orakhelashvili, "Scelle, Schmitt, Kelsen, Lauterpacht, and the Continuing Relevance of their Inter-War Debate on Normativity.

More information: Brill online.

CONFERENCE: The Limits of Law (Toulon, 15-16 April 2014)

The University of Toulon (France) organises a conference on the margins or limits of law ("Aux limites du droit"), sponsored by the European network "Law and Society" and the CNRS. An interesting program brings together legal theorists and legal historians, organized in transversal themes ("time and space", "content and object", "external limits", "internal limits", "theoretical limits", "practical limits").

Provisional Program (in French):

Programme prévisionnel

Mardi 15 avril 2014

8h30. - Accueil des participants

9h. - Ouverture des Journées Neptune

• 10h; - Ouverture du colloque Aux limites du droit
• Allocution de Thierry Di Manno, Doyen de la Faculté de droit, Université de Toulon
• Allocution de Maryse Baudrez, Directrice du CDPC-JCE (DICE, UMR CNRS 7318), Université de Toulon
• Allocution de Jacques Commaille, Professeur émérite, ENS Cachan, co-directeur du Réseau Européen Droit et Société

• Propos introductifs de Caroline Regad-Albertin, Maître de conférences, Université de Toulon

PERSPECTIVES GÉNÉRALES 

Sous la présidence de Jean-Louis Mestre, Professeur émérite, Aix-Marseille Université

• 10h45. - Michel Van de Kerchove, Recteur honoraire et Professeur émérite, Université Saint-Louis-Bruxelles, Les limites relatives du droit
• 11h. - Antoine Bailleux, Professeur, Université Saint-Louis-Bruxelles, Avocat au Barreau de Bruxelles, Le droit sans limite.
• 11h15. - Philippe Pedrot, Professeur, Université de Toulon, Le droit à l’épreuve des limites.

11h30. - Discussion.

1re PARTIE:

DES LIMITES DU DROIT INDÉPASSABLES? 

LE TEMPS ET L’ESPACE

Sous la présidence de Jacques Commaille, Professeur émérite, ENS Cachan, co-directeur du Réseau Européen Droit et Société

• 14h. - Gaëlle Deharo, Professeur à l’ESCE International Business School, Opportunité économique et logique juridique: vers une déstabilisation des limites traditionnelles du droit?
• 14h15. - Norbert Rouland, Professeur, Aix-Marseille Université (sous réserve), La pratique en anthropologie du droit. 
• 14h30. - Nicolas Haupais, Professeur, Université d’Orléans, L'arme nucléaire, limite du droit international?
• 14h45. - François Saint-Bonnet, Professeur, Université Panthéon-Assas, L’espace public et les limites du droit.

15h. - Discussion.

15h15. - Pause.

LA MATIERE

Sous la présidence de François Saint-Bonnet, Professeur, Université Panthéon-Assas

• 15h30. - Nicole Cuttat-Papazian, Magistrate honoraire, Présidente de chambre à la cour d’appel de Paris, Aux limites du droit: l’humain.
• 15h45. - Serge Schweitzer, Aix-Marseille Université, Le juriste et l'économiste: du divorce aux retrouvailles: un itinéraire.
• 16h. - Alexis Le Quinio, Maître de conférences, Université de Toulon, L'influence normative 'd'objets juridiques non identifiés' : réflexions sur quelques exemples tirés du droit transnational.
• 16h15. - Julien Couard, Maître de conférences, Université de Toulon, De quelques ‘choses’ aux limites du droit.

16h30 : Discussion

Mercredi 16 avril 

8h30. - Accueil des participants

2e PARTIE:

DES LIMITES DU DROIT MODULABLES? 

LE SENS VISÉ

Aux limites «extérieures» du droit: l’horizon normatif

Sous la présidence d’Eric Gasparini, Professeur, Aix-Marseille Université

• 9h. - Olivier Tholozan, Maître de conférences, Aix-Marseille Université, La croyance aux limites du droit: le discours extrême dans la doctrine juridique française à partir du début du XXe siècle.
• 9h15. -)Thierry Fusaï, Médecin Général, Directeur de recherche, Directeur des études de l’Ecole de santé des Armées, Aux limites du droit: l’éthique. 
• 9h30. - Stéphane Arnaud, Avocat, Selarl Arnaud Avocats Associés, Les limites du droit ou l'équation juridique des valeurs sociétales.

9h45. - Discussion.

10h. - Pause;

LE SENS ENTRAVÉ?

Aux limites «intérieures» du droit: l’Homme, un animal politique

Sous la présidence de Thierry Fusaï, Médecin Général, Directeur de recherche, Directeur des études de l’Ecole de santé des Armées

• 10h15. - François Quastana, Maître de conférences, Aix-Marseille Université, Le règne des hommes ou la corruption comme limite du droit dans la tradition républicaine (Machiavel et Rousseau).
• 10h30. - Michel Troper, Professeur émérite, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Les contraintes juridiques et les contraintes politiques.
• 10h45. - Luc Rudolph, Directeur honoraire des services actifs de la Police Nationale, Les policiers dans la Résistance face au droit.

11h : Discussion

LE SENS DONNÉ

Aux limites théoriques du droit: réflexions sur son appréhension

Sous la présidence de Michel Troper, Professeur émérite, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense

• 14h. - Stéphane Caporal, Doyen honoraire, Professeur, Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne, Qu’est-ce qu’un argument juridique?
• 14h15. - Delphine Lanzara, ATER, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, L’interprétation et les limites du droit.
• 14h30. - Jean-Jacques Pardini, Professeur, Université de Toulon, Au carrefour des limites du droit: réflexions 'iconolâtres' sur la directive. 

14h45. - Discussion

15h. - Pause

Aux limites pratiques du droit: la plasticité globale du droit

Sous la présidence de Nicole Cuttat-Papazian, Magistrate honoraire, Présidente de chambre à la Cour d’Appel de Paris

• 15h15. - Nicolas Laurent-Bonne, Maître de conférences, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne
• Qu’est-ce que le droit notarial?
• 15h30. - Julien Pronier, Substitut du Procureur général près la cour d'appel d'Aix-en-Provence
• Le procureur hors-la-loi.
• 15h45. - Michel Nouchy, Ancien collaborateur d’avocats aux Conseils - SCP J-J. Gatineau, De l'effectivité du droit: tragi-comédie en deux actes.

16h : Discussion

EN CONCLUSION 

• 16h15. - Christian Bruschi, Professeur, Aix-Marseille Université, Avocat, SCP Bruschi et Associés, Bilan des travaux.


• 16h30. - Discours de clôture.

More information on Nomodos.

JOURNAL: Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History 21 (2013)

The Max Planck Institute for European Legal History published a new issue of Rechtsgeschichte-Legal History (available in open access).

Contents:

Recherche - Research
Milan Kulhi, "Power and Law in Enligthened Absolutism - Carl Gottlieb Svarez' Theoretical and Practical Approaches"
Thorsten Keiser, "Between Status and Contract ? Coercion in Contractual Labour Relationships in Germany from the 16th to the 20th century"
Ignacio de la Resilla del Moral, "El estudio del Derecho internacional en el corto siglo XIX español"

Taufe und Recht
Christoph H.F. Meyer, "Taufe und Recht. Einige einführende Bemerkungen"
Wolfram Brandes, "Taufe und soziale/politische Inklusion und Exklusion in Byzanz"
Christoph H.F. Meyer, "Taufe und Person im ersten Jahrtausaend. Beobachtungen zu den christlichen Wurzeln einer Grundkategorie europäischen Rechtsdenkens"
Richard Helmholz, "Baptism in the Medieval Canon Law"
Christianne Birr: "Titulus ad regnum coelorum: Zur Taufe und ihren Wirkungen in der theologisch-juristischen Argumentation der Schule von Salamanca"
Michael Sievernich, ""Baptismus barbarorum" oder christliche Initiation in der Neuen Welt Amerika (16. Jahrhundert)"

Harold Berman, Law and Revolution
Thomas Duve, "Law and Revolution - revisited"
Michael Welker,"The Early Harold Berman On "Public Opinion""
Gerhard Dilcher, "Bermans "Law and Revolution" - eine rechtshistorische Revolution ?"
Andreas Thier, "Harold Berman's "Law and Revolution" A Necessary Challenge for Legal History Research"
Thomas Vesting, "Die Suche nach einem Zeichen. Anmerkungen zum Gebrauch der Worte Revolution, Verfassung und Christentum bei Harold Berman"
Wim Decock, "Capital Confidence. Updating Harold Berman's Views on Mercantile Law and Belief Systems"
Pierre Monnet, "Usages et réceptions médiévistes de Berman: un point de vue français"
Diego Quaglioni, "The Outer and the Inner Aspects of Social Life"
Tomasz Giaro, "The East of the West. Harold J. Berman and Eastern Europe"
Alessandro Somma, "Diritto comparato e rivoluzione"
Wang Jing, "Law and Revolution in China. In memory of the 30th anniversary of Law and Revolution's Publication"
Heikki Pihlajamäki, "Berman's best pupils ? The reception of Law and Revolution in Finland"
Kristjan Oad, "Berman and Livonia - Two Prodigious Strangers"
Charles J. Reid, "Tradition in Revolution: Harold J. Berman and the Historical Understandings of the Papacy"
John Witte, jr., "Harold J. Berman as a Historian and Prophet"

Kritik/Marginalia
See website.

SEMINAR: Citizenship and Power Strategies between Middle Ages and Early Modernity (Rome, 28 February 2014)

What: Comparer des institutions: sources et mises en contextes (Europe et Maghreb du XVIII siècle), 11th meeting of the seminar Cittadinanze e strategie di potere tra Medio Evo ed Età Moderna, organized by Sara Menzinger, Giuliano Milani and Massimo Vallerani in the framework of the PIMIC Project "Power and Institutions in Medieval Islam and Christendom" (http://www.pimic-itn.eu)  

Where: Roma Tre University, Law Department, 2nd Floor, Room 278, Via Ostiense 161, Rome.

When: 28 February 2014, 3:00 pm

Speakers

Prof. Simona Cerutti, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)

Prof. Isabelle Grangaud, Institut de recherches et d'études sur le monde arabe et musulman

NOTICE: next meeting of the Edinburgh Roman Law Group (Edinburgh, 28 March 2014)

What: Between utendum dare and beneficium: thoughts on the early history of the commodatum, Meeting of the Edinburgh Roman Law Group

Where: Lorimer Room, Old College University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh

When: 28 March 2014, 5:30 pm

Speaker:

Philipp Scheibelreiter, University of Vienna / Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich

According to Alan Watson and other scholars, the history of commodatum as a real contract starts with the introduction of two formulae, one in factum and the other in ius concepta. The creation of these was necessitated by the absence of any specific legal remedies to protect the lender in a loan for use. While, according to the Twelve Tables, a depositor could use the actio ex causa depositi, the lender was not protected by any special penal action. With that said, the phenomenon of borrowing things to use them gratuitously must have existed long before the time of the late Roman Republic and must have given rise to conflict. The aim of the paper is to examine the early history of commodatum by reconsidering sources such as the comedies of Plautus where the expression utendum dare is used in different contexts. This will be done to cast light on early Roman legal practice and to explore the origins of commodatum.

BLOG: Colonial Comparative Legal History

I was recently reminded of the interesting work on Colonial Case Law being done by Bruce Kercher and Peter Bullock at Macquarie University in Australia:


This site is devoted to uncovering the hidden case law of the British empire's colonial courts. The overall aim is to encourage the development of a comparative legal history of the British empire. The more we study the case law of the empire's courts, the more we see that it was characterised by a pluralist web of influence rather than one way traffic from London downwards. The judges often served in more than one colony, and took their previous experience with them when they travelled to a new place. The local people in each of the colonies often developed their own approaches to the law, which they sometimes managed to have elevated into formal case law. According to reception of law principles, the empire's law ought to have been fundamentally English. It was usually that, but not always. The term imperial might better describe the empire's law, except that it carries implications of strict hierarchical authority which was often lacking in practice. At least until the middle of the nineteenth century, the empire's restrictions were sometimes more a matter of form than substance.

The site is, however, no longer limited to British cases. Those like me who wish to see more dialogue between traditional, European comparative legal history and other varieties more informed by cultural studies, post-colonialism, social sciences, would do well to have a look. 

BOOK: ECKLUND, JOHN A. "The Origins of Western Law from Athens to the Code Napoleon"

ECKLUND, JOHN A.

"The Origins of Western Law from Athens to the Code Napoleon"

2 vols. xxxiii, 1035 pp.

All information here

JOURNAL: Giornale di Storia costituzionale, n. 26, 2013

Giornale di Storia costituzionale /Journal of Constitutional History

Pensare la guerra civile/Thinking the civil war

n. 26 / II semestre 2013 Issue n° 26 / 2nd semester 2013

EUM, Edizioni dell'Università di Macerata

All information here

BOOK: Gabor Hamza, "Roman Law and its influence on contemporary (modern) legal systems"

"A RÓMAI JOG ÉS HATÁSA A MODERN JOGOK FEJLŐDÉSÉRE"

All information here

BOOK: Gabor Hamza, "Origine e sviluppo degli ordinamenti giusprivatistici moderni in base alla tradizione del diritto romano"

All information here

To order the book you can contact Mrs Lucila Ventoso via email (info@andavira.com) or CELESA (Centro de Exportación de Libros Espanoles) 

CFP: Judging in the 21st Century, SLS Annual Conference (Nottingham, 9 -12 September 2014)

What: Judging in the 21st Century,  2014 Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Annual Conference, Call for Papers

Where: School of Law, Law and Social Sciences Building, University of Nottingham, NG7 24D

When: 9 -12 September 2014

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 28 February 2014

All information here

The overall theme of the Conference this year will be Judging in the 21st Century

The Legal History section will meet in the second half of the conference on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 September.  They welcome proposals for papers on any issue relating to legal history, including, but not confined to, those addressing this year's conference theme.  Alternatively, if you would like to propose a topic of current interest for a panel or roundtable discussion, please do get in touch to see if this can be arranged.

CFP: History and the Other Disciplines, 129th Annual Meeting of the AHA (2-5 January 2015, New York)

What: History and Other Disciplines, 129th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA), Call for Proposals

Where: New York City

When:2-5 January 2015

Deadline: 15 February 2014
All information here

No discipline is an island. In the past hundred years or so, the ways that we study, write, and teach history have changed dramatically, often because of influence from other disciplines. In the interwar period, the encounter of a few French historians with geographers, among others, gave rise to what became the Annales school. Since then, social history has existed in close dialogue with economics, demography, and anthropology. Intellectual history has long had ties with political theory and philosophy, and political history with political science. In the 1980s, literary theory, cultural anthropology, and psychoanalysis nourished the new cultural history. Ecology served as an inspiration for environmental history. Some world historians today seek the aid of neuroscience, genetics, and archeology to recast the millennial history of the human species. And the list could go on. Meanwhile, computer science and new technologies continue to transform our modes of collecting, reading, and interpreting material and textual data. The interaction between history and other disciplines, in short, has been the source of fruitful innovation and is now a routine feature of our profession. 

JOURNAL: Legal History e-Journal, vol.18, n. 16, 2014

Legal History e-Journal 

February 2014, vol. 18, n. 16

All abstracts available here

JOURNAL: Law and History Review, 32, 2014

Law and History Review, Cambridge University Press

February 2014, vol. 32, issue 01

Table of contents and abstracts here

CFP: "The organization of business in Early Modern Europe", (Utrecht, 21 – 23 August 2014)

What: The organization of business in Early Modern Europe, Session Proposal for the 18th Annual Congress of the European Business History Association, Call for papers

Where: Universiteit Utrecht, Domplein, 3512, Utrecht
When: 21-23 August 2014

Deadline: 15 February 2014
All information here

Aim of the Session

Large-scale enterprises such as the English or Dutch East India Companies loom large over the business history of early modern Europe because they pioneered the legal form of the modern corporation. In reality, the majority of private business enterprises, whether in the commercial or manufacturing sectors, maintained a family basis. They were normally organized as sole proprietorships or general partnerships, that is, private enterprises in which owners and managers had the same decision-making power and shared equally all profits and losses. During the late Middle Ages, however, merchants across the Mediterranean developed contractual forms that allowed them to raise funds from outside investors, who were not involved in managing the business and who remained liable only for their portion of the investment.

Since Max Weber, limited liability partnerships have been credited with a crucial role in the growth of impersonal markets because they allowed merchants to expand the range of investors beyond their families. We do not know, however, what led to the adoption of this new form or how widely it spread in Europe. This session will lay the ground for a more ambitious research aiming to map the relative importance of different kinds of private business organizations in Europe from 1500 to 1800 and to develop a comparative methodology to explain geographical and chronological variations. With the session in Utrecht, we want to take the first step in establishing a network of specialists on different countries to stimulate empirical research an theoretical reflection on the organization of business in early modern Europe.

CFP: "Public and Private in the Roman House and Society" (Rome, 7-8 November 2014)

What: Call for Papers: Public and Private in the Roman House and Society
Where: Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, Passeggiata del Gianicolo, 10, 00165 Rome, Italy
When:  November 7-8, 2014

 Abstract deadline: May 1, 2014
All information here

Ancient Roman houses were designed to suit both the private life of its occupants and the demands of public life. As a result, the division between public and private spaces inside the domus was a complicated topic even for the Romans themselves. Previous scholarship has tended to treat the domus in terms of a rigid division between public and private, with the same division acting as a gender marker for (male) political activities and (female) domestic activities respectively. This strict division within the household now seems outdated. The aim of this conference, then, is to take a fresh look at notions of public and private within the domus by exploring the public and private spheres of the Roman house from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The “Public and Private in the Roman House and Society” is an ongoing project organizing its third major event, building on the success of a workshop at NYU (October 2012) and a conference at University of Helsinki (April 2013).

We therefore invite papers that explore the complex relationship between public and private in Roman society from a variety of perspectives – historical, archaeological, philological, architectural and anthropological – in order to further the understanding of the domus as a place for social, cultural, political and administrative action.

Potential themes include but are not limited to:
- Painting the line between private and public spheres. Wall paintings and decorative art in the debate of public and private.
- Private houses in Ostia and the city of Rome.
- Parks and recreation. Nature and garden between public and private space.
- Private nights? Night life in the Roman house.
- Terminology of public and private in the ancient context.
- Infrastructure, water and sanitation. A public or private task?

SEMINAR: "Do the commons exist in common law jurisdictions? Reflections on intellectual space" (Paris, 11 February 2014)

What: Do the commons exist in common law jurisdictions? Reflections on intellectual space, 4th 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 February 2014, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

 Speakers:
Fiona Macmillan, Professor of Law, School of Law, Birkbeck, University of London

 All informations available here

CONFERENCE: International symposium on "L'exclusion dans les sociétés du haut Moyen Âge" (Padova, 6-8 February 2014)

What: Colloque international, "L'exclusion dans les sociétés du haut Moyen Âge. La construction du sujet exclu (IVe-XIe siècle), l'individu, la société et l'exclusion"

Where: Padova, Dipartimento DISSGeA - Sala Bortolami, via del Vescovado, 30

When: 6-8 February 2014

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JOURNAL: GLOSSAE, European Journal of Legal History, 10, 2013

The last issue of GLOSSAE-European Journal of Legal History came out in December.
It is a special issue in honor to Prof. Antonio Pérez Martín, with contributions by scholars from Spain, Italy, Holland and Chile.
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BOOK PRESENTATION: "Tra Cultura, Diritto e Religione. Sinagoghe e Cimiteri ebraici in Lombardia" edited by S.T. Salvi (Milan, 19 March 2014)

What: Book presentation and debate within the Doctoral Meeting in Legal History, Roman law and Religious law 

Where: University of Milan, Law Faculty, Civil Law and Legal History Department, room "Senato", via Festa del Perdono 7, Milan (Italy)

When: 19 March 2014, 3:30 pm

Speakers:

Gigliola di Renzo Villata, University of Milan
Silvio Ferrari, University of Milan
Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - University of Milan
Alberto Cavaglion, University of Florence 
Stefano Levi Della Torre, Politecnico di Milano 
Annie Sacerdoti, Fondazione beni culturali ebraici in Italia - Ucei
Paolo Luca Bernardini, University of Insubria

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BOOK: Justin Steinberg, "Dante and the Limits of the Law"

Justin Steinberg
"Dante and the Limits of the Law"

University of Chicago press, december 2013

In Dante and the Limits of the Law, Justin Steinberg offers the first comprehensive study of the legal structure crucial to Dante’s Divine Comedy. Steinberg reveals how Dante imagines an afterlife dominated by elaborate laws, hierarchical jurisdictions, and rationalized punishments and rewards. Steinberg makes the compelling case that Dante deliberately exploits this highly-structured legal system to explore the phenomenon of exceptions to it, introducing Dante to crucial current debates about literature’s relation to law, exceptionality, and sovereignty.

Examining how Dante probes the limits of the law in this juridical otherworld, Steinberg argues that exceptions were vital to the medieval legal order and that Dante’s otherworld represents an ideal “system of exception.” Yet Dante saw this system as threatened on earth by the dual crises of church and Empire—the abuses and overreaching of the popes and the absence of an effective Holy Roman Emperor. In his imagination of the afterlife, Steinberg shows, Dante seeks to address this gap between the universal validity of Roman law and the lack of a sovereign power to enforce it. Exploring the institutional role of disgrace, the entwined phenomena of judicial discretion and artistic freedom, medieval ideas about privilege and immunity, and the place of judgment in the poem, this is an elegantly argued book that persuasively brings to life Dante’s sense of justice.

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