CALL FOR PAPERS: Liability and Responsibility in Legal History XXVIth Annual Forum of Young Legal Historians Istanbul, 10 – 13 June 2020

(image source: AYLH) 

Our next gathering aims to investigate liability and responsibility through legal history. Such topic necessitates a multidisciplinary approach as legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agencies. Instead legal responsibility concerns legal obligation; a measure of mental capacity, used in deciding the extent to which a person can be held accountable for a crime (such as diminished responsibility); specific duties imposed upon persons to care or provide for others, such as the parents duty to the child or the guardianship of a ward; and a person’s role in causing an event to happen. That is to say, a chain of causation means an individual is responsible for an event. This is actually part of the law of legal liability and public liability.

By analyzing these topics through a historical point of view, we can understand how the development happened and at the end we might answer the question of “why did it happen”. For instance, the general principle in Roman legal thought was that there should be no liability for others: Gaius writes that "our condition can be made better but not worse through our slaves"; a fortiori, it could not be made worse by those who were not members of the family.

Further, in legal history, it is important to understand the interactions between these two terms (liability and responsibility) and their differences. Both terms might be interlinked but as to their consequences and their application there appear a difference.

We believe that the conference gives young legal historians a unique opportunity to present their research in the field and to get acquainted with the interdisciplinary approaches presented by their colleagues from around the world.

If you would like to present a paper during the conference, please send an application including an

abstract of not more than 250 words and your CV to aylh2020istanbul@gmail.com before 21st of February 2020. Presentations have to be in English and should not exceed 20 minutes each. Presentation in Turkish language will be allowed together with simultaneous translator. The conference fee will be € 100, - and does not include travel and accommodation.

After 21st of February accepted papers will be informed and will be contacted further to complete the registration by paying the conference fee. Registration link could be found in our web-site.

Please note that registration is limited to a number of people. Therefore, early registration is strongly recommended!

We look forward to welcoming you to Istanbul.

Dr. Sinem Ogis on behalf of the Organizing Committee.