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Showing posts with label law of nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law of nations. Show all posts

08 November 2023

BOOK: Elisabetta FIOCCHI MALASPINA & Gabriella SILVESTRINI (eds.), Natural Law and the Law of Nations in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Italy [Early Modern Natural Law: Studies & Sources; eds. Laura BECK VARELA, Frank GRUNERT & Knud HAAKONSSEN, 6] (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff, Brill, 2023), X + 326 p., ISBN 9789004685130 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: Brill)

Abstract:

This volume sheds new light on modern theories of natural law through the lens of the fragmented political contexts of Italy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the dramatic changes of the times. From the age of reforms, through revolution and the ‘Risorgimento’, the unification movement which ended with the creation of the unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861, we see a move from natural law and the law of nations to international law, whose teaching was introduced in Italian universities of the newly created Kingdom. The essays collected here show that natural law was not only the subject of a highly codified academic teaching, but also provided a broader conceptual and philosophical frame underlying the ‘science of man’. Natural law is also a language wherein reform programmes of education and of politics have taken form, affecting a variety of discourses and literary genres. The open access publication of this book was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Contributors:

Alberto Clerici, Vittor Ivo Comparato, Giuseppina De Giudici, Frédéric Ieva, Girolamo Imbruglia, Francesca Iurlaro, Serena Luzzi, Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina, Emanuele Salerno, Gabriella Silvestrini, Antonio Trampus.

Read or download the full book here. 

14 December 2021

BOOK: Mark SOMOS & Anne PETERS (eds.), The State of Nature: Histories of an Idea [History of European Political and Constitutional Thought; 6] (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff/Brill, 2021), ISBN 978-90-04-39517-6,

 

(image source: Brill)

Abstract:
The phrase, “state of nature”, has been used over centuries to describe the uncultivated state of lands and animals, nudity, innocence, heaven and hell, interstate relations, and the locus of pre- and supra-political rights, such as the right to resistance, to property, to create and leave polities, and the freedom of religion, speech, and opinion, which may be reactivated or reprioritised when the polity and its laws fail. Combining intellectual history with current concerns, this volume brings together fourteen essays on the past, present and possible future applications of the legal fiction known as the state of nature.
Table of contents:


Introduction (Mark Somos & Anne Peters)

Chapter 1 Thucydides, Hobbes, and the Melian Dialogue (Benjamin Straumann)

Chapter 2 Missing Terms in English Geographical Thinking, 1550–1600 (Mary C. Fuller)

Chapter 3 Do Shephers Live in a State of Nature. From Peculium to Civilization (Francesca Iurlalo)

Chapter 4 After Vitoria. Natural Law and the Spanish Ideology of Empire (Daniel S. Allemann)

Chapter 5 Fleeing "Polyphemus's Den"

Chapter 6 Invisible People. The State of Nature in Grotius's Account of Global Legal Order (Emile Simpson)

Chapter 7 From the State of Nature to the State of Economy. Pufendorf on Commerce and Natural Law (David Singh Grewal)

Chapter 8 The State of Nature, the Family and the State (Simone Zurbuchen)

Chapter 9 Written in the Hearts of People ? Natural and International Law During the Age of Enlightenment (Edward J. Kolla)

Chapter 10 From Natural Equality to Frankpledge. The State of Nature, Ancient Constitutionalism, and the Rupture of the Social Contract in Eigtheenth-Century Antislavery Writings (Sarah Winter)

Chapter 11 From The State of Nature to the Natural State. Transforming the Foundations of Science and Civil Progress in Eighteenth-Century British Political Thought (Pamela Edwards)

Chapter 12 Their Own State(s) of Nature. The Enlightenment Social Imaginary and the Invention of Hungarian Ethnic Origins (László Kontler)

Chapter 13 The Place of the Environment in State of Nature Discourses. Reassessing Nature, Property and Sovereignty in the Anthropocene (Tom Sparks)

Chapter 14 The State of Nature, Prehistory, and Mythmaking (Karl Widerquist & Grant S. McCall)

Read further on the Brill site.

23 July 2019

VIDEO: The life and work of Jean Barbeyrac (Groningen, 2014)



The University of Groningen celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2014. Prof. em. Arno Vanderjagt (History of Ideas) comments in this video on Professor of Public and Private Law Jean Barbeyrac's life and work. Barbeyrac translated numerous authors from Latin into French, including Grotius, Pufendorf and Bynkershoek. His elaborate introductions and glossae achived the highest recognition by later scholars. Moreover, he published the volume on Greek and Roman treaties in the Supplément au Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des Gens in 1739.

(source: University of Groningen)

20 September 2018

BOOK: Massimo PANEBIANCO, Introduzione alla codicistica del Jus Gentium Europaeum. Codice Lünig-Leibniz-Dumont [Jus Gentium Europaeum. Collana di studi comunitari; 18] (Napoli: Editoriale Scientifica, 2016), XII + 276 p. ISBN 978-88-6342-936-7, € 24

(image source: Editoriale Scientifica)

Book abstract:
L'Europa del '700 è una delle mille forme dell'Europa possibile: Europa dei codici, Europa codicistica, Europa della scrittura diplomatica. Si vedrà come il presente volume si ispira alle recenti tendenze dedicate allo studio geo-politico della "grande storia" del diritto internazionale, ai fini della descrizione degli spazi continentali di area vasta. Tale ricerca ha esaminato il periodo più alto della codificazione europea del diritto internazionale della prima metà del '700 e si è fondata su un moderno "codice triplo" risultante dalla combinazione di altrettanti classici della codificazione dello jus gentium europeo. Il cd. Codice "Lünig-Leibniz-Dumont" proviene dalla scuola austro-germanica del '700 europeo, contenente in tutto o in parte la storia internazionale dei singoli Stati europei nei rapporti fra di loro e con gli altri Stati del mondo dall'antico al moderno (Italia compresa). L'autore di questo libro si rivolge ai lettori, come al pubblico benevole di una sala concerti d'Europa del '700 e si augura che i tre codici diplomatici qui esaminati siano come un unico "concerto triplo". Anche tali codici sono "icone" della storia passata e servono a portare fino a noi la voce dei secoli, bene impressa nel loro testo.
More information here.
Rechtsgeschichte 28 (2018) contains a review by Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina (Zürich).

(source: ESILHIL Blog)

18 January 2017

CALL FOR PAPERS Training, Ideas and Practices. The Law of Nations in the Long Eighteenth Century (Paris, 18-19 May 2017); DEADLINE 20 FEBRUARY 2017


CALL FOR PAPERS
Training, Ideas and Practices. The Law of Nations in the Long Eighteenth Century
(Paris, 18-19 May 2017)





The purpose of this conference is to explore the roots of international law and the various concepts related to the “law of nations” by looking at the legal language of diplomats and foreign offices in Europe during the long eighteenth century. The conference also aims to render the variety and complexity of specific mechanisms through which the law of nations was applied for diplomatic use, to explore social and cultural aspects, and to investigate the practical questions that diplomats frequently faced (N. Drocourt & E. Schnakenbourg (eds.), Thémis en diplomatie, PURennes, 2016).

The relationship between diplomacy and the law of nations is at best ambiguous. On the one hand, the law of nations seems to be a hybrid product of philosophical concepts and a digest of diplomatic practice. Lawyers have difficulty resisting the temptation to write a purely academic or genealogical history of the law of nations. The frequent invocation of authors such as Vattel as an authority seems to support this (P. Haggenmacher  & V. Chetail (eds.), Vattel’s International Law from a XXIst Century Perspective, Brill, 2011). On the other hand, interaction in negotiations involves a lot more than invoked legal principles. A thorough analysis of diplomatic practice often reveals implicit rules within diplomacy as a social field  (P. Bourdieu, Sur l’Etat, Seuil, 2012). Legal arguments are a part of this microcosm, but geopolitical determinants and state interests can bend and bow the use of legal language.

One of the main issues of this conference will be  whether law of nations theories influenced diplomatic practice and at the same time whether diplomatic practice altered traditional law of nations concepts. Through fruitful dialogue between young legal historians, historians of political thought and historians of politics from France, Germany and other parts of Europe, we would like to explore and investigate three different scenarios in which law of nations theories emerged both in the practice and the doctrine of diplomacy:

1)      Training of diplomats

Was the law of nations the basis of diplomatic education? Did diplomats also receive specific, in-house, foreign affairs training? Was it only theoretical or also based on practice and experience? Was there already a form of professionalisation of diplomats, especially in view of later developments in the 19th century (L. Nuzzo & M. Vec (dir.), Constructing International Law – The Birth of a Discipline, V. Klostermann, 2012)? Finally, to what extent can we envisage a common European diplomatic culture?

2)      Circulation of ideas and diplomatic networks

What was the legal and intellectual background of the various traités du droit des gens? To what extent were legal expertise (G. Braun, La connaissance du Saint-Empire en France du baroque aux Lumières (1643-1756), De Gruyter, 2010) or legal rhetorics pragmatic tools used in everyday politics? For whom did thinkers such as Abbé de Saint-Pierre (1658-1743) write their treatises? The sovereign? Legal advisers? Public opinion?  If the law of nations formed a kind of a common European diplomatic culture, how did it spread throughout Europe? Can we identify the same use in various diplomatic flows of the time? How were diplomatic networks organised?  Can we find examples of specific territories - such as the principalities of Walachia and Moldova, between the Ottoman Empire and the “European” powers – functioning as kinds of “diplomatic hubs”? 

3)      Transformation

Is the diplomatic habitus of the Vienna Congress a turning point?  Where did the transition from the 18th to the 19th century take place, both in theory and in practice? How important was the impact of Enlightenment and French Revolutionary thought (M. Bélissa,  Fraternité universelle et intérêt national, 1713-1795, Kimé, 1998)? How far can we find echoes in diplomatic culture and correspondence?

We kindly invite young scholars (up to 6 years after PhD) to present their new research within French-German and European perspectives. All applications must be sent by 20 February 2017 with a short CV (5 to 10 lines) and a proposal of 400 words to diplomacyconference2017@gmail.com. Results will be communicated by 15 March 2017.  This conference has received the generous support of the CIERA (Centre interdisciplinaire d'études et de recherches sur l'Allemagne, www.ciera.fr) as a colloque junior and will take place on the 18th (afternoon) and 19th (morning) of May 2017.  

Papers can be presented in English, French or German. A peer-reviewed publication of the proceedings is envisaged.


Organising Committee
Raphael Cahen (Orléans/VUB-FWO)
Frederik Dhondt (VUB/Antwerp/Ghent-FWO)
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina (Zürich)

Scientific Committee
Jacques Bouineau (La Rochelle)
Paul De Hert (VUB)
Dirk Heirbaut (Ghent)
Christine Lebeau (Paris I)
Gabriella Silvestrini (Piemonte Orientale)
Matthias Schmoeckel (Bonn)
Antonio Trampus (Venezia)
Miloš Vec (Vienna)


APPEL À CONTRIBUTIONS
Formation, idées et pratique. Le droit des gens dans le long dix-huitième siècle
(Paris, 18-19 mai 2017)




Les origines du droit international et les divers concepts du « droit des gens » seront au cœur d’une rencontre scientifique, portant sur l’étude du langage juridique des diplomates et des chancelleries européennes pendant le long dix-huitième siècle. Les mécanismes d’application spécifiques à travers lesquels le droit des gens fut invoqué pour une utilisation diplomatique ne se conçoivent pas en dehors des aspects culturels et sociaux, ou des problèmes pratiques que les diplomates avaient à trancher (N. Drocourt & E. Schnakenbourg (dir.), Thémis en diplomatie, PU Rennes, 2016).

                La relation entre la diplomatie et le droit des gens est ambiguë. D’une part, le droit des gens semble un produit hybride de concepts philosophiques et une cristallisation de pratique diplomatique. Les juristes peinent à résister la tentation d’écrire une histoire purement académique ou généalogique du droit des gens. L’invocation fréquente d’auteurs tels que Vattel en est une indication courante (P. Haggenmacher & V. Chetail (dir.), Vattel’s International Law from a XXIst Century Perspective, Brill, 2011). Néanmoins, l’interaction de la négociation entraîne bien plus qu’une invocation de principes juridiques. Une analyse rigoureuse de la pratique diplomatique révèle des règles implicites au sein de la diplomatie comme champ social (P. Bourdieu, Sur l’Etat, Seuil, 2012). L’argumentation juridique relève de ce microcosme et doit donc être apprécié dans une sociabilité qui transcende les traditions juridiques nationales (L. Bély, L’art de la paix en Europe : naissance de la diplomatie moderne, XVIe-XVIIIe siècle, PUF, 2007). Toutefois, les déterminants géopolitiques et les intérêts d’État peuvent amender ou infléchir l’utilisation d’arguments juridiques.

                Une question centrale sera d’essayer de savoir si les théories du droit des gens ont influé la pratique diplomatique, et si de son côté la pratique diplomatique a réussi à changer les concepts traditionnels du droit des gens. Un échange fructueux entre jeunes historiens du droit, historiens de la pensée politique et historiens « du politique » de France, d’Allemagne et d’autres traditions intellectuelles européennes permettra d’explorer trois scénarios différents à travers lesquels les théories du droit des gens émergeaient aussi bien en pratique qu’en doctrine diplomatique.

1)      Formation des diplomates
Le droit des gens constituait-il le cœur de la formation diplomatique ? Qu’en fut-il des enseignements pratiques, organisés par les administrations étatiques des affaires étrangères ? Quel était le rapport entre les connaissances tirées de l’objet même de la négociation (la pratique) et celle dérivée des écrits qui font autorité dans nos traditions scientifiques ? Pouvait-on vraiment parler de professionnalisation, également eu égard aux développements du XIXe (L. Nuzzo & M. Vec (dir.), Constructing International Law – The Birth of a Discipline, V. Klostermann, 2012) ? Finalement, qu’en fut-il du caractère commun ou européen de la culture diplomatique des divers corps ?

2)      Circulation des idées et réseaux diplomatiques
Les traités dévoués au droit des gens sont souvent étudiés en isolement, hors contexte, dans leur lignée intellectuelle ou académique. Cependant, qu’en fut-il de leur utilisation pratique ou de celle de l’expertise juridique plus générale (G. Braun, La connaissance du Saint-Empire en France du baroque aux Lumières (1643-1756), De Gruyter, 2010), comme outil rhétorique dans la politique quotidienne ? À qui s’adressaient les traités de penseurs comme l’abbé de Saint-Pierre (1658-1743) ? Le souverain, ou bien ses conseillers juridiques, ou bien l’opinion de la république des lettres ? Si le droit des gens constituait une sorte de culture diplomatique européenne commune, comment se diffusait-elle sur le continent ? Peut-on identifier des usages similaires dans les flux diplomatiques ? Comment les réseaux s’organisaient-ils ? Peut-on identifier des carrefours diplomatiques, tels que les principautés de Valachie et Moldavie, entre l’Empire Ottoman et les puissances européennes ?

3)      Transformation
Le Congrès de Vienne (1815) fut-il vraiment un tournant pour le droit des gens ? Si nous pouvons identifier une transition, relève-t-elle de la doctrine juridique ou plutôt des idées politiques ? À quel degré la pensée des Lumières et de la Révolution a-t-elle impacté le droit des gens classique (M. Bélissa, Fraternité universelle et intérêt national, 1713-1795, Kimé, 1998) ? Dans quelle mesure la correspondance diplomatique en fut-elle le témoin ?

Nous invitons les jeunes chercheurs (jusqu’à six ans après soutenance de la thèse de doctorat) à présenter leurs recherches nouvelles, dans une perspective franco-allemande et européenne. Les propositions doivent être envoyées pour le 20 février 2017 au plus tard, accompagnées d’un CV concis (5 à 10 lignes) et d’un résumé de 400 mots au maximum (diplomacyconference2017@gmail.com). Les résultats seront communiqués pour le 15 mars 2017 au plus tard.

La conférence a reçu le soutien du CIERA (Centre interdisciplinaire d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne, www.ciera.fr) en tant que colloque junior. Elle aura lieu à Paris, le 18 mai 2017 (à la Maison de la Recherche), et le 19 mai 2017 (Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris). Les contributions peuvent être présentées en anglais, français ou allemand. Les frais de déplacement et d'hébergement pourront être pris en charge sous certaines conditions. Une publication soumise au contrôle des pairs est envisagée.

Comité organisateur
Raphael Cahen (VUB-FWO/Orléans-POLEN)
Frederik Dhondt (VUB/Anvers/Gand-FWO)
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina (Zürich)

Comité scientifique
Jacques Bouineau (La Rochelle)
Paul De Hert (VUB)
Dirk Heirbaut (Gand)
Christine Lebeau (Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne)
Gabriella Silvestrini (Piemonte Orientale)
Matthias Schmoeckel (Bonn)
Antonio Trampus (Venise)
Miloš Vec (Vienne)



CALL FOR PAPERS: Ausbildung, Ideen und Praxis.
Das Völkerrecht im langen 18. Jahrhundert


Das Ziel dieser Konferenz besteht darin, den Ursprung und die verschiedenen Konzepte des Völkerrechts (droit des gens) in der juristischen Sprache der Diplomaten während des langen 18. Jahrhunderts zu untersuchen. Dabei geht es um die spezifische Verwendung des Völkerrechts als diplomatisches Werkzeug und die sozialen und kulturellen Aspekte dieser praktischen Diplomatie. (N. Drocourt & E. Schnakenbourg (hg.), Thémis en diplomatie, PU Rennes, 2016).
Die Beziehungen zwischen Diplomatie und Völkerrecht sind ambivalent. Das Völkerrecht ist ein Produkt philosophischer Konzepte und diplomatischer Praxis. Den Juristen fällt es schwer, einer akademischen oder genealogischen Geschichte des Völkerrechts auszuweichen, weshalb in der Historiografie häufig Vattel zitiert wird (P. Haggenmacher & V. Chetail, Vattel’s International Law from a XXIst Century Perspective, Brill, 2011). Dennoch ist Diplomatie viel mehr als nur eine Argumentation auf der Grundlage juristischer Prinzipien. Eine tiefere Analyse der praktischen Diplomatie wird implizite Regeln in der Diplomatie als Champs social zeigen (P. Bourdieu, Sur l’Etat, Seuil, 2012). Die juristische Argumentation entstammt diesem Mikrokosmos und soll auch im Rahmen einer transnationalen Soziabilität untersucht werden, welche über die nationale juristische Tradition hinausgeht (L. Bély, L’art de la paix en Europe: naissance de la diplomatie moderne, XVIe-XVIIIe siècle, PUF, 2007). Dabei können geopolitische Fakten oder Staatsinteressen den Gebrauch juristischer Argumentationsformen modifizieren.
Die zentrale Frage lautet, inwiefern völkerrechtliche Theorien die diplomatische Praxis beeinflusst haben und wie die praktische Diplomatie ihrerseits die Konzepte des Völkerrechts modifiziert hat. Die Nachwuchs-Konferenz versteht sich als Forum für einen Dialog zwischen Rechtshistorikern, Ideengeschichtlern und Politik-Historikern aus Frankreich, Deutschland und anderen europäischen Ländern. Wir werden die völkerrechtlichen Theorien hinsichtlich der Praxis wie auch in der Doktrin aus dreierlei Perspektiven untersuchen.
1) Die Diplomatische Ausbildung
War das Völkerrecht der Kern der diplomatischen Ausbildung? Welcher praktische Lehrstoff wurde von den Außendienstverwaltungen der Staaten angeboten? Welche Beziehung gab es zwischen dem Wissen, das aus der Praxis abgeleitet wurde und der Wissenschaft? Kann man bereits im 18. Jahrhundert von Professionalisierung sprechen (L. Nuzzo & M. Vec (hg.), Constructing International Law – The Birth of a Discipline, V. Klostermann, 2012)? Lässt sich eine gemeinsame oder europäische diplomatische Kultur der verschiedenen europäischen diplomatischen Ausbildungen ausmachen?
2) Die Verbreitung der Ideen und diplomatische Netzwerke
Völkerrechtliche Verträge werden oft ohne Kontextualisierung und nicht hinsichtlich ihres akademischen oder intellektuellen Ursprungs untersucht. Was kann man über ihre praktische Bedeutung, den Gebrauch, die juristische Expertise oder sogar ihre Funktion als rhetorisches Werkzeug in der Tagespolitik sagen (G. Braun, La connaissance du Saint-Empire en France du baroque aux Lumières (1643-1756), De Gruyter, 2010)? Für wen hat Abbé de Saint-Pierre (1658-1743) geschrieben? Für den Prinzen, die Juristen, die Republik des lettres, die öffentliche Meinung? War das Völkerrecht Teil einer gemeinsamen europäischen Kultur? Wenn ja, wie wurde diese Kultur verbreitet? Findet sich solch ein Habitus im diplomatischen Handeln? Wie waren die Netzwerke organisiert? Gab es verschiedene diplomatische Mittelpunkte wie die Fürstentümer der Walachei und Moldau, die als Vermittler zwischen dem Osmanischen Reich und den Europäischen Mächten galten?
3) Der Wandel
Ist der Wiener Kongress wirklich ein Wendepunkt im Völkerrecht? Wenn ein Wandel identifiziert werden kann, gründet dieser im juristischen Diskurs oder in den politischen Ideen der Zeit? Inwiefern haben die Aufklärung und die Französische Revolution das « klassische » Völkerrecht verändert (M. Bélissa, Fraternité universelle et intérêt national, 1713-1795, Kimé, 1998)? Zeugt die diplomatische Korrespondenz der Zeit von diesen Veränderungen?
Wir laden Nachwuchswissenschaftler (bis 6 Jahre nach der Verteidigung der Doktorarbeit) ein, ihre Forschungen in deutsch-französischer und europäischer Perspektive vorzustellen. Die Vortragvorschläge (400 Worte) sollen mit einem kurzen Lebenslauf bis zum 20.02.2017 an diplomacyconference2017@gmail.com gesendet werden. Bis zum 15.03.2017 bekommen Sie eine Antwort.
Die Konferenz wird in Paris am 18. (Maison de la Recherche), und 19. Mai 2017 (Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris) stattfinden.
Die Vorträge können entweder auf Englisch, Deutsch oder Französisch gehalten werden. Unterkunft und Fahrkosten werden unter bestimmten Bedingungen rückerstattet. Eine Peer-Review Veröffentlichung des Konferenzbandes ist geplant.
Organisatoren 
Raphael Cahen (VUB-FWO/Orléans-POLEN)
Frederik Dhondt (VUB/Anvers/Gand-FWO)
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina (Zürich)

Wissenschaftliches Komitee
Jacques Bouineau (La Rochelle) 
Paul De Hert (VUB)
Dirk Heirbaut (Gand) 
Christine Lebeau (Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne)
Gabriella Silvestrini (Piemonte Orientale)
Matthias Schmoeckel (Bonn)
Antonio Trampus (Venise) 
Miloš Vec (Vienne)

24 April 2015

BOOK: Benjamin STRAUMANN, Roman Law in the State of Nature. The Classical Foundations of Hugo Grotius' Natural Law [Ideas in Context] (Cambridge: CUP, 2015), 283 p. ISBN 9781107092907, £ 65

(image source: cambridge.org)


Benjamin Straumann (NYU) published a new work on roman law and early modern law of nature at Cambridge University Press.

Abstract:
Roman Law in the State of Nature offers a new interpretation of the foundations of Hugo Grotius' natural law theory. Surveying the significance of texts from classical antiquity, Benjamin Straumann argues that certain classical texts, namely Roman law and a specifically Ciceronian brand of Stoicism, were particularly influential for Grotius in the construction of his theory of natural law. The book asserts that Grotius, a humanist steeped in Roman law, had many reasons to employ Roman tradition and explains how Cicero's ethics and Roman law – secular and offering a doctrine of the freedom of the high seas – were ideally suited to provide the rules for Grotius' state of nature. This fascinating new study offers historians, classicists and political theorists a fresh account of the historical background of the development of natural rights, natural law and of international legal norms as they emerged in seventeenth-century early modern Europe.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Natural law in historical context
2. A novel doctrine of the sources of law: nature and the classics
3. Proving natural law: the influence of classical rhetoric on Grotius' method
4. Social instinct or self-preservation?
5. Justice for the state of nature: from Aristotle to the Corpus Iuris
6. Grotius' concept of the state of nature
7. Natural rights: Roman remedies in the state of nature
8. Natural rights and just wars
9. Enforcing natural law: the right to punish
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index.
 Free marketing excerpt here.

19 November 2014

ARTICLE: "The Rhetoric and Reality of English Law in Colonial Maryland, Part 1 - 1632-1689", by Jeffrey K. Sawyer

Jeffrey K. Sawyer, University of Baltimore - School of Law, The Rhetoric and Reality of English Law in Colonial Maryland, Part 1 - 1632-1689, Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 108, No. 4, Winter 2013, pp. 392-409

All information here

Abstract
The rule of English law in the English-speaking colonial world is at once obvious and puzzling. Along with language, the law anchored the Englishness of life in colonial America, At the same time, warring states and rival investors used law and diplomacy as weapons in their arsenals of global competition, and so the law of nations provided an unstable and frequently contested framework for exploration and settlement. The governance of struggling Atlantic settlements (especially before 1660) rose, fell, and was reconstructed with the various fortunes of each. In these early settlements there was much law-making, but law was perhaps negotiated as often as it was applied; local officials frequently adjusted English rules to local circumstances. The more historians investigate this world, the harder it is to be sure, exactly, how colonial law worked.

This article examines why a perennial contest over the precise authority of English law was so central to the rule of law in early Maryland. Two new perspectives will help further this inquiry, which has long interested colonial historians generally and historians of Maryland in particular. The first is a heightened appreciation of the fact that early American legal history unfolded in distinct phases. The second is a recognition that the contest over English law in the colonies developed along different but overlapping dimensions, a political or rhetorical dimension and an operational dimension. This latter world of law was the reality of lawsuits, debt collection, inheritance, criminal prosecutions, judgments, and so on.