BOOK: Bill DAVIES & Morten RASMUSSEN (eds.), The History of European Union Law. Constitutional Practice, 1950 to 1993 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026), ISBN 9781009673891, € 122,55

 

(image source: CUP)

Abstract:

This formative period of EU law witnessed an intense struggle over the emergence of a constitutional practice. While the supranational institutions, including the European Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Parliament, as well as EU law academics helped to develop and promote the constitutional practice, member state governments and judiciaries were generally reluctant to embrace it. The struggle resulted in an uneasy stalemate in which the constitutional practice was allowed to influence the doctrines, shape and functioning of the European legal order that now underpins the EU, but a majority of member state governments rejected European constitutionalism as the legitimating principle of the new EU formed on basis of the Treaty of Maastricht (1992). The struggle and eventual stalemate over the constitutional practice traced in this book accounts for the fragile and partial system of rule of law that exists in the EU today.

Read more here: DOI 10.1017/9781009673891. 

CLH ARTICLE: Ralf MICHAELS, Comparative law today – tomes, themes, trends (Comparative Legal History, XIV (2026), nr. 1: June) [OPEN ACCESS]

(Image source: Taylor&Francis)

Abstract: 

This essay surveys recent themes and trends in comparative law scholarship, with a particular eye towards the connections between comparative law and legal history. The author observes a significant movement towards encyclopaedisation, marked by a proliferation of handbooks and encyclopaedias that attempt to systematise knowledge, though these works often struggle with comprehensiveness and persistent Eurocentrism. While traditional treatises continue to show fealty to established functionalist models, there is an observable shift away from the historical dominance of private law towards holistic, post-doctrinal, and interdisciplinary approaches. A primary concern raised is the ‘turn to method’, where the discipline has become increasingly self-absorbed with methodological pluralism and theory, sometimes resulting in ‘method without comparison’. Furthermore, the survey highlights the vital emergence of decolonial and postcolonial scholarship originating from the Global South, facilitating South-South comparison and challenging the field's colonial and Eurocentric foundations. Finally, the author examines the uneasy relationship between comparative law and legal history, questioning whether the discipline can move beyond viewing legal systems as separate entities towards a more integrated world law approach.

Of particular interest to readers of this blog is the essay's final section, "The Place of History", in which Michaels critically examines the uneasy relationship between comparative law and legal history – and the extent to which the latter remains underutilized in the former. Central to this discussion is Heikki Pihlajamäki's proposal to merge the two disciplines, which Michaels engages with directly and which will be further explored at the journal's online Dialogues event this October.

The piece has already sparked an online debate, with Jaakko Husa commenting on his social media (@husajaakko.bsky.social) that «Ralf Michaels has written an interesting, highly learned, and slightly provocative overall take on comparative law. He offers lots of food for thought even if one would disagree. Personally I admit enjoying greatly to be characterised as "the ironic pragmatist"».

To read the article in open access, please click here.

DOI: 10.1080/2049677X.2026.2671591

BOOK: Giuseppe MECCA and Salvatore MURA (eds.), Stato e benessere in Italia dall’Ottocento a oggi (Roma: Carocci Editore, 2026). ISBN: 9788829036493, pp. 320, € 35,00

(Source: Carocci editore)

Abstract:

Il volume raccoglie i risultati di una ricerca multidisciplinare sul ruolo dello Stato nella promozione del benessere (human wellbeing) durante l’età contemporanea. Attraverso il contributo di storici, economisti e giuristi, si ricostruisce la tensione fra crescita economica e qualità della vita, fra politiche pubbliche e diritti sociali, fra riequilibrio territoriale e persistenti divari regionali. Un’attenzione particolare è riservata al Mezzogiorno, laboratorio dove si riflettono sia le ambizioni di riduzione delle disuguaglianze sia i limiti dell’azione statale. I diversi approcci – il metodo comparativo e le analisi quantitative – consentono di cogliere in modo articolato le trasformazioni delle condizioni di vita. Il libro offre così strumenti interpretativi e riflessioni critiche per meglio comprendere le scelte del passato e ripensare il rapporto tra Stato, sviluppo e benessere delle persone.

About the editors:

Giuseppe Mecca

Insegna Storia delle istituzioni politiche all’Università di Macerata. Nell’ambito del progetto Human wellbeing ha curato il volume Lodovico Montini, l’assistenza e la promozione del benessere in Italia negli anni della ricostruzione (Viella, 2026).

Salvatore Mura

Insegna Storia contemporanea e Storia d’Europa e dell’integrazione europea all’Università di Sassari.

Table of contents:

Introduzione. Stato e benessere nell’Italia contemporanea: percorsi di ricerca e prospettive interpretative di Giuseppe Mecca e Salvatore Mura

1. Premessa

2. Tra Stato ed economia

3. Il benessere umano, una categoria ambivalente tra passato e presente

4. Idee, strumenti e finalità

5. Riconsiderare i territori

6. Indicatori del benessere e sviluppo umano

7. Forme e limiti dell’intervento pubblico

Parte prima

Tra Stato e mercato: istituzioni, idee, strumenti

1. Rappresentare l’intervento pubblico nell’economia: il bilancio dello Stato italiano in una prospettiva di lungo periodo di Claudio Columbano

Introduzione/L’evoluzione della forma del bilancio dello Stato/Le ragioni dell’evoluzione nella forma del bilancio dello Stato/Conclusioni

2. Intorno ad alcuni profili giuridico-economici in tema di intese per limitare la concorrenza nel pensiero di Francesco Vito di Alessandro Lalli

Prime riflessioni su consorzi, intervento dello Stato e ordinamento corporativo/La partecipazione al dibattito sulla compatibilità tra Consorzio e Corporazione/La soluzione vitiana del controllo corporativo sui Consorzi e la contrarietà all’estensione dei contratti collettivi ai rapporti economici/Uno sguardo alle riflessioni del secondo dopoguerra: disciplina delle intese e senso etico dell’economia

3. Stato sociale e Stato costituzionale: il piano Beveridge in Italia (1942-46) di Lorenzo Pacinotti

Alcune considerazioni sulle svolte degli anni Quaranta: gli intrecci tra Stato sociale e Stato costituzionale/La reazione fascista al Report beveridgiano/Il piano Beveridge alla base del nuovo progetto istituzionale?

4. Tra spiritualità e contabilità. Sergio Paronetto e i protagonisti dell’IRI (1933-56) di Francesco Carlesi

Paronetto (e Vito) dal New Deal al sistema misto/L’ora della responsabilità. Il dibattito politico-sociale dei cattolici e il codice di Camaldoli/Paronetto, la socializzazione economica e il rapporto Kamarck/Conclusioni. Il rapporto tra tecnica e politica e l’iri oggi

Parte seconda

Il Mezzogiorno come laboratorio

5. Le leggi speciali per il Mezzogiorno. L’intervento dello Stato tra Otto e Novecento di Giuseppe Astuto

Premessa/Il divario Nord-Sud al momento dell’unificazione/La costruzione dello Stato unitario/La crisi economica e le leggi speciali/Dagli inizi del Novecento alla caduta del fascismo/Il periodo repubblicano e la Cassa per il Mezzogiorno

6. Lo Stato e le bonifiche. La Piana di Catania di Elena Gaetana Faraci

Introduzione/ La legislazione sulla bonifica dall’Unità al fascismo/La Piana di Catania e i primi progetti di bonifica/Le leggi speciali e la Cassa per il Mezzogiorno/La bonifica della Piana di Catania nel secondo dopoguerra

7. L’intervento pubblico per il Mezzogiorno nel secondo Novecento: tra vincoli storici e innovazione di Marco Santillo e Gerardo Cringoli

La prima fase dell’intervento straordinario: la contrazione del divario Nord/Sud/La crisi di missione della casmez e l’epilogo dell’intervento straordinario: la riapertura del divario

8. L’ambiente nell’intervento di Stato e municipalità. Quale interazione nel periodo tra l’Unità e il secondo dopoguerra? di Alessandra Bulgarelli Lukacs e Giacomo Zanibelli

Introduzione/L’Ottocento postunitario: territorio, modernizzazione/industrializzazione, assenza di tutela/Il fascismo e l’ambientalismo strumentale: bonifiche e monumentalizzazione del paesaggio/Il secondo dopoguerra e il boom economico: industrializzazione e degrado ambientale/Capovolgere l’angolo di osservazione: dallo Stato alle municipalità/Il caso di studio. Presentazione dei dati e strategia di analisi/Ricostruire gli elementi a sostegno della tutela delle risorse collettive attraverso l’analisi swot/Discussione e conclusioni sul caso di studio

Parte terza

Benessere e sviluppo umano

9. Gli elettrodomestici come indicatori del benessere materiale? Analogie e differenze tra Nord e Sud della penisola di Ivan Paris

Gli elettrodomestici nelle case italiane alle soglie della Seconda guerra mondiale/Gli elettrodomestici come indicatori del benessere materiale?/Benessere reale, immaginato o solo desiderato? Tempi, modalità e motivazioni della diffusione degli elettrodomestici/Brevi considerazioni conclusive

10. Misurare il “sottosviluppo”. unece, Sud Europa e Italia negli anni Cinquanta di Mattia Granata

Premessa/La Commissione di Myrdal/Le origini del Sud Europa/Dai divari nazionali ai divari regionali/Conclusioni. L’Italia come laboratorio di sviluppo/Appendice A/Appendice B

11. Valutare l’impatto delle istituzioni sul benessere umano: il caso dell’eipli in Basilicata (1947-92) di Rocco Giurato

Introduzione/La società e l’economia della Basilicata nel secondo dopoguerra: un quadro sintetico/L’eipli: istituzione, obiettivi, strumenti/Le trasformazioni materiali: agricoltura e infrastrutture/Il benessere umano in Basilicata dal dopoguerra agli anni Novanta: alcuni indicatori quantitativi/L’impatto dell’ente sul benessere umano in Basilicata: criticità e limiti

12. Intervento straordinario e sviluppo umano. Due casi a confronto (1950-92) di Jacopo Sciglio

Premessa/Dall’avvio dell’intervento straordinario agli anni Sessanta/La “seconda fase” dell’ida e la crisi della Cassa

13. Oltre l’industrializzazione. La Cassa per il Mezzogiorno e il fattore umano per lo sviluppo delle comunità meridionali di Giuseppe Iglieri

Un paradigma inusuale/La “frattura” da colmare/La ricerca di un processo di lievitazione sociale/Conclusioni. Lo sviluppo delle comunità per la crescita del Sud

Parte quarta

Pianificazione, politiche pubbliche e crescita economica

14. Pianificazione e diritto privato nell’Italia del secondo dopoguerra. Alcuni itinerari di Gianmatteo Sabatino

Introduzione. La pianificazione e il diritto in Italia/Le premesse storiche. Breve genealogia del diritto della pianificazione/Il diritto privato italiano alla prova della pianificazione. Fra autonomia e coercizione/Il diritto europeo e i mutamenti negli orientamenti valoriali/Conclusioni. L’attualità del tema

15. L’Italia e le politiche pubbliche in tema di ricerca e innovazione: il modello Fraunhofer di Giulio Di Donato ed Enrico Cerrini

Introduzione/Un sistema industriale poco innovativo/L’esperienza tedesca: la fhg/La vicenda

16. Considerazioni su interventi economici dello Stato, crescita e welfare di Claudio Sardoni

Introduzione/Alcuni dati essenziali/La necessità di politiche a favore di crescita e produttività/L’attuazione efficiente delle politiche/Stato, mercato e benessere generale/Considerazioni conclusive: “aprire la scatola nera statale”

Indice dei nomi

More information with the publisher.

BOOK: Daniel ALLEMANN, Empires of Slavery: Rights and Power in the Early Modern Iberian World [Max Planck Studies in Global Legal History of the Iberian Worlds, ed. Thomas DUVE; 7] (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff/Brill, 2026), [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: Brill)

Abstract:

Enslavement was central to the early modern Iberian empires. No one at the time seriously questioned its legality, yet widespread reports of violent practices of captivity and human trafficking contrasted sharply with the Christian ideal of charity. This volume explores how Spanish and Portuguese theologians, jurists, and missionaries grappled with this moral dilemma. These thinkers developed ideological tools to protect the souls of those who appeared to be in a state of mortal damnation. Slavery prompted Iberian intellectuals to rethink the boundaries between property and person, law and religion, and household and commonwealth. By reconstructing these debates, this volume offers a new narrative about the relationship between individual rights and political power in the early modern Iberian world.

On the author:

Daniel Allemann, Ph.D. (2020), University of Cambridge, is Scientific Collaborator at the University of Geneva. A historian of the late medieval and early modern periods, he studies how intellectual traditions shaped ideas of empire, rights, and religion. He co-edited Conceptions of Space in Intellectual History (2018). 

Read more here: DOI  10.1163/9789004760592.

SYMPOSIUM: Ancient Criminal Law: A Global Perspective (Youtube, crimlrev.net, 24 JUN 2026)

(iamge source: MCRL)

Join us for an international workshop featuring contributors to our forthcoming Modern Criminal Law Review Special Issue on “Ancient Criminal Law: A Global Perspective,” guest edited by Clifford Ando (University of Chicago).

Participants include:

• Clifford Ando, University of Chicago (moderator)
• Beth Berkowitz, Columbia University
• Ari Bryen, Vanderbilt University
• Ernest Caldwell, St. Mary’s, London
• Benjamin Gallant, Harvard University
• Adriaan Lanni, Harvard University
• Mark Letteney, University of Washington
• Seth Richardson, University of Chicago
• Andrew Wolpert, University of Florida

June 24, 2026 @ 12pm (ET)

► To join us for this free online event, please register here. Registration is encouraged, but not required; if you prefer to join the event directly, head over to the MCLR+ YouTube channel at the time of the event (please note the time zone). All attendees will have the opportunity to post questions and comments via YouTube live chat.

► To stay informed about upcoming MCLR+ events, publications, and projects, please sign up for the MCLR+ mailing list and check the MCLR+ website; to receive notifications about upcoming livestreams, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

(source: Legal History Blog)

BOOK: Horatia MUIR WATT & Geoffrey SAMUEL, Producing Legal Knowledge. Comparative Methods, Models and Schemes (Cheltenham: E. Elgar, 2026), 266 p. ISBN 9781035318469, 105 GBP

 

(image source: Elgar)

Abstract:

This thought-provoking book opens up a distinctive and original framework of analysis of the relationship between legal methodologies and the social and human sciences. Rich in implications both for comparative legal theory and for the understanding of legal reasoning in practice, it adopts a critical epistemological perspective by enlarging the focus of comparative legal studies and allowing for a much-needed decentering of conventional approaches to law across cultures and disciplines. Using a novel lens, leading scholars Horatia Muir Watt and Geoffrey Samuel explore modes of knowledge, reasoning and veridiction that are usually taken for granted within the law. They investigate interdisciplinary insights from areas as diverse as algorithmic governance, symmetrical anthropology or cinema studies to suggest alternative knowledge frameworks better attuned to our culturally diverse world. Building on well known examples from Roman law, private international law and contemporary orientations in legal comparison, they highlight both the resistance of traditional legal epistemology to transformative moves in other fields as well as how other areas of knowledge incorporate in turn contributions from legal doctrines and juridical argument. Producing Legal Knowledge is a beneficial read for scholars and students of comparative legal studies and legal epistemology, particularly those interested in legal research methods.

Table of contents:

Contents
Preface
1 Introduction: comparative legal methodology in context
PART I OVERVIEW
Introduction to Part I: Overview
2 Threshold epistemological conundra
3 Comparative law’s conceptual language
4 Models of legal knowledge (1): the canon
5 Models of legal knowledge (2): further variations
PART II SCHEMES OF INTELLIGIBILITY
Introduction to Part II: schemes of intelligility
6 Causal scheme: an uncommon notion
7 Functional scheme: theory, heuristic, or just part of the
problem?
8 Structuralist scheme: preparing for the era of the ‘post-
structuralist’?
9 Hermeneutical scheme: what (if anything) is beyond the ‘text’?
10 Dialectical scheme: comparison, opposition and critique
11 Actionalist (and interactionalist) scheme: individuals, society,
actor-networks
12 Ontologies and open conclusions
Bibliography

 Read more here.

ADVANCE ARTICLE: Maya MARK, "Civil Disobedience in Defense of Democracy: Menachem Begin’s Struggle Against Emergency Laws in Israel, 1948–1954" (Law and History Review) [OPEN ACCESS]

(image source: CUP)

 Abstract:

This study uncovers a previously overlooked chapter in the historiography of civil disobedience: Menachem Begin’s resistance to Israeli emergency legislation between 1948 and 1954, which he argued undermined foundational democratic principles. It presents the first scholarly analysis of Begin’s resistance, contending that it constitutes a clear instance of civil disobedience, embodying its core tenets. At the heart of this historical case study lies a paradigmatic question: how can laws that erode foundational—yet abstract—democratic principles, such as the separation of powers, be effectively resisted, and can such resistance be accommodated within traditional frameworks of civil disobedience? Begin’s struggle brings these questions into sharp relief, illuminating longstanding critiques of the framework’s overly restrictive boundaries and underscoring the tension between theoretical frameworks and political reality. More broadly, the article engages central debates at the intersection of law, politics, and democratic thought. By examining the democratic convictions of a prominent right-wing leader, it contributes to historical scholarship on the role of conservative and right-wing movements in shaping democratic ideologies, while also providing a historical reference point for subsequent ideological transformations and radicalization processes within these movements. Finally, by illuminating the complexities inherent in opposing laws that erode core-yet abstract-democratic principles, this study resonates with contemporary debates on democratic backsliding, offering a historical lens through which civil disobedience has served as a principled response to such challenges.

Read more here: DOI 10.1017/S0738248026101539

BOOK: Thomas DUVE & Tamar HERZOG (eds.), Historia del Derecho de América Latina en Perspectiva Global [Historia del Derecho en América Latina, 1ª Edición] (México: Tirant lo Blanch, 2026), 680 p., ISBN 9788410959361

(image source: Tirant)

Abstract:

Este libro es el resultado de un esfuerzo colectivo de investigadores de América Latina, Europa y los Estados Unidos que se propusieron escribir una historia del Derecho centrada en las experiencias compartidas de las sociedades latinoamericanas a lo largo de un extenso período histórico, iniciado antes de la invasión europea del continente y que se prolonga hasta nuestros días. Su propósito era construir un relato capaz de identificar tendencias comunes, dar cuenta de las profundas transformaciones ocurridas a lo largo de este recorrido e integrar dichos procesos en una perspectiva más amplia. Esta historia «pan-latinoamericana», abordada desde una perspectiva global, muestra cómo América Latina se enfrentó a desafíos similares a los de otras regiones del mundo y cómo los debates surgidos en la región estuvieron con frecuencia vinculados a discusiones que tenían lugar en otros contextos. Los actores latinoamericanos contribuyeron activamente a estas discusiones y de ellas recibieron influencias, inspiración y nuevos marcos de reflexión.

Desde el punto de vista metodológico, los autores privilegian las preguntas sobre las respuestas, los procesos sobre los resultados y los contextos sobre las meras descripciones de soluciones jurídicas. La obra explora dónde, cómo y por qué se materializa el Derecho, quiénes son sus protagonistas y cuáles son los principales escenarios en los que actúa. Asimismo, pone de relieve los múltiples niveles en que opera el fenómeno jurídico y su profunda interrelación con los procesos sociales, políticos, culturales y económicos.

On the author:

Thomas Duve es director del Instituto Max Planck de Historia y Teoría del Derecho, y catedrático en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Goethe de Fráncfort. Es especialista en historia del derecho y sus relaciones con la religión en los imperios ibérico.

Tamar Herzog ocupa la cátedra Monroe Gutman en la Universidad de Harvard. Su principal área de interés es la historia jurídica y social de la península ibérica y sus territorios de ultramar.

Table of contents:

Introducción       
Thomas Duve
Tamar Herzog
1. ¿En qué consiste la Historia del Derecho de América Latina en perspectiva global?
1.1. ¿Cómo se escribió y se escribe la Historia del Derecho de América Latina?        
Carlos Petit
1.2 ¿Qué es la Historia del Derecho y cómo se relaciona con otras Historias?       
Tamar Herzog
1.3. ¿Cómo se produce el Derecho?        
Thomas Duve
1.4. ¿Qué es la Historia del Derecho global y cómo puede llevarse a cabo?        
Mariana Dias Paes
2. ¿Cómo aproximarse al Derecho indígena?
2. ¿Cómo aproximarse al Derecho indígena?        
Caroline Cunill
3. ¿Cómo abordar el Derecho colonial?
3.1. Un Derecho civil para una sociedad religiosa        
Tamar Herzog
3.2. Normatividad religiosa para imperios coloniales        
Thomas Duve
3.3. La esfera doméstica        
Romina Zamora
4. Independencia(s): ¿Qué es un Derecho revolucionario?
4. Independencia(s): ¿Qué es un Derecho revolucionario?        
Tamar Herzog
5. ¿El advenimiento de los Estados? El siglo XIX
5.1. Constituciones        
José María Portillo
5.2. Codificaciones        
Agustín Parise
5.3. Contestaciones y exclusiones        
Monica Dantas
Roberto Saba
6. ¿La omnipresencia del Estado? El siglo XX
6.1. Hacia el Estado Administrativo        
Eduardo Zimmermann
6.2. Dictaduras       
Cristiano Paixão
6.3. Justicia transicional y derechos humanos        
Ruti Teitel
Valeria Vegh Weis
7. Más allá del Estado: ¿Puede sobrevivir el Derecho estatal en el siglo XXI?
7. Más allá del Estado: ¿Puede sobrevivir el Derecho estatal en el siglo XXI?        
Daniel Bonilla Maldonado

Find more on: Tirant. 

BOOK: Benjamin SCHONTHAL, Courts, Constitutions and Karma. Buddhism, Law and the Practices of Legal Pluralism in Sri Lanka [Cambridge Studies in Law & Society, eds. Mark FATHI MASSOUD & Jens MEIERHENRICH] (Cambridge: CUP, 2026)

(image source: CUP)

 Abstract:

Although rarely acknowledged, Buddhist monastics are among the most active lawmakers and jurists in Asia, operating sophisticated networks of courts and constitutions while also navigating—and shaping—secular legal systems. This book provides the first in-depth study of Buddhist monastic law and its entanglements with state law in Sri Lanka from 1800 to the present. Rather than a top-down account of colliding legal orders, Schonthal draws on nearly a decade of archival, ethnographic and empirical research to document the ways that Buddhist monks, colonial officials and contemporary lawmakers reconcile the laws of the Buddha and the laws of the land using practices of legal pluralism. Comparative in outlook and accessible in style, this book not only offers a portrait of Buddhist monastic law in action, it also yields new insights into how societies manage multi-legality and why legal pluralism leads to conflict in some settings and to compromise in others.

Table of contents:

1. Monastic law, state law and the plurality of legal pluralism in Sri Lanka

Part I:

2. The unity and diversity of Buddhist monastic law

3. Jurisdictionalising Buddhism in colonial Ceylon

4. Practising legal pluralism in the monastery

Part II:

5. Like and unlike 'Law': making a monastic judiciary

6. Law's Karmas: Nirvana, rebirth and the cosmological consequences of monastic law

Part III:

7. Legalising' monastic law: the politics of legal recognition in post-colonial Sri Lanka

8. Constitutionalising Vinaya

Conclusion: pluralising legal pluralism

Glossary

References.

On the author:

Benjamin Schonthal, University of Otago, New Zealand

(source: Legal History Blog)

JOURNAL: Comparative Legal History XIV (2026), nr. 1 (Jun)

(Image source: Taylor&Francis)

FROM THE EDITORIAL (David Schorr & Agustín Parise)

[...] As is appropriate for this spring season, Issue 1 of Volume 14 of Comparative Legal History is marked by the welcome arrival of several new developments. 

We would first like to highlight a new feature in the journal – a review of a classic work of comparative legal history, written from the perspective of today’s scholarship. To kick off this new format, James Whitman reviews Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws, a classic in the field if there ever was one. We plan for reviews of classics to be a recurring feature of the journal, and welcome suggestions from our readers for classic works that should be considered for review in our journal.

Another novelty is that we start off Issue 1 of Volume 14 with an invited essay, by comparative law scholar Ralf Michaels. The author gives us a breathtakingly wide-ranging and erudite appraisal of new literature on comparative law, examining the place of legal history in the field of comparative law, while at the same time demonstrating the importance of comparative law scholarship for comparative legal historians. We hope to return to this theme in the sixth session of the Dialogues in Comparative Legal History, to be held online later this year.

With the support of Taylor & Francis, we are also proud to inaugurate two technical features that we think will add to the journal. First, we will now publish contributions to the journal online on a rolling basis, without waiting for them to be collected into issues according to our regular publication schedule. Second, we are encouraging authors to include relevant images in their contributions. We welcome proposals for contributions that take advantage of the visual medium and for new formats are centred on it.

New sprouts ultimately rely on good roots, and Issue 1 of Volume 14 continues the journal’s tradition of presenting an assortment of articles involving a wide variety of legal traditions and their interactions. Henrik-Riko Held’s article shows how a local, vernacular legal culture and the learned ius commune interacted in surprising ways in the Venetian Empire; Hoàng Thảo Anh’s article looks at the private international law of the Chinese and Vietnamese Empires; Lukasz Korporowicz surveys the reception of William Blackstone in Polish legal literature; and Ann Mumford investigates what legal rejection – the refusal of a potential legal transplant – can teach us about the legal philosophies of judges and scholars. 

Issue 1 of Volume 14 is enriched with 13 additional book reviews on an expansive range of topics, including James Sheehan’s review of two books on the history of sovereignty; Gary Jacobsohn’s comparative look at debates on ‘originalism’ in the USA; William Butler’s review of a Russian work on comparative legal history; and Michele Graziadei’s appreciation of Dirk Heirbaut’s comparative work on codification. All reviews in this issue demonstrate the continued vitality of comparative legal history, to which we are proud to contribute.

SSRN PAPER: Ross E. DAVIES, "A Wig Without a Home: The Comedic Wisdom of Sir Frederick Pollock" Green Bag 2s XXIX (2025)

(image source: Liberty Fund)

 

Abstract:

Frederick Pollock (1845-1937) was the Green Bag’s kind of scholar. The first half of this paper consists of a sketch of his career and character, followed by a closer look at his sense of humor and the roles it played in his work. The second half of the paper is in two sections. First, there is a full republication of the text of a tiny book — a short story by Pollock titled “Queen Titania’s Chancellor”— that for nearly a century sat unnoticed on a bookshelf in the library of the Queen’s Dolls’ at Windsor Castle, until Elizabeth Clark Ashby (Curator of Books and Manuscripts in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle) gave Pollock’s miniature masterpiece some long-overdue and well-deserved attention in her 2024 book (full-sized), “The Miniature Library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House.” Second, there is a close (but incomplete) reading and analysis of that tiny text. If there are any lessons to be drawn from this paper, perhaps they are that greatness need not always be cloaked in dignity, and that Jack Point was not the only wit who could “teach you with a quip, if I’ve a mind” or “trick you into learning with a laugh.”

Read more here: DOI  10.2139/ssrn.6222058.

(source: Law & Humanities Blog) 

BOOK: Anna O. LAW, Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship. African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford: OUP, 2026), 304 p. ISBN 9780197660096, 19,99 GBP

 

(image source: OUP)

Abstract:

Since the late nineteenth century, the US federal government has enjoyed exclusive authority to decide whether someone has the ability to enter and stay in US territory. But freedom of movement was not guaranteed in the British colonies or early US. By contrast, voluntary migrants were met with strict laws and policies created by colonies and states, which denied free mobility and settlement in their territories to unwanted populations. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship presents a story of constitutional development that traces the confluence of the logics of slavery and settler colonialism in early legal rulings and public policy about migration and citizenship. The book examines the division of labor between the national and state governments that endured for over a century, reasons why that arrangement changed in the late nineteenth century, and what the transformation meant for people subject to those regimes of control. Drawing into one study the migration policy histories of groups of people that are usually studied separately, and combining the methodologies of political science, history, and law, Anna O. Law reveals the unmistakable effects of slavery and Native American dispossession in modern US immigration policy.

Table of contents:

Introduction
1:Sifting Migrants
2:Belonging
3:Migration and Citizenship at the Founding
4:Regulating International Borders
5:Regulating Interstate Borders
6:Formal Citizenship Defined
7:Historical Antecedents and Legal Precedents

Epilogue: Continuity, Change, and Constitutional Memory

 On the author:

is the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at CUNY Brooklyn College. She completed her PhD in Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Her publications appear in political science, history, and law journals and investigate the interaction between law, legal institutions, and politics. Her first book, The Immigration Battle in American Courts (2010), examined the role of the federal judiciary in U.S. immigration. She teaches and researches in U.S. constitutional law, federal courts, U.S. immigration policy history, federalism, American Political Development, and race/ethnicity.

 Read more here.

BOOK: Pierre ALLORANT & Walter BADIER, La Dissolution. De Napoléon à Macron [Épures, ed. Pierre-Henry FRAGNE] (Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2026), 144 p. ISBN 9791041310647, € 10

 

(image source: Presses universitaires de Rennes)

Abstract:

La dissolution a souvent été présentée comme un outil nécessaire au contrôle des parlementaires, un instrument utile à la résolution des crises entre l’exécutif et le législatif, et une arme de dissuasion contre l’instabilité gouvernementale. La dissolution remet au peuple le soin de trancher le différend entre les pouvoirs. Porter un regard de longue durée sur cette histoire apparaît indispensable à la compréhension de la crise politique et institutionnelle que nous vivons aujourd’hui. Dispositif absent des constitutions révolutionnaires, la dissolution apparaît avec Bonaparte, mais n’est utilisée qu’avec les monarchies censitaires du premier XIXe siècle. Longtemps perçue comme incompatible avec la République parlementaire, la dissolution est écartée entre 1877 et 1955. La crise actuelle incite à repenser la Ve République, conçue par Michel Debré pour le général de Gaulle en 1958.

Read more on the publisher's website. 

SSRN PAPER: Alli ORR LARSEN & Thomas MCSWEENEY, "Medieval Treatises and the Judicial Search for a Useable Past" (Willam & Mary Law School Research Paper nr. 09-514)

 

(image source: SSRN)

Abstract:

The Supreme Court’s recent turn to history and tradition has prompted a renewed interest in the far distant past – the laws and customs of the Middle Ages. But medieval treatises are full of traps for the unwary. This article – a joint enterprise between a medieval legal historian and a Supreme Court scholar – carefully explores what makes these treatises uniquely complicated and easy to get wrong. To start, they are written in Latin and, sometimes, Old French. In many instances, the underlying medieval decisions they reference are destroyed and gone forever. Because there was no photocopier or even printing press back then, treatises often come in competing versions reflecting not only multiple authors but also successive copyists who made substantive changes. And legal texts were just different in the thirteenth century. Treatises were used for purposes as diverse as passing on cultural values, advising rulers on how to govern, and even teaching people the ideals of friendship. Put simply: medieval law is hard to find, hard to read, and even harder to put into context. For the American judge or law clerk who is strapped for time but wants to make a point about a long tradition, the understandable temptation is to reach for an authority like a medieval treatise that feels familiar. After all, modern legal treatises (think Wright and Miller) are recognized as trustworthy authorities to cite. And today translated versions of medieval treatises are easy to find digitally. But that ease of access and familiarity of authority are illusory. Often the very things that make these medieval texts feel familiar to modern readers would have made them idiosyncratic to thirteenth century audiences. Our goal in this article is to raise the caution flag for judicial consumption of medieval treatises: a user-friendly useable past can lead modern lawyers and jurists astray and should not be consumed without scrutiny and care.

Read more here: DOI 10.2139/ssrn.6276360.

(source: Law & Humanities Blog)

BOOK: Ignacio DE LA RASILLA, Jiangyu WANG & Congyan CAI (eds.), Histories of International Law in China All Under Heaven? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026), 688 p. ISBN 9780198888345, 170 GBP

 

(image source: OUP)

Abstract:

Histories of International Law in China: All Under Heaven? offers a groundbreaking exploration of China's engagement with international law over the past two centuries. Written by an interdisciplinary group of international law scholars and legal historians, it provides a longue durée perspective, revealing both enduring patterns and profound shifts in China's approach to the global legal order. Beginning with China's millennia-old Sino-centric worldview-rooted in the Confucian concept of Tianxia (All under Heaven)-the book traces China's evolving relationship with international law from its period of isolation to its forced entry into the Western legal system during the First Opium War (1839-1842). It examines the transformation of China's legal landscape through the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1911), the Republican era (1912-1949), and the establishment of the People's Republic of China (1949). The book explores China's relationship with international law from 1949-including through the Cultural Revolution-until the 'reform and opening-up' era and the end of the Cold War. Histories of International Law in China sheds light on often-overlooked historical episodes and key conceptual legacies shaping China's approach to the international legal order. A unique feature is its curated biographies, including multiple long-forgotten or invisible protagonists, such as pioneering women in the history and theory of international law and China. Engagingly written and meticulously researched, this volume offers invaluable insights for legal scholars and researchers interested in understanding China's historical and contemporary role in shaping and making international law.

Table of contents:

I. National Histories of International Law
1.:Histories of International Law in China: An Introduction, Ignacio de la Rasilla, Jiangyu Wang
2.:China and the Turn to the National in the History of International Law, Ignacio de la Rasilla
II. Before and Beyond the Encounter: From Sino-Centric Isolation to Defensive Acculturation to International Law
3.:International Law in China: From Ancient Times to the Encounter, Xinyu Huang
4.:The Opium Wars, Extraterritoriality and International Drug Control, Inge Van Hulle
5.:China's Early Insertion in International Law Through the Protection of its Nationals Abroad: The Rock Springs Massacre, Mimetism and External State Building, Frédéric Mégret & Wanshu Cong
6.:Lost and Found in Translation: How Europeanized International Law Became Universalized in Modern China, Wensheng Qu & Li Wan
7.:'Unequal' Relations between China, Korea, and Japan: The 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki and Extradition Treaties, Masaharu Yanagihara
8.:A History of Italian Colonialism in China at the Turn of the 20th century, Luigi Nuzzo
9.:China, the Western Standard of Civilization and The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, Mingqian Li
III. International Law in China during the Republican Period
10.:The Republic of China and the League of Nations, Ryan Martinez Mitchell
11.:Professionalizing International Law in China During the Republican, Pasha L. Hsieh
12.:The Introduction of Soviet Theory of International Law to China: How Chinese International Lawyers Turned to Marxism, Congyan Cai and Jie Liu
13.:In the Garden of Gethsemane: US-Sino Relations in the History of International Law during the Republican Period, Christopher R. Rossi
IV. International Law in China from the New China to the Opening-Up and Reform Process
14.:China's International Law and the 'Third World' during the Revolutionary Period (1949-1978), Ignacio de la Rasilla
15.:China, the Cold War and International Law, Jiangyu Wang
16.:Towards a Principle-based International Order? the Origin of China's International Law Vocabulary in the 1950s-1960s, Yifeng Chen
17.:Two Empires: China, Russia and the Soviet Union in the History of International Law, Lauri Mälksoo
18.:China and International Law during the Cultural Revolution and Its Aftermath, Straton Papagianneas
19.:Human Rights and Democracy for All under Heaven in China: Historical Engagements with Two Challenging Principles, Eva Pils
20.:The Decolonization of Hong Kong: from the Unequal Treaties to the Basic Law, Fen Ling
21.:China's Evolving (Re-)Engagement with International Law: From the "Reform and Opening to the Outside World" to Building "Foreign-Related Rule of Law", Jacques deLisle
V. Chinese Historical Portraits in International Law
22.:Wang Chung-hui (1881-1958), Yang Liu
23.:Wellington Koo' (1888-1985), Maria Adele Carrai
24.:Zhou Gengsheng (1889-1971), Chao Wang and Guoqiang Luo
25.:Hsiang Che-chun (1892-1987), Zenghua Zhuo
26.:Li Haopei (1906-1997), Guoyong Zou and Li Jue
27.:Ni Zhengyu (1906-2003), Yayezi Hao & Hong Yu
28.:Han Depei (1911-2009), Yongping Xiao & Jue Li
29.:Wang Tieya (1913-2003), Ken Yang
30.:Qiu Shaoheng (1913-2009), Chao Wang
31.:Zhao Lihai (1916-1996), Ken Yang
32.:Chen Ti-Chiang (1917-1983), Xiaobin Xu
33.:Chinese Women in the Histories of International Law: Forgotten Names and Unfamiliar Paths, Ken Yang

Read more here. 

BOOK: Benoît CARRÉ, Distribuer l’argent du roi au XVIIIe siècle. La monarchie dévoilée (Villeneuve d'Asq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2025), ISBN 978-2-7574-4486-3 [OPEN ACCESS]

(image souce: OpenEdition)

 

Abstract:

Under the Ancien Régime, the finances of the King of France were shrouded in secrecy until the famous Necker decided to publish estimates of the monarchy’s income and, above all, expenditure. The public then discovered the staggering amount of the pensions that Louis XVI was paying to a large proportion of the nobility. At the time of the Revolution, the National Assembly decided to investigate and revealed the way in which public funds derived from tax coercion had been used to subsidise courtiers. This book tells the story both of the investigation and of the object investigated. By describing for the first time, using unpublished archives, the uses of this social practice that linked the king to the nobility, the author casts a new light on the forces behind the final crisis of the Ancien Régime and traces the genesis of the first retirement system for the State civil service.

On the author:

Chercheur en histoire moderne, spécialiste de l’Ancien Régime et de la Révolution. Il est docteur de l’université de Lille depuis 2018. Distribuer l’argent du roi au xviiie siècle. La monarchie dévoilée est son premier livre.

Read the book here: DOI  10.4000/14c77.