EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE LEGAL HISTORY: September 2024

20 September 2024

SEMINAR SERIES: Helsinki Legal History Series - University of Helsinki, 2024

(Image source: Helsinki Legal History Series)

We are pleased to announce the continuation of the Helsinki Legal History Series this Autumn, featuring renowned international scholars. Hosted by the University of Helsinki and organized by the Eurostorie and Cocolaw research units, these seminars are open to all. You can attend in person or join us via live stream.

The theme for this Fall is "Identities and Legal History", exploring crucial legal concepts through diverse historical, political, and regional lenses. This series provides valuable insights into the development of legal systems and their societal impacts.

Upcoming Seminars:

- Emily Prifogle (University of Michigan)

“Making Rural America: A Legal History”. September 24th, 3:00–4:30 PM (UTC+3, Helsinki time)

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- Anne Orford (University of Melbourne)

“The Promises and Perils of Interdisciplinary Encounters”. October 8th, 3:00–4:30 PM (UTC+3, Helsinki time)

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- Luisa Brunori (CNRS)

“The Identity of Partners and the Anonymity of Capital in Transatlantic Trade during the Early Modern Period”. November 5th, 3:00–4:30 PM (UTC+3, Helsinki time)

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- Pedro Cardim (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

“Corporations and Jurisdictional Culture: Exploring the Political Identity of Early Modern Iberian Monarchies” December 10th, 3:00–4:30 PM (UTC+3, Helsinki time)

For more information and to join the seminars, check out our website.

BOOK: Charles Edward SMITH, Colonial Massachusetts Laws and Liberties and the English Commonwealth State Formation, the Rule of Law, and the People’s Welfare (Leiden: Brill, 2024). ISBN: 978-90-04-70633-0, € 172.78

(Source: Brill)

ABOUT THE BOOK

On July 4, 1653, the Nominate or Barebones Parliament convened with a minority of committed radicals (Levellers and religious extremists) and a conservative majority of Cromwell’s allies. During acrimonious debates on law reform, the radicals demanded a condensed law book similar to the one adopted in Colonial Massachusetts.
These mostly overlooked events reveal a radical wing of Puritanism determined to found a self-governing state, fully cognizant of the real possibility that England would interdict such attempts by force of arms. This work investigates the motives for such a hazardous undertaking, and the possible influences these events had on the colony’s posterity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles Edward Smith, Ph.D. (1998), University of Chicago, has recently retired from the US Dept. of Defense, where he served as the Director of Legislative Operations in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part 1
The English Commonwealth and the Protestant Reformation
1 Massachusetts Capital Laws of 1642
2 Education and Radical Religiosity

Part 2
Creating a Legal Authority in the “New World”
3 No Taxation without Representation
4 The Negative Voice
5 The Standing Council

Part 3
Publishing Massachusetts Laws and Liberties
6 The Body of Liberties of 1641
7 Divine Magistracy vs. a Rule of Law
8 The Laws and Liberties of 1648

Part 4
Transatlantic Legal Reform and Popular Sovereignty
9 Penal Laws, Debt, and Early Modern Markets
10 Ship Money, Rex v. Hampden, and Matters of State
11 Popular Sovereignty: Salus Populi Suprema Lex

Part 5
Imperial Ambitions
12 An Arbitrary, Absolute, and Unlimited Power
13 Sovereignty of the Law

Conclusion

Works Cited

Index

More information with the publisher.

19 September 2024

CONFERENCE: “Rethinking Property: Decentralized Histories of Land Tenure (16th – 19th centuries)” - IberLAND project (Messina: Faculty of Law, University of Messina, 3-4 OCT 2024)

(Source: IberLAND)

The IberLAND project is pleased to announce the upcoming conference, “Rethinking Property: Decentralized Histories of Land Tenure (16th – 19th centuries),” taking place from October 3rd to 4th, 2024, at the Faculty of Law, University of Messina (Italy), co-organized with its Law Department. This event aims to explore the complex evolution of land tenure and property concepts during the period of Iberian imperial expansion and beyond.

The Iberian imperial expansion significantly influenced land ownership regimes and agrarian practices worldwide. By the late 19th century, private property had evolved into a prominent concept. However, this evolution was complex and intertwined with local traditions and practices. The conference will examine these developments through a decentralized narrative, focusing on how social, natural, and legal relationships shaped land tenure across different regions.

Scientific Committee: Giacomo Pace Gravina, Sarah Limão Papa, Manuel Bastias Saavedra

Organizing Committee: Giovanna Sciuto, Roger Tuzza, Francesco Ciccolo, Umberto De Luca.

Download the full programme here.

BOOK: Paweł WLODKOWIC, Writings (1416-1432). The Struggle for the Self-Determination of Central Europe (transl. Charles S. KRASZEWSKI, ed. Paul W. KNOLL) (Rome: St. John Paul II Institute of Culture/Evangelicum: 2023), 664 p. ISBN 978-83-67065-44-3 150 Zl.

(image source: Teologiapolityczna)

Abstract:

Paweł Włodkowic and his Tractatus de potestae papae et imperatoris respectu infidelium (Treatise on the Power of the Pope and Emperor Respecting Infidels) presented during the Council of Constance (1414-1418) are the symbols of fundamental for shaping Polish political and social thought focused on the rights of people, their natural inclinations to forming communities subjected to natural law and the law of nations. At the same time, the context of the announcement of his dissertation evokes the greatest diplomatic victory of Poland in Europe at the turn of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, connected with the pivotal for the peaceful functioning of Central Europe conflict of the Polish-Lithuanian union with the Teutonic Order, whose representatives sought to convert the gentiles by force, and in practice often exterminate them. In the linguistic and substantive manner proper for that period, the scholastic treatise considers questions fundamental and universal for political and religious communities, which boil down to the following issues: Where is the boundary between the just and unjust use of force? What is the significance of the national right to freedom, existence and self-determination for the international peace? Today, we can consider Paweł Włodkowic’s thought from the perspective that allows us to appreciate that this way of thinking eventually created conditions for the emergence of the modern concept of human rights and religious tolerance. Reinforcing the pragmatic and specific political goals that Włodkowic has faced with the original, humanist-Christian approach supported by the highest, in that historical period, scientific and intellectual standards has resulted in presenting the whole of Europe with such ideas that today can be appraised as Polish contribution to development European thought in the fifteenth century and that preceded Francis of Vittoria, one of the fathers of international law, by one century.

18 September 2024

BOOK: Sylvain SOLEIL, Hugo BEUVANT, Luc GUÉRAUD, Thierry HAMON & Tiphaine LE YONCOURT (dir.), Histoire des institutions publiques, Xe-XIXe siècle [Champs Université] (Paris: Flammarion, 2024), 416 p. ISBN 978-2080429872, € 15

(image source: Flammarion)

Abstract:

Ce manuel est destiné aux étudiants en première année de licence de droit ou d'AES, aux élèves des Instituts d'études politiques, ainsi qu'aux candidats aux concours de la fonction publique. On qualifie d'institutions publiques les normes et les structures qui permettent de régir un pays : les dirigeants et les ministres, les assemblées et les conseils, l'armée, la fiscalité, la justice, les communautés locales. Ces institutions ont une longue histoire qui, seule, permet de comprendre pourquoi et comment la France du XXIᵉ siècle est organisée comme elle l'est. De façon chronologique et synthétique, cet ouvrage explique les institutions publiques et les idées politiques qui les sous-tendent à compter du Moyen-Âge (X-XIIIᵉ siècle) jusqu'à la chute du Second Empire (1870), en passant par la monarchie absolue, la Révolution et l'oeuvre de Napoléon.

More information with the publisher.

BOOK: Masaharu YANAGIHARA & Atsuko KANEHARA (eds.), Japan’s Territory under International Law (Leiden: Brill, 2024). ISBN: 978-90-04-70636-1, € 144.16

(Source: Brill)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Series: Legal History Library, Volume: 69/25; Studies in the History of International Law, Volume: 69/25

This volume sheds light on Japan's territorial situation from a unique perspective by analyzing the historical evolution of the concept of “territory” and the various legal theories on resolving territorial disputes. Each of the chapters in this book presents multiple points of view that provide significant insight into the resolution of Japan’s territorial issues, such as those concerning the Northern Territories, Takeshima, and the Senkaku Islands. This book will be a valuable and useful resource to practitioners, researchers, and even members of the general public with an interest in territorial disputes.

Contributors are: Masaharu Yanagihara, Tadashi Mori, Tetsuya Yamada, Yuichi Sasaki, Atsuko Kanehara, Tomofumi Kitamura, Hironobu Sakai, Tomoko Fukamachi, and Dai Tamada.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Masaharu Yanagihara, Ph.D. (1981), University of Tokyo, is Professor at the Open University of Japan. His main article in English is “Significance of the History of the Law of Nations in Europe and East Asia,” Recueil des cours 371 (2015).

Atsuko Kanehara, LL.B., University of Tokyo, is Research Director for the Canon Institute for Global Studies. Her main article in English is “Refining Japan’s Integrative Position on the Territorial Sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands,” International Law Studies 97 (2021).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

List of Figures

Notes on Contributors

Part 1

Defining the Territory of Modern Japan

1 Incorporation of Remote Islands into the Territory of Japan Focusing on Iō-tō and Minami-Tori-shima

Masaharu Yanagihara

2 Ryūkyū Attribution Issue and Ernest Satow Assessment of the Newspapers Debate between Japan and Qing and Its Background

Tadashi Mori

Part 2

Territorial Extensions in Modern Japan

3 Acquisition of “Colonies” and Legal System of Japan

Tetsuya Yamada

4 The Concept of Leaseholds from the Perspective of Modern Japan

Yuichi Sasaki

Part 3

Intent and Time in Territorial Disputes

5 The Arguments Based on “Law” in Territorial Disputes

Atsuko Kanehara

6 Significance of Silence in Territorial Disputes Toward Legal Construction on “75 Years of Silence” regarding the Senkaku Islands (Pinnacle Islands)

Tomofumi Kitamura

7 Temporal Elements and Their Regulation in Determining Territorial Disputes Practical Application to Territorial Disputes of Japan

Hironobu Sakai

Part 4

Territorial Disputes in International Courts and Tribunals

8 Application and Evaluation of “Pre-modern/Non-European Territorial Control” in International Courts and Tribunals

Tomoko Fukamachi

9 Recognition of the Existence of Territorial Sovereignty Disputes in International Courts and Tribunals The Use of the Coastal State Litigations before the Annex vii Arbitration of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

Dai Tamada

Conclusion

Atsuko Kanehara

Index of Cases

17 September 2024

CONFERENCE: Learning about the law: Historical perspectives on public legal education for laypersons and underprivileged groups (Helsinki: University of Helsinki, 20-21 MAY 2025; DEADLINE 30 NOV 2024)

(image: Helsinki; source: Wikimedia Commons)

Abstract:

This conference focuses on public legal education in a historical perspective. It aims to discuss the various ways in which legal information has been disseminated to groups of laypersons or underprivileged people in order to enhance their legal literacy. Such groups can include e.g. women and children, workers, people with disabilities, immigrants and refugees.
In the wake of industrialisation and the growth of the working class, many countries implemented legislation regarding workers’ protection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This in turn caused the need to educate workers on their rights. The early 20th century also witnessed the growth of women’s rights regarding e.g. education, occupation, property and marriage – all of which women needed information on. Throughout history, there have been waves of immigration around the world for various reasons. Those leaving their homes and moving to another country have also needed knowledge on their rights and the laws they need to follow. Moreover, besides underprivileged groups, educating laypersons in general on legal matters has also been part of building liberal, democratic nation states in which citizens are aware of the legal system and know how to navigate it. This kind of public legal education can take various forms. Legal knowledge has been distributed e.g. through handbooks, magazine articles, popular lectures and courses.
The conference aims to bring together historical research on the topic from different countries or regions to form a comparative understanding on the reasons for such activities, the forms they take and the consequences these practices had for each group of people and even society as a whole.
Papers could discuss e.g.: the motives for distributing legal knowledge to laypersons and underprivileged groups the different actors involved (providers and recipients of public legal education) whether the activities are initiated from within the specific group or from the outside what kind of legal information was seen as relevant for each group the role of professional lawyers in these activities the role of various interest groups in promoting these activities (associations, political parties etc.) the role of the state in these activities the different media used to disseminate legal education (courses, lectures, handbooks, magazines, radio and tv programmes etc.) the role of publishers or media outlets public legal education as part of developing a civil society how has the increasing legal awareness impacted each group the topic from a broader comparative perspective a longue durée view on the phenomenon
Keynote presentations will be given by: Dr. Kate Bradley (University of Kent) Dr. Elsa Trolle Önnerfors (Lund University) Prof. Felice Batlan (Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology). Deadline for paper proposals with abstracts (max. 400 words) and a short description of the presenter is 30 November 2024.

More information:

For further information, as well as sending paper proposals, please contact Marianne Vasara-Aaltonen (marianne.vasara-aaltonen@helsinki.fi), University Lecturer in Legal History at the University of Helsinki.