BOOK: Jutta BRAUN, Nadine FREUND, Christian MENTEL, Gunnar TAKE (eds.), Das Kanzleramt. Bundesdeutsche Demokratie und NS-Vergangenheit (Göttingen: Wallstein, 2025), 938 p., ISBN 978-3-8353-5598-9

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Das Bundeskanzleramt war seit 1949 die politische Schaltzentrale der jungen westdeutschen Demokratie. Aufgrund der Richtlinienkompetenz des Bundeskanzlers konnte die Behörde auf alle Bereiche des Regierungshandelns einwirken. Dabei bewegte sie sich im Spannungsfeld zwischen demokratischem Neubeginn und den Nachwirkungen des Nationalsozialismus. Während die NS-Belastung des langjährigen Amtschefs Hans Globke häufig thematisiert wurde, wusste man über das Personal dieser bundespolitischen Schlüsselstelle bisher nur wenig. Woher kamen die leitenden Beamten, welches Politik- und Demokratieverständnis brachten sie mit oder entwickelten sie? Wie steuerte das Bundeskanzleramt die Personalpolitik, den Umgang mit der NS-Vergangenheit und die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit des Bundes?
Der Band vereint vier Studien, in denen diese Fragen erstmals umfassend untersucht werden. Ausgehend von den Biographien der im Kanzleramt tätigen Beamten spannen Autorinnen und Autoren den Bogen vom frühen 20. Jahrhundert über die NS-Zeit und die Ära Adenauer bis in die 1970er Jahre.

ABOUT THE EDITORS:

Jutta Braun ist Leiterin der Abteilung »Regime des Sozialen« am Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam. Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte sind die Geschichte der deutschen Teilung und Vereinigung sowie die Behördengeschichte in Diktatur und Demokratie.
Veröffentlichungen u. a.: Porsche. Vom Konstruktionsbüro zur Weltmarke (2017, mit Wolfram Pyta und Nils Havemann); Im Riss zweier Epochen. Potsdam in den 1980er und frühen 1990er Jahren (2017, mit Peter Ulrich Weiß).

Nadine Freund war von 2017 bis 2022 wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Zeitgeschichte München-Berlin. Aktuell ist sie Dozentin am Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben (BAFZA) sowie Privatdozentin an der Universität Kassel mit Schwerpunkten in der Zeitgeschichte, der Erinnerungskultur und dem Rechtsextremismus.

Christian Mentel war bis 2020 wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam. Er hat u. a. zu den Feldern Geschichtspolitik und Erinnerungskultur, insbesondere zu den Themen NS-Aufarbeitung und Behördenforschung, geforscht und publiziert.

Gunnar Take war bis 2021 wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Zeitgeschichte München-Berlin. Gegenwärtig arbeitet er in der Abteilung Unternehmensgeschichte der Universität Stuttgart und forscht zum Geld- und Bankwesen in der DDR.

Find more here.

BOOK: Jesús ASTIGARRAGA & Niccolò GUASTI (eds.), Gerónimo de Uztáriz and his Economic Work. New Politics and the Origins of the Science of Commerce in 18th Century Europe [Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, eds. Peter KIESLER, Jan TOPOROWSKI & Maria Cristina MARCUZZO] (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), XVII + 364 p. ISBN 9783031758560

 

Abstract:

This book provides a detailed and compelling guide to the life and economic work of Gerónimo de Uztáriz. It contextualises his work within the economic and political trends of the time, including the Enlightenment, Spanish liberalism, and colonial empires. Particular attention is given to de Uztáriz’s seminal work Theórica y Práctica de comercio y de marina and how it achieved international circulation and recognition. Its influence on 18th century Spain is examined, alongside a detailed analysis of the trade systems of the day. The translation and reception of Theórica in France, Great Britain, Italy, Ireland, and Germany is also discussed. This book aims to shed new light upon the economic work of Gerónimo de Uztáriz and highlights why his ideas remain relevant and important. It will be of interest to students and researchers working within modern history and the history of economic thought.

Table of contents:

Uztáriz and the Origins of the “Science of Commerce” in Europe (Jesús Astigarraga, Niccolò Guasti)
Abstract:

This chapter aims to introduce the figure of Uztáriz and to underline the importance of his Theórica (1724) in both the Hispanic and European contexts. The state of the art on these issues is discussed in detail, and the book’s main objectives are set out. The chapter highlights Uztariz’s book as an attempt to establish a “new politics” for the Spanish Monarchy and concludes by emphasising its international dimension: to speak of the Theórica is to speak of the origins of the “science of commerce” in the European Enlightenment.

Gerónimo de Uztáriz: Biographical Note (Reyes Fernández Durán)
Abstract:

This chapter aims to reconstruct Uztáriz’s personal and intellectual history. It highlights, among other aspects, his relationship with the influential group from Navarre who had settled in Madrid, his long sojourn in Belgium and the Netherlands, his informative travels around Europe, his posting to the Viceroyalty of Sicily as Treasury advisor, and his return to Spain at the height of the War of the Spanish Succession to serve the Crown in diplomatic affairs and on different councils. These stages are related with the vicissitudes of the 1724 first edition of the Theórica and the 1742 and 1757 re-editions, as well as the range of measures to tackle the country’s economic crisis set out in the work. The importance of examining the reports that Uztáriz wrote at the authorities’ request and other unpublished writings is also stressed.

The Man and His Circumstances: The Historical Context of Writing the Theórica (Sergio Solbes Ferri)
Abstract:

The years following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession were particularly frenzied in several aspects. The revision of the situation in the international and military policy sphere brought about by the Treaties of Utrecht has been emphasized, and this period is also understood to have formed part of a restructuring process for the Spanish economy. However, until recently, the idea of a simultaneous reorganization of an institutional framework affecting Spain as a whole has been blurred. The Nueva Planta reform phase was not limited to its implementation in the Crown of Aragon kingdoms, but was a key moment in the development of the modern state throughout Spain. Jean Orry’s reforms at the end of the conflict did not achieve a stable structure for several decades. Consequently, the context in which Uztáriz’s Theórica (1724) was published needs to be studied as a particularly delicate and significant moment in the halting overhaul of the Bourbon administration.

Europe in the Time of Gerónimo de Uztáriz’s Theórica: Between the Peace of Utrecht (1713) and the Peace of Vienna (1725) (Virginia León Sanz)
Abstract:

Uztáriz finished the Theórica at the end of 1724, a troubled year in Philip V’s reign, characterised by the monarch’s abdication and return to the throne. Bourbon diplomacy was about to undertake a U-turn in terms of its alliances, with a rapprochement with Austria and the signing of the Peace of Vienna in 1725. For almost a decade, Philip V had been endeavouring to reverse the Treaties of Utrecht, mainly those signed with England, but also others relating to the Mediterranean which had meant the loss of Sardinia, Milan, Naples and Sicily and which translated into a dynastic policy that conditioned Atlantic policy. Spain’s joining of the Quadruple Alliance in February 1720 and the slow pace of work at the Congress of Cambrai, the conflicts with England over the implementing of the Trade Treaty and the Treaty of Asiento, and the deterioration of relations with France all culminated in a change in Spain’s attitude and a rethinking of its positions at political and trade level arising from the Europe of Utrecht. In this European context, Uztáriz’s international career and the range of posts he held in Philip V’s service equipped him with a unique perspective on the trade policies of France, England and Holland. Shortly after the work was published, in 1725, Spain signed a Trade Treaty with Austria.

Uztáriz and His Sources: The Public Good Beyond the Reason of State (Niccolò Guasti)
Abstract:

Uztáriz’s treatise advocated a new economic policy for the Spanish Bourbon monarchy: since commerce, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, had come to underpin the balance of power in the international system, he lobbied for strong state intervention to develop national industry and trade with the colonies. Combining his training as a military engineer and a strong expertise in the administrative field with the heuristic tools taken from French Colbertism, Spanish arbitrismo and maybe English Political Arithmetic, Uztáriz featured some possible countermeasures against the re-export Dutch trade and the aggressive economic policy carried out by England since the second half of the seventeenth century. However, he never considered the political solutions or economic data gained from his sources (Vauban, Dubos, Huet, Savary, Moncada, Fernández de Navarrete, etc.) as a theoretical knowledge, but rather a practical know-how, useful to devise an economic policy able to restore Spain as a new model commercial empire.

Taxes and Tariffs in the Fiscal Debate in Spain at the Time of Uztáriz’s Theórica (1724–1757) (Niccolò Guasti, Jesús Astigarraga)
Abstract:

Uztáriz’s Theórica was the most influential Spanish economics text throughout the country and its colonies as a whole in the eighteenth century. It soon became the object of well-honed critical analyses. Although this controversial reception touched on many of the arguments put forward in the work, taxation was undoubtedly a major focus of the interpretations. This chapter aims to define the outlines of the long shadow cast by the Theórica over the three decades after its publication. It is divided basically into three sections. The first analyses Uztáriz’s core proposal for taxation, the second deals with tariffs and the customs system. and the third examines the controversial reception of both, particularly the former, among political economists and reformers of the day. The chapter underlines that Uztáriz conceived taxation (taxes and tariffs) as a linchpin for establishing a “new policy” that would bring Spain into line with Europe’s leading countries and promote the recovery of comercio útil, especially domestic manufacturing.

The Organisation of the Armadas of War and Commerce in the Writings of Gerónimo de Uztáriz (1717–1725): Polemics During the Transfer of the Casa de la Contratación (Ana Crespo-Solana)
Abstract:

The relationship between timber provision for navy shipyards and the naval reforms carried out during the eighteenth century has been the subject of recent analysis. The aforementioned issues, namely those pertaining to naval models and the supply of timber, were prominent in the political and economic discourses that shaped the decision to transfer the trade and navigation tribunals from Seville to Cadiz. This aspect was a point of contention between Gerónimo de Uztáriz and those who advocated for the centralisation of the navy, particularly the minister José Patiño. This chapter puts forward an analysis of the reciprocal relationship between forests, resources for the navy (dealt with in Chapter LXIII of the Theórica), and the organisation of fleets and navies from the perspective of Uztáriz's comparative critique. The author’s analysis is focused on the political and economic debate that took place within the Bourbonic Court concerning the defence of interests surrounding the creation of new shipyards and naval centres in eighteenth-century Spain.

The Colonial Balance of Trade: Uztáriz and the Carrera de Indias (Fidel J. Tavárez)
Abstract:

That Uztáriz’s Theórica had enormous influence in the Hispanic world, especially concerning commercial matters, is a well-known fact. Be that as it may, it remains surprising that an economic treatise centrally concerned with commercial matters had very little to say about the Spanish Empire’s port-restricted and convoy system of trade, the infamous fleets and galleons. Why did Uztáriz almost entirely eschew this topic, even though the reform of the fleets and galleons would later become one of the most important economic concerns among ministers in the court? After describing Uztáriz’s economic thought in relation to various arbitristas (projectors) of the seventeenth century, this chapter proposes that, to answer this question, it is first necessary to reconstruct a related debate about whether a modern commercial nation had to imitate the Dutch in erecting privileged commercial companies. Arguing against the need to imitate the Dutch model, Uztáriz suggested that the most important factor of a successful commercial state was a well-organised system of tariffs and economic incentives that privileged national goods. Whether this occurred via the fleets and galleons or commercial companies was of secondary importance. Instead, the crown had to focus on trading with national goods and achieving a favorable balance of trade.

The Theórica: Publishing History and Economic Lexicon (Elena Carpi)
Abstract:

This chapter deals with the Theórica from the point of view of publishing history and the comparison between the first two editions, with special attention to the paratexts and to the handwritten notes in the margins of the first edition. In addition, it proposes the study of the most relevant neological formations, from a lexicogenetic point of view.

Uztáriz in Britain (Richard van den Berg)
Abstract:

The publication of the English translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica in 1751 signalled the beginning of the reception of this work in Britain. Over the next decades there were frequent, but often somewhat isolated, references to Uztáriz in works dealing with commercial, colonial or naval matters. However, by far the most extensive use was made of this Spanish treatise by Malachy Postlethwayt in his Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. This chapter examines the selections Postlethwayt made and the ways in which he used these substantial borrowings in support of his own positions.

The French Translation of the Theórica: From Political Arithmetic to Political Economy (Antonella Alimento)
Abstract:

This chapter considers the identity of the person who drove forward the 1753 French translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica y práctica de comercio y de marina. Evidence supports the hypothesis that it was Véron de Forbonnais who proposed the translation as part of a broader editorial initiative, which also included the translation of The British Merchant (1753) and was aimed at employing political arithmetic to prevent the renewal of the commercial treaty binding France to the United Provinces and the implementation of the treaty signed with England in Utrecht in 1713. Forbonnais, who admired Uztáriz’s text for its methodological approach, used his notes not only to correct the factual errors made by Uztáriz but also to replace the natural law approach adopted by the Navarrese official with an economic anthropology based on self-interest and “progressive consumptionism”, which he embraced having read and appreciated David Hume.

Uztáriz in the German-Speaking World: Karl Zinzendorf’s Commercial Travels to Spain in 1767 (Simon Adler)
Abstract:

The contribution will examine the reception of Uztáriz’s Theórica in the Habsburg monarchy. It will discuss how Karl Zinzendorf, a leading enlightened Minister in Maria Teresa’s government and specialist in trade affairs, used Uztáriz’s ideas for his commercial travels to Spain in 1767, and it will show how the cameralist writer Joseph von Sonnenfels included the Théorica in his writings. It attempts to highlight the influence of Uztáriz´ ideas amongst economic writers and government ministers in German states.

The Circulation and Translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica in Italy (Niccolò Guasti)
Abstract:

Uztáriz can be considered one of the most frequently quoted foreign economists in eighteenth-century Italy; in some Italian contexts (the Kingdom of Naples, Habsburg Lombardy, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Modena and the Papal State), he was regarded among the founding fathers of the new political economy as an academic and scientific discipline. His Theórica was read by Italian reformers and Enlightenment thinkers (Genovesi, Verri, Beccaria, Pagnini, Paradisi, Fracastoro, Vergani, Zanon, etc.) especially through the French translation by Forbonnais (1753), although in 1793 a Spanish expelled Jesuit, Gonzalo Adorno Hinojosa, released a new translation, this time directly from Spanish into Italian. Although it was a partial version (since Adorno translated almost half of original Uztáriz’s treatise), this latest version of the Theórica confirms that at the end of the eighteenth century Uztáriz’s economic ideas and political suggestions were still effective and attractive in several Italian states. The chapter examines the spread of Uztáriz’s Theórica in eighteenth-century Italy through its translations and the reasons for this enduring success.

Uztáriz’s Theórica and Strategies for Spain’s Economic Development (1740–1795) (Jesús Astigarraga, Javier Usoz, Juan Zabalza)
Abstract:

The Theórica’s commercial and industrial goal was hegemonic in Spain during the first half of the eighteenth century, in tune with prevailing ideas in the rest of Europe. During this time the book marked ways of thinking about how the structural problem faced by Spain due to its “lack of trade” could be solved, and from 1740 onwards it became a key text, thanks to the two re-editions in 1742 and in 1757. The work was especially influential in the three areas of taxation, trade and development strategies. However, after around 1760 its influence waned due to the prevalence of doctrines in favour of prioritising agriculture. In spite of this, its proposals for taxation, support for the role of trade, which was partially open to free trade initiatives, and criticism of companies with state privileges meant that the work retained its relevance in this predominantly agrarian context. Its pro-manufacturing stance, which was largely detached from Ancien Regime rigidity and privileges, also survived among major authors and in specific fields. This chapter therefore underlines the argument that there was not just one interpretation of the Theórica but many, and that they were wide-ranging and even contradictory.

Read more here: DOI 10.1007/978-3-031-75857-7.

ARTICLE: Felix LANGE, "Claiming Legality - German Lawyers under the Swastika and the Aggression against Poland", Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht LXXXV (2025), Nr. 1, 17-42 [OPEN ACCESS]

(image source: ZaöRV)

Abstract:

The article studies how German lawyers under the swastika justified the German aggression against Poland in 1939 and questioned the support of the United States for Poland and its Allies. It distinguishes three lines of argu- ment: First, they claimed that the Kellogg-Briand Pact was devoid of norma- tive content and thus could not bind the German Reich. This argument was coupled with a political critique of the League of Nations Covenant and the Kellogg-Briand Pact as instruments for maintaining the territorial status quo. Second, they put forward that the German Reich was acting in self-defence and that it was Poland, France, and Great Britain who had violated the Covenant and the Pact. Third, they rejected efforts to reconceptualise the existing rules of neutrality in light of the Covenant and the Pact. Reliance on a more traditional understanding of neutrality was intended to raise legal obstacles to siding with Poland, France, and Great Britain for third states such as the United States

Read more here: DOI 10.17104/0044-2348-2025-1-17

BOOK: Luisa BRUNORI, Cristina CIANCIO & Elio TAVILLA (eds.), Lotte e rivendicazioni - Luttes et revendications [Collana di Studi di storia del diritto medievale e moderno, Collettanee; 14] (Roma: Historia et Ius, 2025), 394 p. ISBN 9791281621107 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: HistoriaetIus)

First paragraph:

Lédition du 2023 des rencontres France-Italie a eu lieu à Modène, plus précisément au département de droit, qui a aujourd’hui la vocation d’être fidèle à l’héritage du deuxième Studium européen, dans l’ordre chronologique, après celui d’Irnerius à Bologne. Lorsque Pyleus de Medicina, entre 1175 et 1178, se déplaça de Bologne à Modène, convoqué par l’évêque et par la municipalité, il fut immédiatement clair que l’objectif devait être de donner à l’étude du droit romain une orientation pratique, destinée à la profession de juge et d’avocat. Et c’est ce qui s’est passé. Pyleus fut parmi les premiers juristes qui, outre le droit romain, enseigna aussi le droit féodal (c’est à lui la théorie du dominium divisum) et fit connaître quelques notions de droit canonique, sans parler des nombreux quaestiones (rappelons le célèbres quaestiones sabbatinae) qu’il composa au profit de ceux qui travaillaient dans les tribunaux. La reconnaissance formelle du Studium eut lieu en 1224 avec un bref du pape Honorius III. Depuis lors, d’importants juristes y ont enseigné, tels que Martinus de Fano, Guido de Suzzara, Albertus Galeotus de Parme, Guillaume Durand et Nicolaus Matarellus.

Contributions by Anne Sophie Chambost, Marco Fioravanti, Guillaume Richard, Dante Fedele, Eliana Augusti, Bruno Dubois, Virginia Amorosi, Tanguy Le Marc'hadour, Giuseppina De Giudici, Francesco Mastroberti, Marc Ortolani, Xavier Prévost, Giovanni Rossi, Aldo Andrea Cassi, Giuseppe Speciale and Marco Cavina.

Download the full book here.

BOOK: Thomas GIDNEY, An International Anomaly. Colonial Accession to the League of Nations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), ISBN 9781009584432 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: CUP)

Abstract:

It is often assumed that only sovereign states can join the United Nations. But this was not always the case. At the founding of the United Nations, a loophole drafted by British statesmen in its predecessor organisation, the League of Nations, was carried forward, allowing colonies to accede as member-states. Colonies such as India, Ireland, Egypt, and many more were afforded a tokenistic representation at the League in Geneva during the interwar years, decades before their independence. Thomas Gidney unites three geographically distinct case studies to demonstrate the evolution of Britain's policy from a range of different viewpoints, exploring how this policy came into being, and why it was only exploited by the British Empire. He argues that this membership shaped colonial norms around sovereignty and international recognition in the interwar period and to the present day.

Table of contents:

Introduction
1. India's accession to the Imperial Conference
2. The formation of the League of Nations and Indian membership 'The anomaly among anomalies'
3. Inter Se and the League of Nations
4. Ireland's accession to the League of Nations
5. A membership obstructed: Egypt's delayed accession to the League of Nations

6. The demise of the League of Nations and the reemergence of colonial membership at the United Nations.

On the author:

Thomas Gidney is a a historian of international and colonial history and a Research Fellow at the Global Governance Centre, Graduate Institute Geneva. 

Read more: DOI 10.1017/9781009584432. 

CONFERENCE: Difendere le associazioni, difendere lo Stato. Crisi, evoluzioni e prospettive di una dialettica complessa (Rome: Senato della Repubblica, 15 MAY 2025, h. 10:00-17:30)

(Image source: Senato della Repubblica)

Program: 

ore 10.00, saluti istituzionali

ore 10.30-13.30, prima sessione:  La legge sulle associazioni del 1925 e il crollo dello Stato liberale; Presiede: Fulvio CONTI (Università di Firenze)

• Italo BIROCCHI (La Sapienza Università di Roma): Il quadro storico-giuridico
• Andrea FRANGIONI (Camera dei Deputati): Francesco Ruffini
• Leonardo RAPONE (Università della Tuscia, Viterbo): Antonio Gramsci: la legge sulle associazioni e la conquista fascista dello Stato 
• Irene STOLZI (Università di Firenze): Alfredo Rocco e «la rinnovazione totale dell’idea dello Stato»
• Alessandra TARQUINI (La Sapienza Università di Roma): La fine di un’ambiguità: Benedetto Croce e il fascismo nel 1925

ore 15.00-17.30, seconda sessione: Orizzonti ideali e luoghi notevoli dell'associazionismo nella società democratica; Presiede: Fulvio CORTESE (Università di Trento)

• Anna Maria POGGI (Università di Torino): Associazioni e libertà collettive: la fase costituente
• Agostino GIOVAGNOLI (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano): Democrazia, eversione e terrorismo nell’Italia degli anni Settanta
• Susanna MANCINI (Università di Bologna): Il pluralismo sociale in Europa 

Conclusioni, Giuliano AMATO (Presidente emerito della Corte Costituzionale)

Practicalities:

Il convegno si svolge nella Sala Capitolare presso il Chiostro del Convento di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva presso il Senato della Repubblica, Piazza della Minerva, 38. L'accesso alla Sala - con abbigliamento consono, e per gli uomini, obbligo di giacca e cravatta - è consentito fino al raggiungimento della capienza massima. I Giornalisti e gli ospiti devono accreditarsi scrivendo a: francesca.caleca[at]senato.it. Sarà possibile seguire l'evento online, in diretta streaming su webtv.senato.it e sul canale YouTube del Senato Italia

 

CORE LEGAL THEORY SEMINAR: Dirk HEIRBAUT (UGent/KVAB) on "Redefining Codification" (Oxford University Press, 2025) (Brussels: VUB, 6 MAY 2025, 12:30-14:00) [HYBRID]

 

More than half of the world's population lives under law codes. Yet, defining the concept of codification remains elusive. Rather than delving into abstract theories, this book provides a rich and contextual comparative legal history of codes in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium from the late eighteenth century to the present. The author starts by examining the evolution of French, German, Dutch, and Belgian codes in their political and comparative context, thus challenging deeply rooted national narratives. He covers the well-studied civil codes and the often-overlooked commercial and procedural codes and drafts that failed to become law. Against this backdrop, the book embarks on a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to the success or failure of codification efforts. Employing an innovative method of comparative legal history, Redefining Codification explores the key players and objectives behind codification, revealing that traditional notions of codification are far removed from reality. Following the deconstruction of some 'universal truths' about codifications, this volume offers fresh insights into the behind-the-scenes of the lawmaking machinery and an empirically based definition of codification.

Table of contents:

1:Introduction
2:France
3:Germany
4:The Netherlands
5:Belgium
6:The Lack of an Ideal Code
7:A Comparative Legal History Method for Studying the Success and Failure of Draft Codifications
8:Actors: Drafters, Politicians, and Other Stakeholders
9:Aims: Do Ambitions Survive Contact with Reality?

10:Conclusion: Redefining the Concept of a Code 

 On the author:

Dirk Heirbaut is a senior full professor at Ghent University specialized in comparative legal history. His research covers medieval feudal and customary law, the comparative history of private law codifications, and Belgian private law since Napoleon. He is a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts and the Academia Europaea and was a founding vice-president of the European Society for Comparative Legal History. He has been a guest researcher and professor at various universities and received the Eike von Repgow Prize in 2014.

The CORE Legal Theory Seminar is coordinated by Prof. Laurent De Sutter. 

Practical:

Room  C 2.07a, Pleinlaan 2 1050 IXELLES
Alternatively, this can be followed on MS Teams. RSVP with Rodrick dot Van dot der dot Smissen at vub dot be.

BOOK: Conor CRUMMEY, The Principle of Legality [Oxford Legal Philosophy, ed. Timothy ENDICOTT] (Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2025), 224 p. ISBN 9780198935438, 100 GBP

 

(image source: OUP)

Abstract:

It is a well-known tenet of public law that judges must interpret a statute consistently with common law rights and principles, unless that statute uses 'clear and express' language to license their violation of such rights and principles. This is the 'principle of legality'. But what rights and principles activate this rule of statutory construction? How explicit must statutory language be to permit the violation of common law rights? Is there a point at which a potential interference with common law principles is so egregious that even a clearly-worded statute cannot license it? The Principle of Legality: A Moral Theory develops a theory to help us engage with and answer these questions. Professor Conor Crummey challenges prevailing accounts of the principle of legality as a presumption about the intentions of the legislature. By engaging with debates in the philosophy of language and general jurisprudence, the book reveals the shortcomings of these existing theories. Through the lens of a non-positivist theory of general jurisprudence, The Principle of Legality demonstrates that judges, when invoking the principle of legality, are engaging in a complex process of moral reasoning. This innovative approach provides clear, satisfying answers to some of the most pressing and controversial questions in contemporary public law scholarship.

 Table of contents:

1:Introduction 2:Mapping the Principle of Legality 3:Meaning and Intentions 4:Legislative Intentions and General Jurisprudence 5:What Is Non-Positivism? 6:Integrity and the Legal Domain of Morality 7:Non-Positivism, Parliamentary Sovereignty, and the Rule of Law 8:Beyond a Presumption: Legality as Integrity 9:Legality and 'Disapplication'

 On the author:

Conor Crummey is an Assistant Professor in Law at Maynooth University. His work addresses the theoretical underpinnings of constitutional law, with a particular focus on the connections between general jurisprudence and statutory interpretation in UK public law. His work also focuses on debates in general jurisprudence, in particular non-positivist, or interpretivist, theories of general jurisprudence. His work has been published in Legal Theory, The Modern Law Review, Public Law, and Jurisprudence and The Irish Judicial Studies Journal.

Read more here. 

BOOK: Richard BELLAMY & Jeff KING (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory [Cambridge Handbooks] (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), ISBN 9781108868143, € 145,89

 

(image source: CUP)

Abstract: 

This Handbook brings together contributions from leading scholars of constitutional theory, with backgrounds in law, philosophy and political science. Its sixty chapters not only offer an exceptional survey of the field but also provide a major contribution to it. The book explores three main areas. First, the values upheld by a constitution, including rights, freedom, equality, dignity and well-being. Second, the modalities of a constitutional system, such as the separation of powers, democratic representation and the rule of law. Finally, the institutions through which it operates, both legal and political, including courts, elections, parliaments and international organisations. It also considers the challenges confronting constitutional arrangements from growing inequality, populism, climate change and migration.

Table of contents:

1. Introduction: of constitutions and constitutional theory Richard Bellamy and Jeff King
Part I. Values:
2. Dignity Jeremy Waldron
3. Rights Rowan Cruft
4. Equality Annabel Lever
5. Liberty Philip Pettit
6. Well-being Sarah Conly
7. Self-Government Thomas Christiano
8. Justice: procedural and substantive Rainer Forst
9. Recognition Helder De Schutter
Part II. Modalities:
10. Impartiality Matthew Kramer
11. Legitimacy Nomi Claire Lazar
12. Sovereignty David Dyzenhaus
13. Constituent power Martin Loughlin
14. Representation Nadia Urbinati
15. Deliberation Simone Chambers
16. Opposition Grégoire Webber
17. Separation of powers Jacob T. Levy
18. Rule of Law Jeff King
19. Constitutional conventions Jon Elster
20. Secularism Cécile Laborde
21. Constitutional review Christoph Möllers
22. Constitutional interpretation Timothy Endicott
23. Proportionality George Letsas
24. Civil disobedience Candice Delmas
25. Constitutional entrenchment N. W. Barber
26. Emergency powers Karin Loevy
27. Regulation Julia Black
28. Cost-benefit analysis Matthew Adler
29. Revolution Nimer Sultany
Part III. Institutions:
30. The state Anna-Bettina Kaiser
31. The material constitution Marco Goldoni
32. Federalism Stephen Tierney
33. Consociationalism Joseph Lacey and Nenad Stojanović
34. Corporatism Steven Klein
35. Guarantor (or the so-called 'Fourth Branch') institutions Tarunabh Khaitan
36. Central banks Jens van 't Klooster
37. Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and their hybrids Steffen Ganghof
38. Prerogative Thomas Poole
39. Administrative state Blake Emerson
40. Executive rulemaking Susan Rose-Ackerman
41. Constituent assemblies Joel Colón-Ríos
42. Citizenship Elizabeth F. Cohen and Cyril Ghosh
43. Elections Daniel Weinstock
44. Political parties Jonathan White and Lea Ypi
45. Legislatures Richard Ekins
46. Referendums Silvia Suteu
47. Citizen juries/Minipublics Cristina Lafont
48. Constitutional courts and supreme courts Christine Landfried
49. Judicial independence David Kosař and Samuel Spáč
50. Bills of rights Richard Bellamy
51. Administrative law Farrah Ahmed
52. Horizontal effect Oliver Gerstenberg
53. Global and national constitutionalism Carmen E. Pavel
54. Regional integration Turkuler Isiksel
55. International organisations Anne Peters
Part IV. Challenges for Constitutional Democracy:
56. Inequality Roberto Gargarella
57. Populism Paul Blokker
58. Climate change Jocelyn Stacey
59. Migration Sarah Song
60. Constitutional hardball Mark Tushnet.

On the editors:

Richard Bellamy, University College London Richard Bellamy is a Professor of Political Science at University College London (UCL), and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of eleven monographs, including Political Constitutionalism: A Republican Defence of the Constitutionality of Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Jeff King, University College London Jeff King is a Professor of Law at University College London (UCL), and was previously a Fellow and Tutor in Law at Balliol College, Oxford. His other works include Judging Social Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2012). from 2019 to 2021, he was Legal Adviser to the UK House of Lords Constitution Committee. 

Read more here. 

JOURNAL: Jus Gentium. Journal of International Legal History X (2025), nr. 1

 

(image source: LawbookExchange)

Articles

Interdisciplinarity and the Limits of Writing “Peripheral” International Legal Histories (Jakob Zollmann) (open access)

The Life and Fate of Aleksandr Mikhailovich Ladyzhenskii (Konstantin P. Krakovskii)

Legal Perspectives from The Independence: Tracing Korea’s Path in International Law (Diane Hong) (open access)

Notes

Grotius and Vattel in Russian: New Developments (William E. Butler) (open access)

On the Glory of Conquerors, Peter the Great [and] Charles XII
(Emer de Vattel)

The Legality of the Soviet Annexation of the Baltic States

(Evgeny Tikhonravov)

Documents and other evidence of state practice
A Brief Calendar of State Practice for Shandong: 1897–1924: Part Nine (1919): More Scraps of Paper Peter Macalister-Smith Joachim Schwietzke 

Review article
International Legal History, Grotian Studies, and Perestroika (William E. Butler)

Im Memoriam
Vitalii Semenovich Ivanenko (1946-2024) (William E. Butler) 

From the Literature

(read more here) 

CONFERENCE: Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825), le fondateur des fondateurs. Colloque du bicentenaire de la mort du philosophe (Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Maison Auguste Comte, Société des Etudes saint-simoniennes, 16-17 MAY 2025)

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Abstract:

À l'occasion du bicentenaire de la mort du philosophe Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825), ce colloque international et pluridisciplinaire, traitera de l’œuvre de Saint-Simon dans son contexte historique et aussi ses multiples interprétations. Il abordera les héritages nombreux de son œuvre dont le saint-simonisme, le positivisme, les socialismes et l’industrialisme.

 Program:

Vendredi 16 mai 

• Philippe RÉGNIER, CNRS histoire littéraire, IHRIM Saint-Simon à l’heure de sa mort : qu’incarne-t-il pour la jeunesse de 1825 ? 
• Jean DHOMBRES, EHESS, histoire des sciences  Dynamiques des sciences du temps « scientifique » de Saint-Simon  
• Sayuri SHIRASE, docteure en philosophie, JSPS Research Fellow  Saint-Simon et le Japon. Réception de la doctrine de l’ère Meiji à nos jours 
• Diane MORGAN, université de Leeds UK, cultural studies,  La figure du dernier homme et la fin du monde chez Saint-Simon 
• Dominique IOGNA-PRAT, EHESS, histoire  Saint-Simon en quête d’un « christianisme définitif » 
• Pierre MUSSO, université de Rennes et Télécom Paris  L’énigme Saint-Simon et la religion industrielle 

Table ronde « Saint-Simon, saint-simonisme et industrie »  à l’Arsenal 17h 30- 19h

animée par Pierre Musso, avec

• Isabelle BERREBI-HOFFMANN, Directrice de recherche  CNRS au CNAM    - Pascal DALOZ, DG de Dassault Systèmes
• Nicolas DUFOURCQ, DG de la Banque Publique d’Investissement 
• Jean-Dominique SENARD, Président de Renault 

Samedi 17 mai 

• Michel BOURDEAU, CNRS  Auguste Comte, saint-simonien? 
• Jan E.M. HOUBEN, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Saint-Simon et la paix
• Laurent FEDI, université de Strasbourg, philosophie Le temps des prophètes : le dernier Comte et les saint-simoniens 
• Marie JANIN doctorante et Thérence CARVALHO, université de Nantes, droit et pensée politique Le Droit comme instrument du « Nouveau Christianisme » : la pensée juridique de Saint-Simon et sa diffusion en Europe par l’école saint-simonienne. 
• Antoine PICON, histoire, Harvard Graduate School of Design.  Régénérer la connaissance : Saint-Simon, les Saint-simoniens et la Science 
• Mary PICKERING, histoire, San Jose State University L'idée du « peuple » dans les œuvres de Saint-Simon et Auguste Comte 

Practicalities:

Le vendredi 16 mai il se tiendra à partir de 9 heures à la Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, 1 rue de Sully à Paris 4e arr. Métro Sully-Morland Le samedi 17 mai, le colloque se déroulera à la Chapelle de l'Humanité, 5 rue Payenne, Paris 3e arr. à partir de 9h 30. Métro Saint-Paul. En parallèle au collooque se tiendront deux expositions autour de Saint-Simon : l'une à la Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal et l'autre à la Maison Auguste Comte, 10 rue Monsieur le Prince, Paris 6e.  Visites en groupe sur rendez-vous.

 Read more here.

BOOK: Jake DYBLE, Managing Maritime Risk in Early Modern Europe (London: Boydell & Brewer, 2025), ISBN 9781837651559 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: Boydel & Brewer)

Abstract:

Draws on the rich surviving archives of the Tuscan port of Livorno to explore how General Average worked. Commercial seafaring, both dangerous and with large amounts of capital at stake, was the source of the risk-management institutions that still undergird the global economy today. A key institution of early modern risk management was General Average, a procedure used to redistribute extraordinary costs arising from a maritime venture between all financially interested parties. For example, should one merchant's cargo be jettisoned to lighten a ship in a storm, the loss would be shared pro rata by the shipper and all the cargo-owners. A risk-sharing practice, different from the risk-shifting of marine insurance which became established relatively late, General Average is still in widespread use. This book explores how General Average worked. It reveals the gap between General Average in law and how it worked on the ground. It shows how General Average partitioned a wide array of business costs, thereby performing a significant role in structuring maritime commerce, managing risk and promoting shipping and trade. In addition, the book discusses how far General Average was a feature of a supposedly ancient, universal, customary maritime law, and contributes to debates about the evolution of institutions in economic development.

Read the book here. 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Copy Editors (Comparative Legal History) [DEADLINE 30 MAY 2025]

 

Journal Comparative Legal History

 

Call for Copy Editors

 

Deadline: 30 May 2025

 

 

The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) is seeking applications for the position of Copy Editor of its flagship journal, Comparative Legal History. A maximum of three Copy Editors will be appointed.

 

Evidence of scholarly ability, willingness to learn quickly, and membership (or a commitment to become a member if appointed) of the ESCLH are requirements. Full training in the journal's processes will be provided as needed.

 

You would contribute to the advancement of comparative legal history as part of a supportive and dedicated team.

 

The journal is an official academic forum of the ESCLH. It was first published in 2013 and aims to offer a space for the development of comparative legal history. Based in Europe, it welcomes contributions that explore law in different times and jurisdictions from across the globe.

 

Applications, with a brief cover letter and short CV (no more than 4 pages), should be sent to Merike Ristikivi, (Vice-President of the ESCLH), merike.ristikivi@ut.ee, by 30 May 2025.

 

The ESCLH particularly welcomes applications from people underrepresented in academia generally, and in the ESCLH and the journal particularly.

 

This position is not paid.

 

CONFERENCE: L’Extraterritorialité et le Droit [Journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions] (Tilburg: TextielMuseum, 30-31 MAY 2025)

 

Journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions

Textiel MUSEUM, Goirkestraat 96,

Tilburg, le 30 e 31 mai 2025

                                              « L’Extraterritorialité et le Droit »       

 

(image source: TextielMuseum Tilburg)

Journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions

TextielMUSEUM, Goirkestraat 96,

Tilburg, les 30 et 31 mai 2025

                                              « L’Extraterritorialité et le Droit »       

 

Programme du vendredi 30 mai 2025

 

9:30     Accueil des participants

 

10:00   Michael Milo (Universiteit Utrecht, Vice-Président de la Société d'histoire du droit et des institutions des pays flamands, picards et wallons) et Emanuel van Dongen (Universiteit Utrecht): Accueil et Introduction aux journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions

           

10.05-11:30 (présidence des sessions à déterminer)

Willem Theus (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)  Extra-jurisdictionality and Extra­territoriality

Ilya Kotlyar (University of Francisco Vittoria, Espagne) Late Medieval Doctrine of Hypothec: A Case of Exterritorial and Extratextual Exchange of Ideas?

Marco in 't Veld & Marijn Manders (Tilburg University) Territory and the Enforcement of Dordrecht’s Staple Rights (15-16th Century)

Victor Le Breton-Blon (Université Bretagne Sud) Governing trade in an extraterritorial ecosystem. Bills of exchange, financial law, fairs and transnational networks: the case of Simon Ruiz (late 16th century Europe)

Florian Laussucq (Université de Bordeaux) L'extraterritorialité du droit européen au Qatar: entre structuration d'un droit local et instrument d'interprétation.

 

11:30-11:45 Discussion et Café

 

11:45-13:00 (présidence des sessions à déterminer)

Florian Herrendorf  (Tilburg University) Osterlins and the City: Rouen and the Baltic Trade in the Sixteenth Century

Nadège Zenoud (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3) La construction dans l’Europe médiévale d’un droit commercial à l’encontre de l’extraterritorialité des droits étatiques

François Pierrard (Université catholique de Louvain) De l’humanisme juridique au siècle des Lumières : la transition du ius commune au droit commun des états modérés en passant par les droits nationaux. Le cas des Pays-Bas autrichiens.

Christian Pfister-Langanay (Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale) Exterritorialité, arbitrages et conflictualités: Dunkerque et le traité de libre-échange de 1786

Ambre Jarassier (Université de Nantes) L’Algérie sous le second Empire, une libéralisation progressive du département par sénatus-consultes.

 

13:00-14.00 Déjeuner – Lunch - Noenmaal

 

14:00-15:15 (présidence des sessions à déterminer)

Tatiana Ndjobo (Universite de Douala, Cameroun) De l’extraterritorialité coloniale à la souveraineté juridique : trajectoires croisées du droit français au Cameroun et au Sénégal

Elodie Duhamel (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) L’implantation ineffective de la « propriété » par la procédure d’immatriculation foncière coloniale en Afrique Occidentale Française

Maaike Voorhoeve (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Kolonialisme, recht en gender in La Régence de Tunis (1881-1956)

Paul-Emanuel Babin (Université de Lille) La contribution de la doctrine anticolonialiste minoritaire contre l’extraterritorialité en Algérie. Les discussions juridiques autour du rapport du politiste Lucien Pary (février 1962) sur les bases militaires en Afrique.

Bastiaan van der Velden (Open universiteit) Slavery in the Dutch Republic – Normative Diversity between the Territories of Holland and Zeeland

 

15:15-15:30 Discussion

 

15:30-16:45 (présidence des sessions à déterminer)

Gaëlle Compper (Université des Antilles) Rendre la justice dans les E.P.C1 en Guyane (19e – 20^e siècles). Un cas d’hybridation normative et juridictionnelle

            Xavier François-Leclanché (Société pour l'histoire du droit et des institutions des anciens pays bourguignons, comtois et romands) Les mainmises des puissances alliées sur l'administration française en 1814 et 1815

Caroline Duret (Université de Genève, Suisse) `Régime juridique des terres agricoles (agri vectigales) cédées aux colons par l'État romain (Ier siècle av. J.-C. – IIe siècle ap. J.-C): réflexions sur la notion de cession d’un droit réel

Hugo Neuhauser (Université de Lille) Les traités de travail et l’applicabilité du droit des assurances sociales à l’étranger (1904-1914)

Dave De ruysscher (Universiteit Tilburg & Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Mirroring the monarch: the extraterritorial sovereignty of cities of trade (15th-16th centuries)

 

16:45 -17:00   Discussion

 

19h00  Dîner de la Société au restaurant Kok Verhoeven,- NS Plein 32, Tilburg – pour les personnes préalablement inscrites

 

Programme du samedi 31 mai 2025

 

9:00     Accueil des participants

 

9:15-10.30 (présidence des sessions à déterminer)

Léna Sylvestre (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) UN Translators as Actors of UN-based Normativity

Milcar Jeff Dorce (Université de Bordeaux) L’extraterritorialité contre-hégémonique

Bruno Debaenst (Uppsala Universitet, Suède)  Veni, vici, annexi. Un regard historico-juridique sur l'assimilation de la Flandre française dans et par la France

Alexandra Garifullina (Université de Lille) L’apport des juristes soviétiques à la construction du droit de l’espace extra-atmosphérique (années 1930-1960)

David Magalhães (University of Coimbra, Portugal) Ius proprium-Ius Commune, a dichotomy that built Portuguese Private Law

Xavier Gervasoni (l’Université de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines) Un bagne d’Outre-Mer méconnu : le pénitencier d’Obock (1885-1895)

 

10:30-10.45    Café

 

10:45-12.15 (présidence des sessions à déterminer)

Dan Constantin Mata (Université «Alexandru Ioan Cuza» de Iasi, Roumanie) Le droit interprovincial et le problème de l'unification législative dans la Roumanie de l'entre-deux-guerres 20e eeuw

João Paulo Ramos Jacob (University of São Paulo, Brésil) Electoral Justice in Brazil: A History of Institutional Discontinuities in a Contested Democratic Order

Stefanos Gakis (Le Mans Université) Les locaux diplomatiques entre territorialité et extraterritorialité

Sanae Bouyayachen (Université Mohammed V, Maroc) La mise en œuvre extraterritoriale de la responsabilité des entreprises transnationales en matière de droits humains : axe de pivotement du tournant vers la « transition durable » en droit international des investissements ?

Wilfried Meidom (Toulouse) Jusqu’où l’extraterritorialité a-t-elle envahi le droit fiscal?

Daria Astakhova (Avocate au barreau de Paris) La recherche des règles de procédure harmonisées pour les litiges internationaux

 

12 :15 Assemblée générale de la Société

 

Tanguy Le Marc’Hadour (Président de la Société), Conclusions et clôture des Journées  internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions

 

12:30-13:30    Dejeuner-Lunch-Noenmaal

 

13:30 – 15.00  Visite au Musée du Textile-Rondleiding (pour les personnes préalablement inscrites)

 

	Société d'histoire du droit et des institutions des pays                                 flamands, picards et wallons

 

 

 

Journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions

TILBURG, 30 – 31 mai 2025, MUSEE DU TEXTILE

 

FORMULAIRE D'INSCRIPTION / REGISTRATION FORM

 

À envoyer avant le 14 mai 2024 par courriel à : e.g.d.vandongen@uu.nl et j.m.milo@uu.nl

To be sent before May 14^st, 2024 by e-mail at :  e.g.d.vandongen@uu.nl et j.m.milo@uu.nl

 

 

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le samedi/Saturday 31 mai: Musee du Textile

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