Events
Upcoming Events in 2023
The Fifth Worldwide Congress of the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists
June 14-16 2023
Hosted by The University of Malta Faculty of Law
“Mixity in Private Law and/or Public Law”
Call For Papers
The World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists is pleased to announce its Fifth Worldwide Congress, which is to be held at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Law, from an opening evening reception and lecture on 14 June through 16 June 2023. The theme of the Congress will be “Mixity in the Private and/or Public Law”.
Mixed Jurisdictions, as they are traditionally understood, stand at the crossroads of the Common law and Civil law. They frequently encompass other ethnic and religious laws. Rich in legal history and complex pluralism, they are often seen as natural laboratories of comparative law.
The laws, methods, and institutions of mixed jurisdictions are inevitably affected by the influence and presence of different traditions vying for supremacy or requiring reconciliation. Their mixity, however, is not restricted to the private law alone, but is often evident in the public law as well, such as in the criminal, administrative and constitutional laws.
We propose in this Fifth Worldwide Congress to investigate mixity wherever it may appear in these legal systems.
Proposals for papers on any topic related to the above theme, whether relating to private or public law (or both) are welcome. Proposals may be submitted by jurists from any jurisdiction, and by members and non-members of the Society alike.
Proposals should be submitted to Professor Vernon Palmer, President of the WSMJJ, (vpalmer@tulane.edu) by 15 October 2022. Authors will be notified by 15 November 2022 whether their proposal has been accepted. Submissions from scholars with historically underrepresented viewpoints–including women scholars, BIPOC scholars, and scholars from the Global South–are particularly welcome. Submissions should not exceed 500 words and should be accompanied by a curriculum vitae of one page only. The time allocated for delivery of papers will be no longer than 20 minutes. All papers delivered at the conference will be considered for publication.
Past Conferences and World Congresses
2015
The Fourth Worldwide Congress
of The World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists
McGill University Faculty of Law,
Montreal, Canada June 24-26, 2015
“The Scholar, Teacher, Judge, and Jurist in a Mixed Jurisdiction”
2013
FILLING THE GAPS:
THE STUDY OF JUDICIAL CREATIVITY
AND EQUITY IN MIXED JURISDICTIONS
AND BEYOND
Catania, Italy
May 27-28, 2013
The Protection Project at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in cooperation with the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists (WSMJJ), and the Tulane University Law School Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, invite the submission of papers for an international conference on “Filling the Gaps: The Study of Judicial Creativity and Equity in Mixed Jurisdictions and Beyond” scheduled take place in Catania, Italy on May 27-28, 2013: Our host for this conference is the
Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e Sociali of the University of Catania.
The conference explores the sources, methods and approaches used by the courts in mixed jurisdictions when they face a lacuna in the law, ie when they arrive at a case of first impression without a legal rule.
The following questions are meant to be suggestive, not exhaustive.
• What differences exist in the approaches to gap-filling in mixed, civilian and common law systems?
• What differences in technique exist within the mixed jurisdictions themselves, eg between codified systems and uncodified systems?
• To what extent is the borrowing of common law solutions taken to be “equity” or gap-filling? Is this considered a legitimate form of equity?
• To what extent is “equity” understood as a civilian concept? Is it fully divorced from the “Equity” of the common law?
• How are gaps defined, revealed or recognized? Is their existence a precondition of equitable activity? Is there a taxonomy of gaps?
• Is there an established procedure, a Directory Provision, a hierarchy of sources to be consulted, or is the process of gap-filling left entirely to the discretion of the judge?
• To what extent is this form of judicial activity synonymous with the production of seminal and leading cases?
• Which substantive fields of the law are particularly fertile for gap-filling?
Papers that explore gap-filling in either single or multiple fields of private or public law are welcome.
We invite you to submit a 1-2 page abstract of your paper by email to the selection committee c/o Ms. Anna Koppel, Director of Research and Development, The Protection Project (akoppel1@jhu.edu) no later than February 25, 2013.
Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by March 15, 2015, and invited to present their papers at the conference. The expenses of conference speakers will be covered by the organizers.
Conference proceedings will be jointly published by The Protection Project, the World Society of Mixed Jurisdictions Jurists, and the Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law.
2011
Third Congress on Mixed Jurisdictions
“Methodology and Innovation in the Mixed Jurisdictions”
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, June 2011
2009
Mixed Jurisdictions as Models? Perspectives from South Africa and Beyond
May 14-15, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
2008
International Colloquium on Bicentennial of Louisiana Civil Code of 1808
Nov. 2008, Tulane Law School, New Orleans, LA
2007
Second World Congress on Mixed Jurisdictions
“The Boundaries of Unity: Mixed Jurisdictions in Action”
Edinburgh University, June 2007
2002
First World Congress on Mixed Jurisdictions
“Salience and Unity in the Mixed Jurisdiction Experience: Traits, Patterns, Culture, Commonalities”
Tulane University, New Orleans, November 2002