CONFERENCE: The Legal and Political Thought of Francisco Suarez (Bruges, 24-25 November 2017)

                (Image source 0: KU Leuven)

The Catholic University of Leuven is convening a conference on Francisco Suarez' legal and political thought in November 2017. 

Content:

Francisco Suárez (1548-1617) is today regarded as a very prominent figure in the intellectual landscape of the later sixteenth century and the beginnings of the seventeenth century. Thanks to the renewed attention to his work throughout the twentieth century, it has become increasingly clear that the magister Eximius holds an original, sometimes even revolutionary position in between many of the dualisms that seem to mark this complex era, between natural rights and the legislator for example, or between ethical objectivism and voluntarism.0

Suárez work points in innovative ways towards future thought in fields as diverse as metaphysics and ontology, legal theory, constitutional thought, the law of nature and of nations and just war. In this framework, a number of contemporary debates crystallise around Suárez’ legal and political thought and centre on key notions, such as obligation, or focus on the broader interconnectedness of De legibus and Disputationes metaphysicae. These debates furthermore display a variety of diverging or opposing ideas and interpretations that concern a vast panoply of themes. The role of contract, the concept of natural law, the relation between contingency, history and law, or the subjective meaning of ‘ius’ are just a few examples in this respect. At the same time, research uncovers new fields and sources with respect to Suárez’ influence and intellectual impact, as for example the increasing interest in his legacy in protestant countries shows.

This conference aims to bring together contributions from different backgrounds in Suárez Studies that focus on the various aspects and subfields of Suárez’ multifaceted legal and political thought. Within this framework, papers are invited on any subject of Suarez’ political and legal thought, including his relation to contemporary scholars, his intellectual sources as well as his own later influence and reception.

Scientific Coordinator 

Randall Lesaffer

Contact details

Jo Alaerts 

jo.alaerts@law.kuleuven.be 

Registration fee 

participation 1 day: 50 euros (lunch included) participation 2 days: 100 euros (both lunches included) Registration no later than 15th of November 

More information, as well as the registration link and the program of the conference, can be found at the conference website. 

(source: ESCLH Blog)

BOOK: Paulo Emilio VAUTHIER BORGES DE MACEDO, Catholic and Reformed Traditions in International Law. A Comparison between the Suarezian and the Grotian Concept of Ius Gentium [Studies in the History of Law and Justice, eds. Georges MARTYN and Mortimer SELLARS] (Heidelberg/New York: Springer, 2017), 309 p. ISBN 978-3-319-59403-3, € 148,39

(image source: Springer)

Book abstract:

This book compares the respective concepts of the law of nations put forward by the Spanish theologian Francisco Suárez and by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius. This comparison is based on the fact that both thinkers developed quite similar notions and were the first to depart from the Roman conception, which persisted throughout the entire Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. In Rome, jus gentium was a law that applied to foreigners within the Empire, and one which was often mistaken for Natural Law itself. These two features can be found even in the works of writers such as Francisco de Vitória and Alberico Gentili.
In Suárez and Grotius, the law of nations is applicable to an extra-national domain and inarguably becomes positive law. Yet, it also contains an ethical element that prevents it from transforming into a mere reflection of state interests.
This work argues that this resemblance is hardly a coincidence: Grotius has read Suárez, and that influence has modified the foundations of his early thoughts on jus gentium. This should not be taken to imply that the Dutch jurist wasn’t original: in both authors, the definition of the law of nations pursues his own internal logic. Nevertheless, Suárez’s oeuvre allowed Grotius to solve a fundamental problem touched on in his early writings that had remained unanswered. Accordingly, his oeuvre promises to clarify one of the most significant moments in the History of International Law.

Table of contents:

Introduction (1-11)
The Law of Nations: Between Natural and Positive Law (13-63)
The Foundations of Law in Francisco Suárez (65-118)
The Foundations of Law in Hugo Grotius (119-182)
The Law of Nations in Francisco Suárez (183-243)
The Law of Nations in Hugo Grotius (245-303)
Conclusion (350-309)

On the author:

Paulo Emílio Vauthier Borges de Macedo is an associate professor of International Law at the University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Vice-Coordinator of the Master and Doctorate Programme; Visiting Professor of Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University; Visiting Researcher at Murdoch University; Legal Adviser at the Brazilian Navy War School (EGN); Editor-in-chief of the Rio de Janeiro University Law School Journal; President of the Brazilian section of Communio Journal (Catholic International Journal of Theology and Culture).

JOURNAL: Journal of the History of International Law/Revue d'histoire du droit international XIX (2017), No. 3

(image source: Brill)

The Journal of the History of International Law/Revue d'histoire du droit international published its third issue.

Table of contents:
Emily Crawford, "Tracing the Historical and Legal Development of the Levée en Masse in the Law of Armed Conflict" (329-361)

Steven Harris, "Taming Arbitration: States’ Men, Lawyers, and Peace Advocates from the Hague to the War" (362-396)

Leonardo Valladares Pecheco de Oliveira, "Overcoming the Challenges in Establishing Arbitration in Brazil: A Historical Perspective" (397-421)

Book reviews:
"The Right to Wage War (jus ad bellum). The German Reception of Grotius 50 Years after De iure belli ac pacis , written by Harald H. Aure" (Frederik Dhondt) (423-428)

ESCLH POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE: Call for Papers, Augsburg University (22-24 Feb 2018); DEADLINE 31 OCT 2017

Postgraduate Conference in Comparative Legal History

22–24 February 2018, Augsburg University, Germany
Call for Papers

The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) is pleased to announce its first Postgraduate Conference. The ESCLH invites PhD-students (beyond their first year) and post-doctoral-researchers who work in the field of comparative legal history to participate in the conference. The conference will be held from 22 to 24 February 2018 at Augsburg University, Germany.

The ESCLH wants to overcome the narrow nationalism and geographical segregation of legal history in contemporary European scholarship and professional organisations. The society, thus, aims to promote comparative legal history, the explicit comparison of legal ideas and institutions in two or more legal traditions.

The first Graduate Conference of the ESCLH will give advanced PhD-students and post-doctoral-researchers the opportunity to present their research in the field of comparative legal history to a panel of six leading experts. Furthermore, the conference will give all participants the opportunity to build academic networks. The experts on the panel cover a broad range of subjects: Ulrike Babusiaux (Zürich), Mia Korpiola (Turku), Wim Decock (Leuven), Jan Hallebeek (Amsterdam), Aniceto Masferrer (Valencia), Stephen Skinner (Exeter).

The ESCLH invites advanced doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers to submit abstracts for presentation. The abstract should be of no more than 300 words and give the title of your research project, your field of research, and your personal data (full name, email address, affiliated university, CV) to:

phillip.hellwege@jura.uni-augsburg.de

The conference language is English and abstracts must be submitted in English. The closing date for receipt of abstracts is 31 October 2017. 12 applicants will be selected and invited to participate in the conference. Successful applicants will be informed by 15 December 2017. Participants are expected to cover their own travel expenses. Accommodation and catering will be provided without charge.

LECTURE SERIES: International Order and Justice (Ghent University, Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns Institute of International Law), edition 2017-2018

(image source: GRILI)

The Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns Institute of International Law (Ghent University) organizes the second edition of its International Order and Justice Lecture Series. This series is supported by the Ghent University Doctoral School of Arts, Humanities and Law, the International Law Association (Belgian Branch) and the Belgian Society for International Law.

On the programme:

- Eric Franckx (VUB): "The UN Convention for the Law of the Sea and the scramble for the Arctic" (31/10)
- Anne Van Aken (Sankt Gallen): "Behavioural economics and international law" (22-23/11)
- James Crawford (ICJ): "Public policy v. property protection - an international law perspective" (7/12)
- Anne Orford (Melbourne): "Civil war, intervention, and the transformation of international law" (11/12)
- Stephen C. Neff (Edinburgh): "The standard of civilization in international law" (19/2)
- Larissa Van den Heerik (Leiden): "Fact-finding and inquiry in international law" (6/3)
- Hans Van Houtte (Iran Claims Tribunal): "Reparation of damages after war" (13/3)
- Georg Nolte (ILC): "The International Law Commission after 70 years: Its role and challenges" (19/3)

The lecture series consists of a public lecture and a workshop for PhD-candidates.

Prior registration is mandatory. A form can be found here.