1. Recente Publicaties

• Kees CAPPON, 'Wat er is, was er al lang; wat zal komen, is eerder al geweest' Historische kanttekeningen bij de huidige staat van het Nederlandse notariaat, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2010; ISBN 978 90 5629 637 7 ; € 8,50
  

• Het Nederlandse notariaat maakt momenteel een moeilijke tijd door. De invloed van de Anglo-Amerikaanse bedrijfscultuur, een nieuwe Notariswet (1999) met vrijere vestiging en marktwerking, en de economische neergang door de kredietcrisis hebben het notariaat in verschillende opzichten diep geraakt. In de vakliteratuur wordt openlijk gesproken over de crisis die de professie doormaakt. De voorzitter van de Raad van State, Herman Tjeenk Willink, signaleerde in zijn laatste jaarverslag dat de onafhankelijkheid en de onpartijdigheid van het notariaat onder druk staat. Vooraanstaande vakgenoten uiten zelfs publiekelijk hun twijfel over het zelfstandig voortbestaan van ons notariaat. Kees Cappon stelt dat niet kan worden ontkend dat het notariaat in zwaar weer verkeert. Maar in de geest van de uitspraak van de Engelse historicus E.H. Carr (1892-1982) dat de geschiedbeoefening haar rechtvaardiging vindt in het feit dat zij een licht werpt op de toekomst, hoeft er op grond van de geschiedenis volgens hem niet te worden gevreesd voor de toekomst van het notariaat. De ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis van het beroep kenmerkt zich immers juist door een grote mate van continuïteit in een cyclisch ritme. Ons notariaat - ook wel publiek of Latijns notariaat genoemd - is ontstaan in de 11e en 12e eeuw in Noord-Italië. De essentie van dit Latijns notariaat ligt reeds vanaf zijn opkomst besloten in het bewijs- en procesrecht van de continentaal-Europese rechtsorde (civil law). Zolang aan de fundamenten van onze processuele orde niet wordt getornd, heeft ons notariaat een toekomst.
  

2. Call For Papers

==> 13-16 april 2011 - Maastricht: XVIIth European Forum of Young Legal Historians:

European traditions: integration or disintegration?

The international graduate and post-graduate conference ‘European Traditions: Integration or Disintegration?’ of the European Association of Young Legal Historians will take place at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, from 13-16 April 2011, Wednesday-Saturday (www.maastrichtuniversity.nl).

The European Forum of Young Legal Historians has grown into the leading conference for young researchers in legal history in Europe and the world. Maastricht University, a truly international university at the heart of Europe, and currently celebrating its VIIth Lustrum provides the perfect location for the XVIIth Forum.

European legal traditions have always known centralising and de-centralising forces: Justinian’s Corpus iuris, the Medieval ius commune of Roman and Canon law, the usus modernus pandectarum, the current European harmonisation efforts all have an integrative character to a certain extent. Simultaneously the ius proprium, as in customary law, including the English Common law, as well as, most particularly, the national codifications of the 19^th century, and the study of these laws, demonstrates the diversity of European legal traditions.

We are interested in papers and posters addressing these often contrasting developments, including their religious, philosophical, political, social or economic background. Interdisciplinary and comparative approaches are therefore most welcome.

You are strongly encouraged to give your presentation in English, as it is the current European lingua franca; French and German are also accepted, but be aware that this will reduce your audience. Apart from the regular presentations, we will again have a ‘poster session’ or ‘poster walk’ during one of the afternoons: in several rounds you will be able to present and discuss your poster with various small groups of interested participants. Particularly PhD-candidates just starting with their research are encouraged to submit a poster outline, since the poster session will be a wonderful opportunity to obtain feedback on your project at an early stage. 

Submissions with a close connection to the theme are preferred, though traditional legal history subjects are also welcome, especially in respect of the poster session.

Regular participation fee will be € 100; participants giving a paper or presenting a poster pay € 75.

Please send your application (an abstract of max. 500 words and/or an outline of a poster and a short academic CV) to forum2011@aylh.org

Deadline: 1 November 2010

Further information on the Association of Young Legal Historians and past Forums is available on www.aylh.org.

 

==> September 2011 - Brussel : International Conference organised by the Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (Cegesoma, Brussels), IRHIS (Université de Lille 3), CHDJ (Université catholique de Louvain) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Justice in Wartimes and Revolutions: Europe, 1795-1950

3-day conference, in English and French

Organising Committee : D. Luyten (Cegesoma), S. Faber (VUAmsterdam), H. Leuwers (Lille3), X. Rousseaux (UCL), M. De Koster (UCL/UGent/VUAmsterdam)

With the support of the Interuniversity Attraction Pole “Justice & Society: Socio-political History of Justice Administration in Belgium, 1795-2005” (Belgian Science Policy)

             War and revolutions generate transformations of judicial institutions and practices, and bring about shifts in the occupation of positions within different sections of the judicial system, which then often undergoes expansion. These transformations can either have lasting effects or only be temporary, in which case the former judicial system is restored. Such restauration can be complete, but often the phase of war and occupation will remain to have an impact, because certain changes are consolidated, because it is no longer possible to simply restore the previous situation, or because new elements are embedded into the former system. War and revolutions are times and contexts of exception, that bring about exceptional measures, or in other words: fundamental innovations. These innovations can be import products from other countries or judicial systems, or can spring from doctrines and ideologies that differ drastically from, or even inverse formerly prevailing ideas and values, in which case the question arises to what extent innovation was merely a discursive shift.

             This introductory sketch of the subject brings us to the following subthemes, which will structure the conference:

 1)      Changes in the judicial system: The focus here is not that much on legal changes, but rather on innovations reflecting fundamental shifts in the concept and system of justice, and that have been imported from other systems, states or ideologies. Central points of attention are the degree of innovation, the process of transfer and circulation of models and ideas, and the actors shaping and steering this process. One might consider, for example, nationalization measures in Eastern Europe and the appearance of various forms of patrimonial and fiscal sanctions, which have recently been the object of a growing body of research. Wars and revolutions also generate entirely new problems, that are impossible or very difficult to solve with the ‘normal’ judicial instruments and instead demand original solutions that, then, appear as ‘strange’ or external to the initial justice system. Within the context of this conference, particular attention needs to be paid to the heritage of the French Revolution.

2)      Changes in practices: Here, the different institutional bodies making up the judicial world and their actual practices are at the centre of the attention. Did revolutions and wars bring about structural changes in the organisation and functioning of the courts, the penitentiary sector and crime control agencies? Or did other institutions or organs take on tasks that under normal conditions are executed by the justice system? On the other hand, questions should also concern the subjects and clients of the different judicial bodies:  how did the context of judicial crisis and change alter their interactions with the justice system? This point refers to the blurring of boundaries between traditional categories of tolerable/intolerable, legal/illegal and good/bad behaviour at times of occupation and war, but also to possibly different uses of justice by civilians in such contexts.

3)      Changes in judicial personnel and judicial professions: here the question is raised whether or not wars and revolutions brought about significant lasting changes in the personnel structure of the justice system and in the occupational position of the actors of justice (magistrates, lawyers, ministers of Justice, police forces, pentitentiary personnel, etc.).  Which changes were aspired (political-ideological, legal doctrines, democratization, gender-dvision…), and which were actually translated into practice? Which mechanisms were activated en which were the central dynamics of the process of change? Here, the question of ‘purification’ initiatives and mechanisms, for example, deserves particular attention.

            In terms of geographical focus, the whole of Europe is taken into consideration; papers on Eastern or Mediterranean Europe are particularly welcome. All judicial domains can be treated, but priority is given to the civil law domain (f.e. property law, civil law policy) on the one hand, and to penal law, the criminal justice sytem and all directly related and interdependent fields of justice (fiscal law, juvenile justice system, etc.) on the other.  As time frames, the periods from 1795 to 1815, from 1914 to 1920, and from 1939 to 1950 have been chosen.

 Proposals for papers (maximum 500 words, accompanied by a short CV) are to be sent before 15 December 2010, via e-mail to dirk.luyten@cegesoma.be & margo.dekoster@uclouvain.be

The proceedings of the conference will be published.

 

 

 

3. Kalender

4. Varia

 

Met vriendelijke groet,

Dirk Heirbaut,
Bruno Debaenst,
Bram Van Dael.
M.m.v.
Chris Coppens
Frederik Dhondt
Margreet Duynstee
Sjoerd Faber
Rik Opsommer
Alain Wijffels