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| European Society for Comparative Legal History | |
|---|---|
| Name | European Society for Comparative Legal History |
| Abbrev | ESCLH |
| Formation | 2010s |
| Type | Learned society |
| Headquarters | Europe |
| Region served | Europe |
| Fields | Comparative legal history |
European Society for Comparative Legal History is a learned society devoted to the study of comparative legal history across European and transnational contexts. It brings together scholars from institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Humboldt University of Berlin, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Università di Bologna to foster comparative research on legal institutions, texts, and practices. Members include historians affiliated with archives like the National Archives (UK), libraries such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and museums including the British Museum, as well as judges and jurists connected to courts like the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The society emerged in the context of initiatives by scholars associated with centres like the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History, the Institute of Historical Research, the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), and the Warburg Institute. Founding meetings drew participants from universities including Leiden University, University of Padua, University of Barcelona, Trinity College Dublin, Charles University, University of Vienna, University of Edinburgh, and Universität Zürich. Early conferences referenced works by figures such as Henry Maine, Friedrich Carl von Savigny, Sir William Blackstone, P. J. Proudhon, and engaged with manuscript collections like those of the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Archivo General de Indias. Institutional supporters and sponsors have included the European Research Council, the British Academy, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Austrian Science Fund, and the Dutch Research Council.
The society promotes comparative legal history scholarship through activities linking scholars from centres like the Scuola Normale Superiore, Central European University, University of Copenhagen, University of Oslo, University of Helsinki, Södertörn University and the University of Ljubljana. It encourages research on sources such as the Corpus Iuris Civilis, the Napoleonic Code, the Code of Justinian, the Magna Carta, the Peace of Westphalia treaties and archival holdings at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia, the Bundesarchiv, and the Kiev Central State Archive. The society supports projects involving comparative analysis of cases from institutions like the Old Bailey, the Reichskammergericht, the Parlement de Paris, and the Royal Courts of Justice.
Governance structures mirror those of organisations such as the International Association of Legal History, the American Society for Legal History, and the Royal Historical Society with elected officers drawn from faculties at Columbia University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Stanford University, University of Michigan, KU Leuven, University of Leiden, and University of Freiburg. Membership categories accommodate postgraduate researchers from centres like the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, early-career fellows from the Humboldt Foundation, senior scholars with chairs at the University of Glasgow or the University of St Andrews, and practitioners linked to institutions such as the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the United Nations.
The society organises biennial congresses hosted at venues including the Royal Irish Academy, Palazzo Ducale (Venice), Humboldt University of Berlin, Université de Genève, and Charles University and collaborates with journals like the American Journal of Legal History, the Cambridge Law Journal, the Journal of Legal History, the European Journal of Legal History, the Law and History Review and the Revue historique de droit français et étranger. Plenary speakers have included scholars associated with the Max Planck Society, the British Academy, the Guggenheim Foundation, the European University Institute, and the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). Proceedings have been published with presses such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Brill Publishers, Hart Publishing, Bloomsbury Academic, Routledge, and De Gruyter.
The society administers prizes and travel grants comparable to awards from the Wolfson Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship, the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Erasmus Mundus programme. Prize committees include academics affiliated with the Princeton University Press, the Yale Law School, the Harvard Law School, the Fordham University School of Law, and the University of Toronto. Grant recipients have gone on to work with projects at the Max Planck Institute, the Institut de recherche historique du Septentrion, the Institut Universitaire de France, and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights.
The society partners with institutions such as the International Labour Organization, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and networks like the League of European Research Universities, Erasmus+, the H-Net, and the Global Digital Humanities Network. Research collaborations have linked archives and libraries including the Wellcome Library, the Bodleian Libraries, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Biblioteca Marciana, the Archivo General de Simancas, and the National Library of Scotland.
Scholars in journals like the Modern Law Review, the International Journal of Constitutional Law, the European Law Journal, the Journal of Modern History, the Past & Present, and the English Historical Review have cited the society’s role in fostering cross-border dialogues among historians associated with the Royal Historical Society, the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Swedish Research Council, and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Reviews in outlets such as the Times Literary Supplement, the New Statesman, and specialist blogs affiliated with the Institute of Historical Research and the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History highlight its influence on projects concerning the Codex Theodosianus, Roman law, canon law, seigneurial courts, and comparative studies of statutes like the Statute of Westminster and the Consolidation Acts.