Mixed jurisdictions and the membership in this younger legal family continue to be an enigma. What is a mixed jurisdiction? Is the definition limited to substantive mixtures of Common Law and Civil Law or does it go beyond this dichotomy to include, for example, local and religious laws? How does the presence of a codification influence the Civil Law’s co-existence with or infiltration by the Common Law? What role do procedure and the courts play in mixity dynamics?
At the sunset of the twentieth century, mixed jurisdictions as laboratories of comparative law became the object of academic attention primarily dedicated to South Africa and Scotland. European law unification initiatives then started to consider the experiences from mixed jurisdictions for harmonization purposes. In the new millennium, a push for an institutional framework for mixed jurisdiction advocacy came from Louisiana.
Due to the competition of jurisdictions and the pull of the Common Law in the current global marketplace, national legislators in traditionally civilian jurisdictions have even resorted to borrowing institutions and practices from the Common Law. These developments have not escaped the post-Soviet legal orders. In Russia, for example, the trust of the Common Law continues to receive the attention from academicians and policy makers alike. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, has established the Astana Financial Center, which operates its own commercial law on the basis of English Common Law. Equipped with a special court, which is staffed by lawyers schooled in the tradition of the Common Law, the Center’s emerging body of law may over time influence legal doctrine and practice in Kazakhstan.
Globalization, decolonialization and crypto neocolonialization are adding new dimensions to mixity and pluriformity. In their ensemble, these trends reveal the need for scholarly research to investigate why, how and when mixed jurisdictions came into existence, what challenges they have had to face, which methods have been chosen to enable mixed legal operations, and what appeal and limits law mixtures may have. This call for papers invites authors to contribute to a special issue of the journal and share their insights with regard to these fascinating topics.
Articles may be submitted in English or Russian, ranging from 0.75 to 2 author’s sheets (30,000 to 80,000 characters, spaces included).
All submissions shall be uploaded on the website of Pravovedenie (https://pravovedenie.spbu.ru/index), which is one of the oldest and most authoritative peer-reviewed legal journals in Russia. You will be asked to login or register to make your submission (https://pravovedenie.spbu.ru/about/submissions). Please consult our guide for authors, which is also available on the submissions page of the journal. The closing date for submissions is November 1, 2022.
This special issue of Pravovedenie is edited by:
Markus G. Puder, The Honorable Herbert W. Christenberry Distinguished Professor of Law, Faculty Director for LL.M. Programs, Loyola University (New Orleans), Louisiana, United States of America;
Philip J. Thomas, Professor emeritus, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.
