Notre Dame London Law at 50: The Value of Comparative Law
Please join us for 'The Value of Comparative Law', the final edition of the Notre Dame London Law at 50 Expert Series!
3:30 p.m. Registration and welcome refreshments
4:00 p.m. Keynote address
4:45 p.m. Panel discussion
5:30 p.m. Q&A
5:45 p.m. Reception
Keynote Speaker:
Professor Olivier Moréteau, Russell B. Long Eminent Scholars Chair, Assistant Dean & Director of the Center of Civil Law at LSU
The Words of Comparative Law
While the word ‘comparative’ refers to a cognitive and intellectual activity supposing that there are several elements to compare, the word ‘law’ is used in the singular, as if law was to be compared to itself. The whole phrase indicates that comparison takes place within the study of the law, but the use of the singular does not point to a pluralistic approach: what do we mean by law? Should we not talk about ‘comparing the laws’ or ‘legal comparison’? Other words will also be explored, picked from the lexicon of comparatists, like ‘reception’, ‘transplant’, ‘circulation’, ‘diffusion’, and the controversial ‘contamination’. The choice of words is not neutral, but points to intellectual postures that remain largely Eurocentric or western centric. Through a florilegia of words, the presentation will point to contemporary efforts to enlarge the scope of comparative legal studies to non-western, transdisciplinary, and pluralistic approaches of legal and normative phenomena. The talk will promote the virtues of legal diversity.
This event will be followed by a reception.
About Professor Olivier Moréteau
Professor Olivier Moréteau is the first holder of the Russell B. Long Eminent Scholars Academic Chair at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Paul M. Hébert Law Center. A fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation and member of the Louisiana Bar Equivalency Panel, he holds memberships in the International Academy of Comparative Law, the European Group on Tort Law (Emeritus), the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law, the Société de Législation comparée, the American Law Institute, the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction< Jurists, the European Society of Comparative Legal History, and is the president of Juris Diversitas. Professor Moréteau has authored and edited books in French and in English, and written over a hundred articles, chapters, notes, and reviews in various languages, published in international periodicals or books, on the civil law, common law, comparative law, law and languages, legal translation, tort law, the law of obligations, codification, and legal education.