Time: 5:30 - 7:30pm Venue: Lecture Theatre, GO Jones Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS
BOOK NOW
Mark Van Hoecke, Professor of Comparative Law at Queen Mary University of London, will deliver his inaugural lecture on “Do judges reason differently on both sides of the Channel?”
The lecture will be followed by a reception. Everybody is welcome.
In legal theory writings it looks as if legal reasoning would be a feature common to all mankind, independently of local legal systems and cultures. Paradoxically, in comparative law literature cultural differences among legal cultures are often emphasised when talking about legal reasoning, such as a (purely) deductive reasoning on the Continent, as opposed to (purely) inductive reasoning in the Common Law. However, comparatists vary between (extreme) optimists, who don’t see relevant cultural differences as to legal reasoning, most notably when trying to harmonise law in Europe (or elsewhere), and (extreme) pessimists for whom (legal) reasoning would be completely different across cultures. Which approach is correct? More concretely: to what extent do judges, or more generally lawyers, reason differently in Britain and in continental Europe? In this lecture Common Law reasoning will be compared to French and German legal reasoning.
Mark Van Hoeke is Professor of Comparative Law at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He studied philosophy and law at the University of Ghent (Belgium). M.A. Eastern European Studies (Flemish Interuniversity Program). PhD at Ghent University in 1979.
His current research focuses on theory and methodology of comparative law and of legal research. Find out more about Professor Van Hoeke.
For directions to the venue, please refer to the map.
This event is free but prior booking is required. Register online via Eventbrite.
For more information on this event, please email lawevents@qmul.ac.uk.
School of Law events may be photographed or video and audio recorded. These materials will be used for internal and external promotional purposes only by Queen Mary University of London. If you object to appearing in the photographs, please let our photographer know on the day. Alternatively you can email lawevents@qmul.ac.uk in advance of the event that you are attending.