“Mixed Legal Systems, East and West:
Newest Trends and Developments”
Parliament of Malta
Main Parliamentary Chamber
House of Representatives
Republic Street
The Palace
Valletta, Malta
May 14-15, 2012
PROGRAM AGENDA
Mixed Legal Systems
East and West
Day 1: May 14, 2012__________________________________________________________________
09:00-09:30
Welcome Remarks
Mohamed Mattar, Senior Research Professor of International Law, Executive Director, The
Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, Washington, DC, USA
Vernon Palmer, Thomas Pickles Professor of Law, President, World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction
Jurists, Co-Director, Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, Tulane Law School, New
Orleans, LA, USA
Joseph Mifsud, President, Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI), Portoroz, Slovenia
09:30-10:30
Panel I: Current Thoughts on the Nature of Mixed Legal Systems
 “’As Slippery as an Eel,’ or How May One Seize the Inner Logic of Mixed Legal Systems?”
Biagio Andó, Professor of Law, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
 “To Hybridity and Beyond… Reflections on Legal and Normative Complexity”
Seán Donlan, Professor, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Secretary General,
World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists; European Society for Comparative Legal
History
 “Mixed Jurisdictions: The Roads Ahead”
Luis Muniz-Arguelles, Professor of Law, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA
10:30-11:00
Coffee Break
11:00-12:00
Panel II: Reflections on Patterns of Common and Civil Law Mixing: The Future
of Diversity?
 “The Sources and Nature of the Maltese Legal System”
Kevin Aquilina, Dean, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, Valletta, Malta
 “The Mixing of Common Law and Civil Law Systems in the Seychelles”
Mathilda Twomey, Judge, Seychelles Court of Appeals, Victoria, Seychelles
 “Managing Legal Diversity: Cameroonian Bi-Juralism at a Critical Crossroad”
Charles Fombad, Professor of Law, Head, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law,
University of Pretoria; Head, Constitutional Law Unit, Institute for International and
Comparative Law in Africa, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
12:00-01:30
Lunch
01:30-02:30
Panel III: Looking Beyond Common and Civil Law Hybridities: The Mixing of
Indigenous Law, Tradition, and Customary Laws with Western Legal Systems
 “Pacific Punch: Tropical Flavours of Mixedness in the Island Republic of Vanuatu”
Sue Farran, Professor of Law, Northumbria University, Northumbria, UK; Adjunct
Professor, University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu
 “The Influence of Philippine Indigenous Law in the Development of New Concepts of Social
Justice”
Mixed Legal Systems
East and West
Pacifico Agabin, Professor II, Chairman, Constitutional Law Department, Philippine
Judicial Academy (Unit of the Supreme Court), Manila, Philippines
 “Patterns of Legal Mixing in Eritrea: Examining the Impact of Colonialism, Customary Law,
Islamic Law, and Authoritarian Revolutionary Dogma”
Daniel Mekonnen, Georg Forster Post-Doctoral Fellow, Felsberg Institute for Education
and Academic Research (FIBW), Felsberg, Germany
02:30-03:00
Coffee Break
03:00-04:00
Panel IV: More on the Diversity of Hybridities: Layers of Law, Culture, and
Religion in National Legal Systems
 “Turkey’s Civilian Tradition in a ‘Covert’ Mix with Islam and Tradition: A Novel Hybridity”
Esin Orücü, Professor Emerita of Comparative Law, University of Glasgow, School of Law,
Glasgow, UK
 “I’m in the East but My Law is from the West: The East-West Dilemma in the Israeli Mixed
Legal System”
Nir Kedar, Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) of law and legal history, Faculty of Law,
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
 “Reception of Islamic Law in Sri Lanka and Its Interplay with Western Legal Traditions”
Anton Cooray, Associate Dean, Faculty of Law, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
08:00-10:00
Opening Dinner
Day 2: May 28, 2012__________________________________________________________________
09:30-10:30
Panel V: The Islamic Legal System and Western Law: Case Studies of Integration
 “Impact of Religion on Law in the Iranian Legal System”
Naser Ghorbannia, Professor of Law, Mofid University, Qom, Iran
 “Integration of Islamic Law in the Fabric of Legal Thought in Egypt and Jordan”
Mohamed Serag, Professor of Law, American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
 “The Contribution of the Courts in the Integration of Muslim Law into the Mixed Fabric of South
African Law”
Christa Rautenbach, Professor of Law, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South
Africa
10:30-11:00
Coffee Break
11:00-12:00
Panel VI: Mixed Legal Systems: Evolution and Transformations over Time
 “The Making of a Mixed Legal System: Family Law in Cyprus and its Transformation from a
Personal Laws Regime to a Civilian Enclave in a Common-Law Environment?”
Nikitas Hatzimihail, Assistant Professor of Private Law, University of Cyprus, Nicosia,
Cyprus
 “The Role of Language in the Endurance of Mixed Jurisdictions”
Michael McAuley, Counsel, Carey Olsen, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands
Mixed Legal Systems
East and West
 “Legal Aversion to Usury: A Peculiarity of Islamic Law or a Euromediterranean Archetype?”
Ignazio Castellucci, Professor of Asian Legal Traditions and Chinese Law, University of
Trento, Trento, Italy; Professor of Comparative Legal Systems, University of Macau,
Macau, China
12:00-01:30
Lunch
01:30-02:30
Panel VII: Patterns of Mixing and Points of Comparison in Specialized Areas of
the Law: Constitutional Law, Penal Law, and Banking
 “Islamic Law and International Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Constitution”
Seyed Mostafa Mirmohammadi Azizi, Professor of Law; Director, Center for Comparative
Legal Studies, Mofid University, Qom, Iran
 “A Study of the Consolidation of Islamic Law and Modern Western Law in the Iranian Penal
Code”
Hossein Mohammadsadeghi, Professor of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
 “Cross-Country Analysis of Islamic Finance Dispute Resolution: Malaysia and Saudi Arabia”
Mohd Zakhiri Md Nor, Law Lecturer (Islamic Banking & Finance), College of Law,
Government & International Studies, Universiti Utara, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
02:30-03:00
Coffee Break
03:00-04:00
Panel VIII: Clinical Legal Education in Mixed Legal Systems: Challenges and
Emerging Trends
 “Mixed Legal Jurisdictions and Clinical Legal Education: Latest Trends”
David McQuoid-Mason, Professor of Law, Acting Director, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies,
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
 “Challenges of Legal Education in a Mixed Jurisdiction: McGill University in Quebec as a Case
Study”
Catherine Klein, Professor of Law; Director, Columbus Legal Services, Catholic University,
Washington, DC, USA
04:00-04:30
Closing Remarks
Vernon Palmer, Thomas Pickles Professor of Law, President, World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction
Jurists, Co-Director, Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, Tulane Law School, New
Orleans, LA, USA
Mohamed Mattar, Senior Research Professor of International Law, Executive Director, The
Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, Washington, DC, USA
08:00-10:00
Closing Dinner