Lectures and events

Hosted alternately every two year's by the University of Bergen and the University of Oslo.

- In 2024 it is hosted by the University of Bergen from April 24th to 27th.

Hosted alternately every two year's by the University of Bergen and the University of Oslo.

- In 2023 it was hosted by the University of Bergen on November 17th.

Every Monday from 12:00 to 13:30 o'clock the Research Group for Legal Culture, Legal History and Comparative Law meets at the Faculty to talk about current topics within the research field. We also invite other researchers (both nationally and internationally) to hold a lectures or present their research to the group.

Digital meetings hosted by UiO w/ Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde.

- The research group for Legal Culture, Legal History and Comparative Law at the University of Bergen organizes a workshop on legal realism at the University of Bergen on December 15th, 2023. Read more about the event here.

- Andreas Knutsson presented his thesis to the research group during a monday lunch-meeting with the esearch group.

- His thesis aims to examine the emergence of the distinction between private and public law in the legal system during the long nineteenth century. This raises the question of the conflict between individual freedom and compelling public interests, but is also linked to the question of the rise of the rule of law. "Freedom" and "order" turn out to be two key concepts in this development.

- The research group for Legal Culture, Legal History and Comparative Law at the University of Bergen organized the fourth Norwegian legal historians' day on November 17th, 2023 in Bergen. Read more about the event here.

- Number of participants: 21

- The research group for Legal Culture, Legal History and Comparative Law at the University of Bergen invited young and talented legal historian, with a particular interest in legal research within legal history, comparative law and legal culture, to Bergen on November 16th, 2023. During the workshop, all participants presented and discussed their current work.

- Number of participants: 11

- Aurora Laugerud and Siri Elisabeth Bernssen held a brief introduction to Tingbokstudies and the text analysis program AntConc during one of the research group's monday lunch meetings.

- About the presentation: At the beginning, Siri gave a very brief introduction about the tingbøkene in general; the function of the Tinget (courts), how the books and reports from various cases are structured, which persons you'll meet, how to find and follow various cases and briefly about the possibilities that the digitized case books provide. Aurora then gave an introduction on how to use the program AntConc in research studies.

- Yvette Lind presented her latest research project to the Research Group for Legal Culture and the Research Group for Tax Law in September 2023.

- About the project: the project is a comparative study of three countries, with ambitions to analyze how tax laws and tax policy have been shaped and should be developed in the future.

- Tom Lawrie is from Glasgow and presented his thesis to the research group, which is about the history of tort law with a particular focus on trespassing.

- About his project: This thesis provides an account of the doctrinal development of trespass in Scotland from the late medieval period to the present day. The issue of trespass being associated with wrongful encroachment onto land is recent. Much of Scotland’s medieval law was drawn from the early works of the English Common Law such as Glanvill. Therefore, a comparison with the law of England is essential at relevant points leading to an interesting and illuminating jurisdictional juxtaposition. 

- The research group for Legal Culture, Legal History and Comparative Law at the University of Bergen hosted a conference on Nordic legal culture, legal history and comparative law at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen. The guests were internationally leading researchers in the field. Read more about the conference here.

- The seminar was led by Sören Koch, Catalina Vallejo Piedrahita og Esmeralda Colombo.

- The title of his research is "Lagförarbetenas rättskällesstatus: a question about legislative technique or legal method? A legal genetic perspective on a legal cultural characteristic".

- Number of participants: 11 (8 physical and 3 digital)

Activities 2020

- Lectures based on a master's project. Held by Liv Sofie Hallaråker Utvær in January 2020.

- Number of participants: 6

- Lectures for input and discussion among the research group members. Held by Linda Gröning in January 2020.

- Number of participants: 9

- Guest lecture given by Andrew Simpson from the University of Aberdeen in January 2020

- Number of participants: 9

- Brief summary: In 1566, two Scottish jurists – Edward Henryson and David Chalmers – complained that the laws of the realm were “confusit”. Their response to the problem has sometimes been treated as an attempt to “codify” the laws of the realm, or to reduce the laws of the realm to writing in a manner resembling what was being done with contemporary French customs. But is this really so? A contextual reading of what these writers may have meant when they said the laws were “confusit” will suggest that the problem and the solution they identified was somewhat more complex, albeit that they may ultimately have had French models in mind when seeking to reduce the laws to order

- Lecture on the legal historical aspects of lawyers' duty of confidentiality from Roman law to the present day. Held by Johannes Mella in February 2020.

- Number of participants: 7

- Lecture given by Monica Naime Henkel in February 2020.

- Number of participants: 9

- Short summary: The last few decades have seen an increase in the participation of private individuals and companies in the provision of public services, as contracting out public services through networks of governance in public affairs becomes necessary in order to have more efficient, responsive, inclusive and representative governments. I look into State’s international responsibility for conduct of non-state actors. Specifically, the conditions and limits for when the conduct of private person or organization exercising governmental acts can be attributed to the State. What is a governmental act? When can a private action be attributed to the State? What are the legal implications for welfare states (which provide a wider range of public services)?

- Lecture given by Marius Mikkel Kjølstad in February 2020

- Number of participants: 7

- Lecture held by Sören Koch over the meeting platform Zoom in April 2020.

- Number of participants: 9

- Brief summary: The legal culture model developed by Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde has proven to be a useful educational tool for describing and analyzing legal cultures both historically and comparatively. However, the Compass model focuses on what we call the macro-level and is particularly well suited to creating a knowledge-based understanding of the larger context. For many years I have puzzled over a new analytical model that provides general guidance on how to carry out comparative legal research to solve specific legal issues on the basis of legal cultural knowledge and understanding. I use the discussion of the jury case and some examples from the contributions in the book Comparing Legal Cultures as a starting point to illustrate how the model can be used

- More information can be found here.

- Number of participants: 12

- Lecture given by Aila Biret Henriksen Selfors from UiT in May 2020.

- Number of participants: 7

- Short summary: the presentation deals with which methodological challenges arise when Sami and Norwegian law meet, as well as which methods can be used to solve these challenges. Aila argues that Sami law must be studied from its own premises, independent of the premises of Norwegian law. This means, among other things, that Sami law can be something more or other than customs and legal opinions, as they are defined by Norwegian legal method. It also means that Norwegian law cannot always set the conditions for when Sami law is to be recognized.
 

- Lecture given by Tarjei Ellingsen Røsvoll in May 2020.

- Number of participants: 7

- Workshop held in Vaksdal in June 2020.

- Number of participants: 8

- Lecture held by Eirik Holmøyvik in August 2020.

- Number of participants: 13

- Presentation held by Eirik Hovden in August 2020.

- Number of participants: 14

- Lecture held by Gert-Fredrik Malt in September 2020

- Number of participants: 12

- Lecture given by Marius Mikkel Kjølstad in October 2020.

- Number of participants: 8

- Lecture held by Brage Thunestvedt Hatløy in October 2020.

- Number of participants: 13

The research group for legal culture organized 23 lunch seminars in 2020, (20% more than in 2019) (since March only or partly digitally).

The members of the research group participated actively in preparation for the Koren-Wiberg seminar with over fifty registered participants (the event unfortunately had to be canceled due to the pandemic).

The research group has held 2 workshops - 1 of them related to an application to NFR.

The research group was a forum for interested graduate student's, although no one chose to write primarily on a legal culture, these students have been accepted to research line JUS387 (70p thesis).

Two external and 4 internal fellows have presented their doctoral projects.

Two external master's students have presented their projects.

Overall, we had visits from 14 external national and international researchers who gave several presentations to the research group.

As a core group under the research group's umbrella, the legal historians have had weekly Monday meetings, with and without contributions from members. We have often used these meetings for the guest researchers' presentations. There have been between 5 and 15 members who participated in the meetings. On average there were 6 of us (an increase of 1 compared to 2019).

9 members of the research group (3 external) and 6 members of the faculty have contributed to the new and expanded edition of Comparing Legal Cultures which was published in August 2020. The research group has coordinated this work and served as a forum for discussion of individual contributions as well as a joint strategy. The leader of the research group is the book's editor.

3 research group members have taken part in an interdisciplinary research project on urban property structures and 4 members are associated with the research group for property history with their respective subgroups.

2 members in the group are active participants or contributors in the interdisciplinary research school ATTR.

The research group has organized a book launch with 30 physical and 27 digital participants from many countries.

The research group for legal culture organized 23 lunch seminars in 2019 (120% more than 2018)

The members of the research group participated actively during the Koren-Wiberg seminar with 47 registered participants (but we got off cheap this time, because the seminar's costs were completely covered by HF)

The research group has held 4 workshops - 2 of them related to an application to NFR

The research group served as a forum for interested master's students, although no one chose to write primarily about a legal culture theme, these students have been admitted to research line JUS 387. Liv Sofie Hallaråker Utvær will present her project to the Research Group in January, see below.

We have had visits from 2 research fellows who were guests with us for 4 and 6 weeks, and gave several presentations to the research group.

We had contributions from several national and international researchers

As a core group under the research group's umbrella, the legal historians have had weekly Monday meetings, with and without contributions from members. We have often used these meetings for the guest researchers' presentations. There have been between 3 and 12 members who participated in the meetings. On average there were 5 of us.

5 members of the research group have contributed to Rett i Vest, with a scope of more than 130 pages in 7 individual contributions. The research group has coordinated this work and served as a forum for discussion of individual contributions as well as a common strategy.

3 research group members have taken part in an interdisciplinary research project on urban property structures and 4 members are associated with the research group for property history with their respective subgroups.

3 members in the group are active participants or contributors in the interdisciplinary research school ATTR.

In 2018, the research group for legal culture organized 10 lunch seminars.

The research group for legal culture organized an international workshop on The History of Commercial Law (24-25 August), with more than 20 participants, including students, master's students, PhD candidates and established researchers from various European countries.

As a special subgroup of the Research Group for Legal Culture, the legal historians have had a Monday meeting throughout 2018 with a presentation by one of the participants. There have been between 2 and 8 participants at the meeting, but an average of 4-9 participants, including master's students.

3 of the research group members traveled to the Norwegian Legal Historian Days in Oslo (April 4-6) and gave lectures. And 4 members went on an excursion to Trondhjem (3-4 April) where we met the medieval historians at NTNU and visited the Justice Museum.

The leaders of the research group participated in a workshop on legal history teaching in the Nordic region (27-28 September) in Copenhagen.

In 2018, the research group for legal culture organized 5 lunch seminars, Prof. Amentraut (Würzburg) 20.01., Brage Hatløy (Bergen) 25.01, Adelyn Wilson (Aberdeen) 27.04, Konrad Lachmayer (Vienna) 01.06, Merike Ristikivi (Tartu) 23.10, and Ole-Albert Rønning (Oslo) 23.11. In addition, the research group organized three lunchtime seminars together with other research groups: Cees van Dam (23.01) together with the Research Group for Tort Law; Esmeralda Colombo (Bergen) 31.01 together with the Research Group for Administrative Law, Meera Nuir (New Delhi) 02.10 together with the Research Group for Children, Family Inheritance and Personal Law, and David Vogt (Bergen) 13.11 together with the Research Group for Criminal Law.

The research group for legal culture organized a workshop on petroleum licenses and legal culture together with the Center for Oil and Gas Law in Aberdeen on 25 May, and organized a national meeting of legal historians in Rosendal on 19 May.

As a special subgroup of the Research Group for Legal Culture, the legal historians have had a Monday meeting throughout the autumn semester 2017 with a presentation by one of the participants. There have been between 2 and 8 participants at the meeting, but an average of 4-5 participants, including master's students.

4 of the research group members traveled to the Nordic Legal Historian Days in Copenhagen (7-9.3) and gave lectures.

The research group for legal culture has maintained a high level of activity throughout 2015. Not all planned activities were carried out, but any omissions were replaced with new ones. Changes primarily occurred because individuals scheduled to give lectures to the research group had to cancel.

The following lunch seminars were held in 2015: February: Dr. Lecturer Andrew Simpson (Aberdeen), March: PhD candidate Morten Kjære (Odense), April: Dr. docent Konrad Lachmayer (Vienna), June: Postdoctoral researcher Bruno Debaenst (Ghent), September: Wim decock (Leuven), December: lawyer Gunnar Nedrum (Tromsø). In addition to these six lectures, Jørgen Skjold presented his significant master's thesis in March.

There were no lunch meetings organized in May; instead, a workshop on law and religion took place. The workshop was organized by the Research Group for Legal Culture in collaboration with Bishop Halvor Nordhaug and the Bjørgvin diocese. Approximately 20 participants, including academics, the Norwegian Church, and practitioners in the legal field, attended.

Similarly, no lunch meetings were held in August. But a workshop on Chinese legal culture took place instead. The workshop was solely organized by the Research Group for Legal Culture, in collaboration with the law faculties in Helsinki, Copenhagen and Odense, as all three faculties cooperate with Bergen on a Nordic center for Chinese law and legal culture. The research group had invited three Chinese professors to give lectures, along with speakers from Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Odense.

There was no lunch seminar in October, as the head of the Research Group for Legal Culture was busy organizing an international conference on supreme courts and a conference on the Castberg child laws. In November, the group's leader was involved in organizing Medieval Week in Bergen, wearing different hats as the leader of the Supreme Court Jubilee Committee, a member of the UiB Jubilee Committee, and the leader of the National Law Project. Still, all events were relevant to the Research Group's activities, and its members participated in all of them.

In March, the Research Group for Legal Culture hosted Pablo Bravo Hurtado, a doctoral student from Maastricht, for the second time. Collaboration between him and researchers in the Research Group for Legal Culture and Civil Procedure was further developed through many discussions.

From February to April, the Research Group for Legal Culture hosted Morten Kjære, a doctoral student at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. The stay was financed by the University of Southern Denmark. Members of the research group focusing on legal history benefited significantly from Kjære's visit.

Lecturer Andrew Simpson and lecturer Adelyn Wilson from Aberdeen both stayed for a week at the Faculty of Law while teaching JUS290-2 –A. Simpson gave a lecture to the research group during his stay, while Wilson planned to do the same later. In each instance, members of the research group specializing in legal history particularly benefited from their conversations. The ongoing North Sea project originated from this contact with researchers at the Aberdeen Law School over several years.

In 2014, the Research Group for Legal Culture helped organize and finance two workshops on Political History in collaboration with Professor Ateemu Ryymin at AHKR. In 2015, the research group assisted in organizing two workshops in April and December but did not have financial responsibility. Morten Nadim and the leader of the research group participated in the project and will contribute to writing the book that arises from it in 2016, set to be published in 2017.

In 2015, core members of the Research Group for Legal Culture were invited to an annual closing dinner to foster more cohesion within the group.

Having researchers visit for an extended period in Bergen, with an office at the faculty, has proven to be highly beneficial. It is often the case that after hosting someone for a short visit, it becomes clear who to invite for a more extended stay. Therefore, in 2016, the Research Group for Legal Culture intends to continue inviting individual researchers for lectures while also focusing more on inviting researchers for longer stays.

Over several years, the Research Group for Legal Culture has organized or participated in workshops. These events are more resource-intensive but provide greater academic input and depth. The research group plans to continue with such arrangements.

Despite the high level of activity in the Research Group for Legal Culture, the number of participants in the group's events has varied. Workshops typically had around 20 participants, which is considered appropriate. However, lunch seminars typically had between 6 and 10 participants, which is insufficient. In 2016, the group plans to focus more on the core group interested in legal history. Additionally, a project on the rule of law may take on some of the more contemporary tasks of the research group.

The high level of activity is not unique to 2015 but has been a characteristic of the Research Group for Legal Culture over several years. While rewarding and developmental, it has also been demanding for the group's leader. Therefore, it was gratifying that Professor Søren Koch agreed to share leadership responsibilities, and the faculty supported this decision. This allows the group's activity to continue at an acceptable level while bringing in new ideas and perspectives (although Koch has already left his mark on the group's activities in previous years).