SYMPOSIUM INTRODUCTION: THE SCHOLAR, TEACHER, JUDGE AND JURIST IN A MIXED JURISDICTION: PAPERS FROM THE FOURTH CONGRESS OF THE WORLD SOCIETY OF MIXED JURISDICTION JURISTS

Abstract

The peripatetic journey of the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists (WSMJJ) through the classic mixed- jurisdiction capitals of the world began in 2002 at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Four years later, the WSMJJ met for its second worldwide congress at Edinburgh University in Scotland. In 2011, it landed at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2015, the WSMJJ returned to North America and hosted its fourth worldwide congress at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. At each stop along the way, jurists have explored, debated, questioned, expanded, and sometimes even rejected the notion of a mixed jurisdiction as WSMJJ founder Vernon Palmer defined it in his now-classic study that helped launch the comparative law project on mixed jurisdictions. Indeed, by the time that the WSMJJ concluded its fourth congress in 2015, most observers would have agreed that the notion of legal mixité has become a pervasive, though admittedly contested, concept in comparative law. Even though the use of metaphors, such as the “legal transplant,” has perhaps flagged in recent years, scholars continue to explore the notion of mixité. Plainly, the notion of mixité has tremendous appeal—as evident in the breadth of papers presented at the fourth congress.