Past Events
CPG’s 6th Annual Conference on “Law and Ideology”
Agenda
Friday, October 23, 2015
Opening Ceremony and Official welcoming ceremony for Hon. Slavica Banic, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, as new research fellow of CPG
Saturday, October 24, 2015:
Presentations
Prof. Dr. Alexandros Kioupkiolis, Faculty of Law, Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
“Law and Ideology in Contemporary Democratic Theory: The Constitution of Democracy in Rawls’ Deliberative Democracy and in Hardt and Negri’s Radical Democracy of the Multitude”
Prof. Dr. Saul Newman, Department of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom
“Post-Anarchism and Critical Legal Theory”
Prof. Dr. Wojciech Sadurski, The University of Sydney Law School, Australia
“Liberalism and Law: ‘Solving’ the Dilemmas of Pluralism and Legitimacy”
Dr. Cormac Mac Amhlaigh, Edinburgh Law School, The Universityof Edinburgh, United Kingdom
“The Public/Private Divide and the Law: Archetype or Ideology?”
Prof. Dr. Robert Esser, Faculty of Law, Passau University
“Influence of Politics and Ideology on National Criminal Law – Criminal Law as a Steering Paramater and Steering Matter”
Dr. Marija Bartl, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Ideology as Knowledge in European Private Law”
Dr. Heloise Weber, School of Political Science & International Relations, The University of Queensland, Australia
“Politics of Law and Global Development: A Critique of the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda?”
Sunday, October 25, 2015:
Prof. Dr. Niels Petersen, Faculty of Law, Münster University, Germany
“The Role of Ideology in the Debate on the Democratic Deficit of the European Union”
Dr. Michael Wilkinson, Law Department, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
“Ideology, Austerity and Authoritarian Liberalism in the Crisis of the European Union”
Hon. Slavica Banic, Justice, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, Croatia
“Ideology and Law in Croatian Constitutional Jurisprudence”
Dr. Stephen Skinner, Law School, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
“Ideology and Criminal Law under Fascism and Democracy: Histories and Legacies”
Prof. Dr. He Li, Department of Political Science, Merimack University, USA
“Battle of Ideas and its Impacts on the Rule of Law in China”
Prof. Dr. Bidyut Chakrabarty, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, India
“Left Radicalism in India: Articulating a Voice Against the Neoliberal Capitalist Order”
Dr. Jonathan Liljeblad, School of Law, New England University, Australia
“Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution as a Hybrid of Multiple Ideologies”
Report
Under the title “Law and Ideology”, CPG’s 6th Annual International Conference was held from 23-25 October 2015at Lebua at State Tower Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. Theme of the conference was the interaction of law and ideology in the formation of social order. In this context, the term “ideology” was used to designate normative worldviews with fundamental shaping impact on social ordering, constitutional order and the legal system and was thus not used with any negative connotation but essentially neutrally. The conference assembled 14 presentations from speakers coming from eight countries (Germany, Australia, Croatia, Greece, India, the Netherlands, UnitedKingdom, United States of America) presenting on a variety of topics related to the conference’s theme.
The conference was opened on 23 October with a festive ceremony. The welcoming words were delivered by Jan Blezinger, Counsellor, Head of Press andCultural Section of the German Embassy in Bangkok, Assist. Prof. Dr. Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, Vice-Rector of Thammasat University, and Henning Glaser, Director of CPG. They were followed by the official welcoming ceremony for Hon. Slavica Banic, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, as new CPG Senior Research Fellow. Dr. Warawit Kanithasen, himself Senior CPG Research Fellow, gave a speech in her honor acknowledging her professional achievements as well as her various and rich contributions to CPG. Hon. Jasna Omejec, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, who could not be present personally, warmly welcomed Hon. Banic’s new position and congratulated her in a letter (see below) read out to the audience by Henning Glaser.
The first academic day on Saturday, 24 October, started with the presentation of Prof. Dr. Alexandros Kioupkiolis, Faculty of Law, Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, on law and ideology in contemporary deliberative democracy, introducing the audience to the constitution of democracy in John Rawls’ deliberative democracy and in Michael Hardt’s and Antonio Negri’s radical democracy of the multitude. Prof. Dr. Saul Newman, Department of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London, continued with his presentation on post-anarchism and critical legal theory in which he elucidated the notions of anarchism, post-anarchism, an-archy, and post-structuralism, concluding on the remark that anarchism could be mostclosely associated with justice. Prof. Dr. Wojciech Sadurski, The University of Sydney Law School, then presented on the relationship between liberalism and law and how to solve the dilemmas of pluralism and legitimacy, addressing the concepts of comprehensive and restrictive liberalism while juxtaposing the motives for legislation with the effects of legislation. The morning session then concluded with the presentation of Dr. Cormac Mac Amhlaigh, Edinburgh Law School, The University of Edinburgh, on the public/private divide and the law, elaborating on the law’s relationship to justice and the issue of judges’ lacking legitimacy in imposing their ideological views in the application of law in particular cases. The afternoon session was opened by the presentation of Prof. Dr. RobertEsser, Faculty of Law, Passau University, on the influence of politics and ideology on national criminal law, addressing particularly the nature of criminal law as a steering parameter and steering matter.
He was followed by Dr. Marija Bartl, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam, who presented on the topic of “Ideology as Knowledge in European Private Law”, elucidating the dichotomy of politically communicated goals and goals outside the political sphere, while taking theEuropean Union Online Internal Market as an example of an ideology proposing an ever closer union and economic integration in all fields.
Dr. Heloise Weber, School of Political Science & International Relations, the University of Queensland, Australia, completed the presentations of that day with her reflections on the politics of law and global development, addressing the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and noting their alignment with commercial law as well as an emphasis on market access.The second conference day on Sunday, 25 October, was opened with the presentation of Prof. Dr. Niels Petersen, Faculty of Law, Münster University, on the role of ideology in the debate on the democratic deficit of the European Union, analyzing how the conservativecritique of the integration process put forward notions of sovereignty and democratic legitimacy in pursuing its agenda.
He was followed by Dr. Michael Wilkinson, Law Department, London School of Economics, who presented on ideology, austerity and authoritarian liberalism in the crisis of the European Union, addressing the questions whether economic liberalism is authoritarian and particularly elaborating on a process of de-constitutionalization consisting of de-democratization and a threat of de-legalization. Hon. Slavic Banic, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, then continued with her presentation on ideology and law in Croatian constitutional jurisprudence, analyzing the legacy of socialist and communist ideology, war and post-war legislation on Croatian constitutionalism, and concluding on the critical notion that constitutional court decisions are still often perceived as obstacles to the political process. The next presentation was delivered by Dr. Stephen Skinner, Law School, University of Exeter, on ideology and criminal law under fascism and democracy, addressing Italy’s and Great Britain’s usage of criminal law as a tool of repression in the interwar period, while focusing on the analysis of connections and similarities regarding punishment and political offenses.
Prof. Dr. He Li, Department of Political Science, Merrimack College, USA, concluded the morning session with his remarks on the battle of ideas and its impacts on the rule of law in China, elaborating on the ideological underpinnings of China’s development of the rule of law driven by an emphasis on good governance instead of electoral democracy.The afternoon session comprised two presentations. Prof. Dr. Bidyut Chakrabarty, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, addressed the phenomenon of left radicalism in India as a voice against a neoliberal capitalist order, particularly focusing on India’s regional imbalances and their correlation to neoliberal extremism.
Finally, Dr. Jonathan Liljeblad, School of Law, New England University, presented Myanmar’s 2008 constitution as a hybrid of multiple ideologies, carving out a non-linear legal development with influences from common law, socialist law, customary law, and civil law which are reflectedin the 2008 constitution. Prof. Dr. Ingwer Ebsen, Faculty of Law, Frankfurt University, then completed the conference with some concluding remarks.Every panel was supported by moderators including Dr. Nilubol Lertnuwat, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, Virot Ali, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, Assist. Prof. Dr. Kittisak Prokati, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, Thitirat Thipsamritkul, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, Prof. Dr. Ingwer Ebsen, Faculty of Law, Frankfurt University, and Dr. Duc Quang Ly, CPG, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University.
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