News and Notices

In the colonial courtrooms of the Amazon, Indigenous voices did more than defend. They redefined the meaning of freedom. André Luís Bezerra Ferreira uncovers how Native communities used memory, kinship, and oral tradition as powerful legal tools to challenge colonial rule. Drawing from overlooked archives like the Livro de Assentos of the Junta das Missões, his work shows that Indigenous peoples were not passive subjects but active negotiators of law and status. Courts became spaces of struggle where terms like ‚captive‘, ‚slave‘, and ‚free‘ were constantly reinterpreted through Indigenous knowledge systems. Oral histories, rituals, and relational ties anchored claims to liberty and protection in a legal world built to exclude them. more

What happens when you're expected to follow rules that contradict each other? That question is at the center of a lecture by historian Hillard von Thiessen (University of Rostock), taking place on April 23 as part of the series Frankfurter Rechtshistorische Abendgespräche. His talk, titled ‚The Age of Ambiguity. Concurrence and Competition of Norms in Early Modern Europe‘, begins at 18:15 in Room Z01 at our institute. At the heart of Thiessen’s talk is the concept of Normenkonkurrenz - the overlapping and often clashing expectations from different sources of authority: religious teachings, legal rules, and social codes. In early modern Europe, these weren’t neatly aligned. Quite the opposite - they pulled people in different directions. According to Thiessen, this wasn’t just confusing. It shaped an entire way of life.  more

This new volume in the Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte explores how core legal concepts - such as judgement, jurisdiction, law, and justice - took shape in the dialogue between legal scholarship and moral theology. Focusing on the legal system of Hispano-America (derecho indiano), Orazio Condorelli traces key developments in the relationship between secular and ecclesiastical power, with a particular emphasis on the institutions that structured this relationship in the Spanish overseas territories from the 16th to the 18th century. more

Submissions are now open for a workshop on the Mixed Courts of Egypt, to be held on 23–24 February 2026 at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory. Organized by Dr Michel Erpelding and Aya Bejermi, the event invites reflection on an institution that stood at the crossroads of empire, international law, and everyday justice. Established through treaties between Egypt and 14 Western powers, the Mixed Courts operated for over seven decades with foreign judges and French-inspired legal codes. Their legacy stretches from Cairo to Strasbourg, and still prompts fresh questions today. more

What if the Council of Trent wasn’t rigid, but adaptable? In Volume 23 of Global Perspectives on Legal History, Anna Clara Lehmann Martins uncovers how clerics, jurists, and bureaucrats in 19th-century Brazil used the Tridentinum not as dogma, but as a flexible tool. Drawing on rich archival sources from Brazil’s Council of State and the Vatican’s Congregation of the Council, she reveals a “fabric of the ordinary” where norms were shaped by multilevel governance and multinormativity. The work emerged from a cotutelle PhD between UFMG and the University of Münster, within the Max Planck Research Group led by Benedetta Albani. more

Submissions are open for the prestigious Max Planck-ASLH Dissertation Prize for European Legal History in a Global Perspective. Awarded by the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory (mpilhlt) in collaboration with the American Society for Legal History (ASLH), the prize honours outstanding dissertations that examine Europe’s legal past in its broader global context. This year’s prize will be awarded to a PhD or JSD recipient whose dissertation was completed in 2024 and advances the study of European legal history in a global framework. The recipient will spend three months at the mpilhlt in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with full financial support, including a 2500 € monthly stipend, travel funding of up to 1500 €, and housing in an Institute apartment. more

The legal history of the British Empire is still in its early stages—but the newly released The British Empire in Comparative Legal Perspective helps bridge some of the gaps. Volume 25 of the Global Perspectives on Legal History explores legal transfer and legal geography across Australia, Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, East Asia, and East and South Africa. Arguing for a comparative approach, the book highlights how legislative and interpretative models were consciously adopted and adapted across imperial jurisdictions. The decolonization process further revealed both parallels and divergences in legal development. more

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a unique legal experiment unfolded in Egypt, Syria/Lebanon, and Tangier. These regions, under semi-colonial control, established mixed courts—judicial bodies that blended local and foreign legal traditions to handle disputes involving foreigners. Aya Bejermi investigates how these courts operated as early forms of supranational law, influencing later international legal systems, including the foundations of European legal integration. Her study explores key questions: How did mixed court rulings evolve? How did lawyers and judges navigate competing legal traditions? And did this legal order leave a lasting imprint on modern supranational institutions? more

How were labour law enforcement ideas exchanged and adapted across borders? A new Call for Papers invites scholars to explore this question at a workshop organized by our researcher Johanna Wolf, John Howe (University of Melbourne), and Rebecca Zahn (University of Strathclyde). The event will take place at the University of Strathclyde on 11-12 September 2025 and will examine the historical development of dispute resolution and compliance mechanisms in labour law. The workshop aims to shed light on how enforcement ideas — ranging from arbitration and conciliation to trade union action and labour inspectorates — were shaped by international networks in the 19th and early 20th centuries. more

Who has the authority to define what constitutes antisemitism, and what are the consequences of such definitions? With this question, our director Marietta Auer engages in a contribution to the Zeitschrift Merkur. In her legal column, she analyzes the current political and legal debate surrounding the concept of antisemitism, particularly in the context of the resolution passed by the German Bundestag on November 7, 2024. Auer highlights that defining antisemitism is not merely a matter of terminology but has profound implications for public discourse, freedom of speech, and political practice. more

The mpilhlt has been awarded gold for its gender equality plan for the second time running. The evaluation committee, consisting of gender equality officers from the Max Planck Society and other research organisations, particularly praised the Institute’s regular, comprehensive data collection to monitor the gender equality situation, the gender parity among researchers, and the progress made towards closing the gender pay gap among research-supporting staff. more

Think colonialism only changed borders? Think again. Pioneering research reveals how British colonial rule didn't just impose foreign laws - it dismantled indigenous legal systems and marginalised women who once played central roles. Before 1890, Asante women in Ghana shaped the law and exercised authority in courts and communities alike. Through her work, Paulien Broens uncovers the overlooked power of pre-colonial Ghanaian women and reveals how colonial rule entrenched a legacy of gender inequality that continues to this day. In our interview, she talks about how colonial administrators ignored and erased female legal authority, the resilience of Asante women, and the ongoing fight for recognition in Ghana today. more

In his contribution to our blog Legal History Insights, Omer Aloni of Tel Aviv University explores the dynamic relationship between traditional and contemporary legal systems in Israel. His analysis, titled "Present Absentee: The Sulha as a Mechanism of Legal Pluralism in Israeli Law," delves into a pivotal Supreme Court case from the 1950s. This case highlights the Sulha, a customary Arab reconciliation process, as a cornerstone of legal pluralism. Aloni recounts how the Sulha was instrumental in resolving a manslaughter case, its emphasis on familial and communal harmony leading to a mitigated sentence and underscoring the integration of restorative justice within the legal framework. more

The position of Managing Director at the Institute rotates among the three Directors every three years. As of 2025, Stefan Vogenauer has assumed this role, succeeding Marietta Auer at the start of the year. The Managing Director oversees the Institute’s day-to-day operations, particularly its administrative functions. In his introductory message, Vogenauer extends his gratitude to Marietta Auer for her exemplary leadership and shares his plans to further advance the Institute’s mission through strategic initiatives and continued dedication to outstanding research. more

In her PhD Project Manuela Camargo de Assis investigates the often-overlooked role of architects in shaping international law. Traditionally, legal scholarship has focused on written texts and metaphorical references to architecture, but Camargo de Assis argues that architecture’s physical and visual dimensions can directly influence legal norms, authority, and power. Her work centers on a series of 20th- and 21st-century case studies of buildings designed to house international organizations. Drawing on legal history, architecture, and visual studies, this research highlights the interplay between the discursive and material facets of international law. more