devoted to law as practice, and will cover
MacCormick’s ground-breaking work on
the theory of legal argumentation and legal
rhetorics. The second (and third) day will
focus on a favourite applied topic in the
works of Scottish legal theorists, namely,
the law and politics of European
integration. The third day will revolve
around the post-sovereign paradigm of
political communities favoured by
MacCormick, and will critically engage
with his inspiring theory of liberal
nationalism, as a comprehensive political
theory capable of upholding a degree of
independence of Scotland from the United
Kingdom, and simultaneously, a deep
commitment to further European
integration. We conclude the third day of
the workshop with a roundtable on
Europe’s constitutional future.
VENUE OF THE COURSE
Bergen Vitensenter/Bergen Science Center
Seminar room B&C
Tormøhlens gate 51
Registration Form The Post-Sovereign
Name and First Name: Constellation
Address:
Law and Democracy in Neil
MacCormick’s legal and
University / Department: political theory
E-mail:
Telephone:
will participate in the Workshop/Doctoral
Course on Law and Democracy in Neil
MacCormick’s legal and political theory,
which will take place in Bergen on 6-7-8-9
November.
Participants will receive a copy of the
materials of the course. The eventual costs
will be charged to the participant.
An extra charge of 500 NOK (approx. 60
EURO) will be required for all participants
willing to join the official dinners/lunches. Bergen, 6 to 9 November 2007
Please forward (the information in) this
registration form to:
Janicke.B.Dahl@sos.uib.no
This doctoral course analyses the legal and
political theory of Neil D. MacCormick. It
is structured over four days. On the first
day, students will be provided with an
advanced summary of the main issues
covered by MacCormick’s work,
especially focused on his conception of
sovereignty and democracy; his theory of
legal argumentation and his institutional
theory of law, as reflected in his last three-
volume opus Questioning Sovereignty
(1999), Rhetoric and the Rule of Law
(2005), and Institutions of Law (2007)
On the second through fourth day (7-9.11),
the doctoral course will adopt the
workshop format. International scholars
will make short presentations of papers
especially commissioned for the
workshop, which will be made available
one to two weeks in advance. The
workshop will be structured around six
sections. The first day will open with a
section on law as an institution, and the
dynamic relationship between law and
politics. Particular attention will be placed
on MacCormick’s criticisms of the
“classical legal positivism” advocated by
Herbert Hart, and the progressive
development of his institutional and post-
positivistic conception of law. The second
section that day will be
Program
Tuesday November 6, 2007
09:00 to 17:00 Preparatory sessions
Wednesday November 7, 2007
09.00-09.15: Opening remarks by Jan Fridthjof
Bernt, Lars Blichner, John Erik Fossum and
Agustín José Menéndez
09.15-10.00: Neil MacCormick on Neil
MacCormick
10.00-12.30 Session I. Law as an institution and
the dynamics of law and politics
Massimo La Torre: Changes and continuities in
Neil MacCormick’s concept of Law
Lars Blichner and Anders Molander: Is Neil
MacCormick’s concept of law a vehicle of
juridification?
12.30-13.30 Lunch
13.30-16.00 Session II. Law as a practice: legal
argumentation, rhetorics and coherence
Flavia Carbonell Bellolio: Coherence and post-
sovereign legal argumentation
Marina La Latta: A long and peculiar friendship:
MacCormick’s theory between positivism and
iusnaturalism
16.00-16.30 Neil MacCormick responds
16.30-17.30 General discussion
Thursday November 8, 2007
09.00-12.00 Session III. Law as a vehicle of
integration: The law and politics of the European
Union
Tanja Hitzel Casagnes Are we beyond
sovereignty? The sovereignty of processes and the
democratic legitimacy of the European Union
Agustín José Menéndez Can Europe be described
as a pluralistic legal order? The underpinnings of
MacCormick’s theory of European law
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-16.00 Session IV. The post-national
constellation and democratic sovereignty
Joxerramón Bengoetxea: Liberal nationalism and
the European polity
Hauke Brunkhorst: Cosmopolitanism starts at
home: constitutionalism, democracy and equality
16.00-16.30 Neil MacCormick responds
16.30-17.30 General discussion
Friday November 9, 2007
09.00- 12.00 Session V. Post-sovereignty and the
protection of fundamental rights
Martin Borowski: Reflections on the role of
fundamental rights in MacCormick's legal theory
and in his reconstruction of European law
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-16.00 Session VI. Roundtable on Europe’s
constitutional future, with particular focus on
multiculturalism, terrorism, and the process of
constitution making
Neil MacCormick, Henning Koch, Erling Husabø
NYC), Henriette Sinding Åsen, Agustin Menendez,
and John Erik Fossum