Studies in Legal Systems: Mixed and Mixing.

• Author: Starosta, Naomi B.
• Position: Review

STUDIES IN LEGAL SYSTEMS: MIXED AND MIXING, Kluwer Law International, Boston, MA (Esin Orucu, Elspeth Attwooll, & Sean Coyle, eds., 1996). ISBN 90-411-0906-4; 360pp.

Employing both academic and personal points of view, the authors in STUDIES IN LEGAL SYSTEMS: MIXED AND MIXING examine how national legal institutions are born out of the need to embrace multiculturalism and reconcile seemingly disparate legal traditions. For the societies profiled -- from more mainstream actors on the world stage like Turkey and Australia, to the more obscure such as Malta and Slovenia -- the pluralism reflected in the end result accommodates diversity by incorporating many legal traditions into a singular, national system.

In some cases, the authors explore provinces with a distinct, nationalistic character existing in tension with the larger, inclusive state. For example, in his chapter on the Canadian province of Quebec, H. Patrick Glenn explains that this strain in national relations is, in fact, personified by provincial resistance to formalizing national legal institutions. Thus, over the centuries, Quebec forged a unique jurisprudential disposition, a "bi-systematic" combination of civil code (originally French) and common law (originally English). Likewise, Alejandro Saiz Arnaix and Joxerramon Bengoetxea Caballero illuminate a complex system of customary practices, which have emerged in response to the Spanish civil code and balance-of-power principles ("competances"), in their discussion of the Basque Country (Spain). In that case, the dichotomy exists between Spanish Constitutional public law and private, [oral law. Like Quebec, the existence of this public-private split in Basque law has direct links to a strongly democratic and nationalistic tradition.

The book also covers issues relating to free trade zones, where cultures mix within the context of an institutionalized economic framework of independent states. This is especially relevant in the current political scene, considering the global trend toward individual, autonomous nation-states, while creating a web of interconnectedness through trade relations. Noreen Burrows' chapter on the "mega mix" of the European Community provides a case-in-point: The EC Member States share in an autonomous, international order, created by legal precedents set by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This has forced a debate on the supremacy of legal authority within the Community as to which rules govern...