Coutume and the Legal — Mayali
On Ada Kuskowski’s Vernacular Law
Issue 11 — Fall 2023 — Session 01 —
Iberian Nights — 1: Literature and Survival
By Laurent Mayali | Published on September 7, 2023
By Laurent Mayali | Published on September 7, 2023
This intervention will delve into some of the many stimulating arguments anchored upon a very careful interpretation of challenging sources in Ada's superb work, Vernacular Law. The book is a terrific contribution to the history of law, to theory of law and to comparative law, that extends beyond the study of the French coutumiers. The following points indicate some of the subjects I would like to underscore and discuss.
First, I will suggest a short introduction on the ideological context of the complex history of customary law in France.
Second, it is important to develop clear ideas —based on the reading of the whole book— on the question of vernacular law and legal language.
Third, I want to focus on the question of authorship and the ordering of texts that constitute the coutumier, with especial attention to form and to substance.
Fourth, I will discuss the question of le ressort de la coutume, and, in fact, talk about the learned law and Legal Transplants —a most exciting subject— in relation to Customary Law and Territory.
