Bell and Beyond is a project to trace the development of commercial law in Scotland from the time that George Joseph Bell assumed the Chair of Scots Law at Edinburgh Law School in 1822 to the present day. 

Bell and Beyond explores meta-themes transcending different strands of commercial law, and provides specific detailed examination of discrete areas of Scots commercial law and practice.

The project is led by Dr Jonathan Hardman at Edinburgh Law School, along with Dr Alisdair MacPherson and Prof Adelyn Wilson from the University of Aberdeen.

Edited Collection

The main output of the project will be a three-volume set of books, which provide the first comprehensive examination of the development of Scots commercial law since the early nineteenth century, drawing on the collected expertise of leading academics, members of the judiciary and advocates.

The first volume will provide novel analysis and conceptualisation of the factors which influenced the development of Scots commercial law, the contribution of key individuals and groups to that development, and the relevance of that development to modern Scots commercial law and practice. The second and third volumes will provide a detailed examination of the development of almost thirty discrete areas of Scots commercial law, together with a review of the practical application of commercial law, its litigation and enforcement.

Conference

A two-day conference will be held in 2022 to launch the project and to mark the bicentenary of Bell's appointment tp the Chair of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh. 

Image: Notes of Lectures on the Law of Scotland, f.fl.2r, University of Edinburgh