People
Professor John W. Cairns
After early research on the comparative legal history of Louisiana and Quebec, Professor Cairns has devoted himself to the study of the legal literature of Scotland and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and to a long term research project on the relationship between legal thought and legal education in the Scottish enlightenment. He has published extensively in those fields in Britain, North America, continental Europe and Japan. He is currently researching law and slavery in eighteenth-century Scotland and completing a monograph on the history of Scots law.
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Professor Paul J. du Plessis (Director of the Centre for Legal History)
Professor du Plessis' research interests include Roman law the historical development of the civilian tradition in mixed jurisdictions, the relationship between law and history as well as between law and society in a historical context. Secondary research interests include the development of European Private Law, Comparative Law and International Private Law.
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Professor Hector MacQueen
Professor MacQueen has written extensively on the law of medieval Scotland, making comparative use of English law in particular, but also considering canon law and the Celtic laws of medieval Ireland and Wales. He has also worked on later perceptions of medieval law in Scotland, and has recently developed a significant body of work on modern legal nationalism considered in its historical context. He has also worked on the doctrinal history of the law of obligations, often in collaboration with David Sellar. Professor MacQueen was also a Commissioner at the Scottish Law Commission from 2009 to 2018.
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Professor Chloë Kennedy
Chloë 's main research interests are criminal law, legal theory, legal history, and the relationship between these areas. She is particularly interested in intellectual and cultural legal history, focussing on the ways that prevailing ideas have shaped the law's development and continue to inform our contemporary assumptions. Her research also focuses on law and gender and law and religion.
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The category of associate member was created in 2017 to give recognition to the extensive international connections that the members of the Centre maintain with legal historians and modern lawyers whose research touches on aspects of legal history from across the world.
Associate members serve for an initial period of 3 years and advise the Centre and its board on matters relating to the furthering of the cause of Roman law and legal history. It is a mark of great distinction to be invited to serve as an associate member.
Professor Orazio Condorelli (Università di Catania)
Professor Caroline Humfress (St Andrews)
Professor Norma Dawson, CBE (Queen’s University, Belfast)
Professor Catharine Macmillan (King’s College, London)
Professor Gwen Seabourne (Bristol)
The Centre for Legal History has proud tradition of honouring outstanding scholars in the field of Roman law. The University of Edinburgh has given honorary doctorates to:
Tony Honoré: LL.D. honoris causa 1977
Alan Watson: LL.D. honoris causa 2002
Laurens Winkel: LL.D. honoris causa 2013
Wolfgang Ernst: LL.D. honoris causa 2017
Professor Norma Dawson: LL.D. honoris causa 2023