Law & History Research Network
The Law & History Research Network was established in 2021 and provides a venue for interdisciplinary research and joint projects and events in the overlapping fields of law, history and legal history. We bring together researchers from the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) and Law (FoL) at Maastricht University.
The Law & History Research Network focuses on understanding the origins of modern law and today’s multipolar rules-based global order. Its researchers combine, amongst other fields, institutional history, comparative legal history, legal biographies, and an anthropological reading of archives (against and along the grain).
Researchers interested to join the Law & History Research Network as members (UM colleagues) or associated members (non-UM colleagues) are welcome to contact Karin van Leeuwen and/or Agustín Parise.
News
Agustín Parise was elected president of the European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH)
Panel Historicidagen 2024: Undisciplining Legal History
Events
Members
Pablo del Hierro
Karin van Leeuwen
Agustín Parise
Moritz Koenig
Remco van Rhee
Mariken Lenaerts
Publications
| Author(s) | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Koenig, M | Moritz Koenig, Legal Subjectivity in Colonial Minangkabau: Elite Discourses and the Vernacularisation of Dutch Law in the Early Twentieth Century. Asian Journal of Law and Society (2026), 1–23. | Linkto article |
| Haakon Ikonomou, Karin van Leeuwen & Morten Rasmussen, (Eds.) | The Cambridge Handbook of the League of Nations and International Law. Cambridge University Press (2026) | Link to article |
| C.H. van Rhee | The History of Civil Procedure in Europe. In X. Kramer, S. Voet, & A. Dori (Eds.), European Civil Procedure (pp. 43-58). De Gruyter 2026. | Link to article |
| van Leeuwen, K. | Blazing a Trail: The Netherlands and European Law. In B. Davies & M. Rasmussen (Eds.), The History of European Union Law: Constitutional Practice, 1950 to 1993 (pp. 227–261). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2026. | Link to article |
| Agustín Parise | “A Bicentennial Approach to an Exegetical School of Private Law in Louisiana”, 17 Journal of Civil Law Studies pp. 59-127 (2025) | Link to article |
| Mariken Lenaerts | Anachronisms in legal historical education: Pitfalls, benefits and their importance for every lawyer. In C. Derry, & C. Howells (Eds.), Legal History in the Curriculum: Comparative Perspectives, Critical Approaches and Future Directions (pp. 130-150). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group (2025). | Link to article |
| van Leeuwen, K. | The Hague Academy as a Space of Encounter: How Scelle’s 1933 Teachings on National Courts Landed in the Netherlands,European Journal of International Law, Volume 35, Issue 3, August 2024, Pages 805–812 | Link to article |
| Koenig, M | Turkey, the Hague Academy and International Law in the Interwar Period: The Transnational Thinking of Ahmed Reşid, European Journal of International Law, Volume 35, Issue 3, August 2024, Pages 787–796 | Link to article |
| Pablo del Hierro | Writing a transnational (Global?) history of extradition law in the short twentieth century: Beyond western-centric approaches | Link to article |
| Haakon A. Ikonomou, Karin van Leeuwen and Morten Rasmussen | "Calculate the limits of the Possible": Scandinavian Legal Diplomacy, Diplomatic Arenas and the Establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice | Link to article |
| Agustín Parise | “Codifications”, in the book: The Cambridge History of Latin American Law in Global Perspective (T .Duve & T. Herzog eds.) pp. 321-344 (UK, 2024). | Link to article |
| Koenig, M. | Indisch Tijdschrift van het Recht, 1915–1947: A Critical Reassessment of Dutch Colonial Legal Sources. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, (1), 62-94. | Link to article |
| Nunes Chaib, A. | International Organisation as Government: Rereading Georges Scelle’s Theory of International Government. German Yearbook of International Law, 65(1), 225-254. | Link to article |
Past events
The Legal and Spatial Genealogy of the Geopolitics of Geographical Illiteracy
On 6 May 2026, Eric Loefflad presented his paper The Legal and Spatial Genealogy of the Geopolitics of Geographical Illiteracy at the Law Faculty.
Behind the Scenes of the 1950 Polish Extradition Request in the so-called Menten Affair
The event was held online on 24 September 2025, with Agata Fijalkowski as the speaker. She presented her research entitled Behind the Scenes of the 1950 Polish Extradition Request in the so-called Menten Affair.
Colonial Legal Education in the Dutch East Indies: Revisiting an Anthropological Debate
On 14 May 2025, one of the founding members of the Law & History network, Moritz Koenig, joined us to discuss his research on ‘Colonial Legal Education in the Dutch East Indies: Revisiting an Anthropological Debate’.
The Turn to History in International Law
The speaker at this event on 26 February 2025, was Lucas Lixinski (UNSW Sydney), who examined the turn to history in international law and its promise to offer alternative imaginations through the recovery of history, something that becomes challenging when dealing with the heritage of colonialism.
Law versus Myth? A Critique of International Law’s Historical Composition of Space and Time.
on 29 October 2024, during the Law and History network’s meeting, André Nunes Chaib presented his paper entitled Law versus Myth? A Critique of International Law’s Historical Composition of Space and Time.
Positivism as an Emancipatory Project
On 1 May 2024, Massimiliano Simons presented his paper Positivism as an Emancipatory Project at the Law Faculty.
Overcoming the Pitfalls of Anachronisms
On 9 October 2023, Mariken Lenaerts presented her paper Overcoming the Pitfalls of Anachronisms at FASoS.
Writing the Global History of Extradition in the 20th Century
On 4 April 2023, Pablo del Hierro presented his paper Writing the Global History of Extradition in the 20th Century at the Law Faculty.
Comparative Law and the Transatlantic Circulation of Legal Ideas
On 9 November 2022, Agustín Parise presented his paper Comparative Law and the Transatlantic Circulation of Legal Ideas (1900–1950) at FASoS.
Organising Legal Internationalism: The Institut de Droit International and the League of Nations, 1919–1939
On 24 February 2022, Karin van Leeuwen presented her paper Organising Legal Internationalism: The Institut de Droit International and the League of Nations, 1919–1939 at the Law Faculty.
Blogs by members of the network
The Ethnographic Turn in International Law: Vernacularisation as a Path towards Reform?
It has often been argued that international law and international legal scholarship are incapable of reforming themselves.
Moritz Koenig
Overcoming the pitfalls of anachronisms – and why this matters to all of us
Every now and again, and especially when redesigning a curriculum, the question regarding the role and place of legal history in said curriculum is brought up.
M.F. Lenaerts
Roaming across the X and Y axes: A plea for comparative legal history
Comparative legal history offers opportunities to roam across time and space.
Agustín Parise
Rights for others, furing back?
Colonialism and decolonization have importantly shaped the constitutional trajectories of not only the colonized states, but also those of the colonizers.
Karin van Leeuwen