7th annual International Berg Conference

The topic of the 2016 International Berg Conference will be "Overlapping jurisdictions: a transformative moment?"

The conventional story of how modernity altered juridical decision-making systems on a global scale is one in which the modern nation-state emerged as the key arbiter of legal disputes.  But the modern nation-state's monopoly on the resolution of legal conflicts may be less extensive than initially presumed. 

The rapid globalization, digitization, and marketization of recent decades have altered legal systems at local, national, and transnational levels.  Institutions other than state-courts are increasingly resolving national and transnational conflicts.  In this space of overlapping jurisdictions, procedural law is undergoing broad transformations; the privatization of arbitration is providing more alternatives to state-based institutions; and criminal law is experiencing a parallel shift to the private resolution of conflicts. 

These changes trigger a wide range of questions about the relationship between state institutions and the resolution of legal conflicts.  How do juridical systems of decision making change? Are we in the midst of an epochal transformation of our legal systems? Is what used to be a state-centered system of justice now making place for other forms of conflict regulation?  If so, is law being modified substantively as a result of these changes?  What explains the expansion of overlapping jurisdictions?  How should legal professionals respond to these changes?

These topics and more will be addressed during the conference, which will be open to the general public pending registration via email. 

Full schedule and registration details >>