Iustinianus Primus Faculty of Law
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University
Annual International Scientific Conference 2024
Challenges of Legal Systems
Legal (i)rational Authority Amidst Global Shifts
The 21st century has seen its share of breakthroughs and breakdowns. Promise of peace, global communication and technological marvels juxtaposed by climate change, financial crisis, regional conflicts and a global pandemic.
The complexity of contemporary legal systems, and the dynamic and rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, create many challenges that require a constant review of legal frameworks, in-depth analysis, and innovative solutions in the direction of creating new norms, instruments, and paradigms capable of effectively dealing with the multifaceted challenges that legal systems are undoubtedly confronted.
About the conference
Once a year we bring together researchers and practitioners from various fields. We provide a platform where participants share their knowledge and insights, collaborate, and innovate. We promote an interdisciplinary approach to tackling long-lasting and contemporary issues.
The language of the conference is English. The presentation will be organized in panels and plenary session with keynote speakers and the program of the conference will be published no later than 25.10.2024.
Participants can attend the sessions and present their research online as well.
Should you apply?
Whether you are an experienced researcher, practitioner or doctoral student beginning your journey in the world of science in law, political sciences, journalism, and economics, you can share your ideas and experiences contributing to the advancement of their respective fields.
If you interests extend to:
Complexity of laws
Discretionary competencies
Adapting to technological advancements (data privacy, cybersecurity, digital transactions)
Access to justice
Globalization and international conflicts
Ethical dilemmas and accountability
Resource constraints and efficiency, Reforms
Cultural shifts and social expectations (gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights)
Environmental protection, Sustainable goals,
You are applying to the right conference. We are excited to learn more about or research, positions and arguments.
Who we are.
Iustinianus Primus Faculty of Law is the oldest higher education institution in the Republic of North Macedonia in the field of legal, political and communication sciences. It was established by Decree of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on November 3, 1951, as a department of the Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Skopje, and since July 1, 1956, it has been operating as the first independent higher education institution in the field of legal sciences. In 2001, on the 50th anniversary of its existence, the Faculty of Law was renamed the Iustinianus Primus Faculty of Law.
This year we celebrate our 73rd anniversary on November 3rd.
Important dates.
October 15th. Abstract/Application submission and registration fee.
October 25th. Announcement of Final program.
November 8th. Conference
February 28th, 2025, Submission of final papers.
Submit your abstract.
Guidelines for abstracts
- Title of the paper
- Author(s) name, surname, affiliation(s) and email address of the author/s
- The body of the abstract should be between 300 and 500 words and 4-6 keywords.
Participation fee.
Participation fee is 70 euro.
Participation fee for PhD students is 50 euro.
PhD students of the Iustinianus Primus Faculty of Law are free from participation fees.
Registration fee includes:
- Admission to scientific sessions.
- Certificate of participation.
- lunch and snacks during the conference breaks.
- dinner after the conference.
The registration fee does not include travel and accommodation expenses.
Instructions for Authors
Articles up to 6.000 words, A4, unformatted, following the Chicago Manuel of Style.
Authors are encouraged to cite articles indexed under Web of Science and/or SCOPUS.
Address
Blvd. Goce Delcev 9b
1000, Skopje
Republic of North Macedonia
Contact the organizer
Download the open call in PDF here.
2023 Annual International Conference
THE PROSPECTS OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION IN TIME OF GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGES
Conference date:
November 3, 2023
Venue:
Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus”, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, North Macedonia
Background:
The European integration has been praised by many for bringing economic growth, peace and stability to Europe. In recent years the European integration is facing many unprecedented geopolitical challenges. The Eurozone crisis, the Russian annexation of Crimea and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the enormous influx of refugees, together with the Brexit, as well as the consequences of the climate change, are all challenging the Union to its limits. All these different crises have cast doubt on ideas of “an ever closer” and an “ever-expanding” Union. In a rapidly changing global landscape, with stronger Chinese and Russian influence in the region, the success of the Union in effectively addressing challenges and seizing opportunities is defined by the constant revision of EU strategies, policies, and legislation, as well as the focused support and provision of resources by the Member States. Faced with these geopolitical challenges, the European Union started refocusing the enlargement debate, which has been stalled for a while due to the growing enlargement fatigue. The EU law has become an exportable commodity many years ago, influencing and changing the states and societies outside the borders of the Union, especially throughout the enlargement policy of the European Union. The enlargement policy has been placed at the heart of the European project and the EU accession process is widely perceived as one of the most powerful tools of the European Union for the international promotion of democracy and the rule of law. Therefore, the rapprochement of the Western Balkan region is strongly connected with the process of building the democracy in this conflict torn part of Europe, a process which must be encouraged continuously.
In this light, at the Annual International Conference in 2023 we focused on different aspects of the legal and political developments of the European integration as a whole in the context of the contemporary geopolitical challenges.
The conference:
We had the pleasure of welcoming more than 50 speakers and presenters. As per the programme, the conference took place on November 3, 2024. The first session was a plenary one, where all participants had the opportunity to hear the Dean of the Iustinianus Primus Law Facilty, Prof. Dr. Saso Georgievski, the Deputy Head of the EU delegation in North Macedonia, Mr. Ben Nupnau, as well as the Key-note speaker, Prof. Dr. Elaine Fahey of the Institute for the Study of European Law (ISEL) of the University of London. After the plenary session, all participants joined one of the 9 parallel sessions. Each session had a specific focus, e.g. criminal law, civil law, public law, tax law and finances, institutional reform, etc.
Participants came from multiple universities in the region and beyond and, to our great pleasure, we had the opportunity to welcome not just professors and academics, but also many PhD candidates who had the possibility to share their doctoral research with the audience.
Save the date: November 4, 2022; Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia (online).
Conference will be held on November 4, 2022, via online platform. This year, the Conference will be devoted to the “Contemporary aspects of legal culture – contents and discontents”. Our Conference is a traditional event, organized to provide an international platform for academicians, researchers, and PhD students to share their research findings with global experts.
The concept of legal culture presents a continuous and recurrent field of academic interest, raising particular interest in the second part of the XX century. The concept of legal culture has amassed voluminous literature that focuses on the issue as well as great interest by legal scientists, political scientists, sociologists as well as academic from adjacent academic fields. One of the founders of the concept of legal culture, Lawrence M. Friedman, defines the term as “those parts of general culture-customs, opinions, ways of doing and thinking-that bend social forces toward or away from the law and in particular ways” (1975). Friedman`s concept of legal culture refers to “clusters of ideas” (Coterell 2006) and sentiments, since legal culture is composed of “ideas, attitudes, expectations and opinions about the law, held by people in some given society” (Friedman 1990). Examining the legal culture in the United States of America, Junker (2016) explores “cultural differences, employing history, social theory, philosophy, and language as “reference frames,” which are then applied to the rules and procedures of a specific legal system.” From the most general perspective, legal culture, is perceived as a specific part of political culture related to the legal system where “the interpretation of the legal system must be located within a legal culture (…) in turn located within a political culture that gives meaning to and draws meaning from the legal culture.” (Mark and Eisgruber 1988).
However, the coverage of legal culture as an academic and research topic is not evenly distributed globally, for several reasons. The different approaches to the concept of legal culture and the fluidity of the term is the first reason. The second reason relates to establishing measurable categories of legal culture that could be utilized in researching the phenomenon in similar legal environments. The third reason is related to the multidimensionality of the term legal culture, with the accent being on the most popular division of legal culture as “internal” and “external”. While internal legal culture refers to the attitudes, behavior, values and practices of lawyers, judges and other legal officials and experts, external legal culture refers to the behavior, opinion, knowledge and attitudes towards law and the legal system which is shared by ordinary citizens. Only researching both dimensions of legal culture, not necessarily simultaneously, gives a complete overview of a specific legal and political system and the culture it breeds, maintains, and eventually modifies.
The ambition of the 2022 Annual Conference of the Law Faculty “Iustinianus Primus” in Skopje named “Contemporary aspects of legal culture – contents and discontents” is to both contribute to the growing literature in the field as well as to stimulate focus on legal and political systems that have not been sufficiently researched from the perspective of legal culture. In that sense, legal culture could be viewed in a wider sense as to include its internal or external dimension, its appearance in different legal contexts and fields, national, regional or international environments. Speaking of research in legal culture, in particular, Southeast Europe is one of the under-researched areas notwithstanding that some initial efforts in this academic area have emerged. Hence, the topics of the 2022 Annual Conference of the Law Faculty “Iustinianus Primus” in Skopje named “Contemporary aspects of legal culture – contents and discontents” relate but are not limited to:
- Approaches, paradigms and aspects of legal culture, both in its internal and external dimensions;
- The place of legal culture in the political and legal system in specific countries;
- Comparative case studies in legal culture (country reports);
- Legal subcultures in various political and legal environments;
- Methodological issues in research of legal culture;
- Jurisprudence and legal culture;
- Constitutionalism, rule of law and legal culture;
- The relation between legal and political culture;
- Psychological aspects of legal culture;
- The effects of legal culture on the judicial system (organization and practice);
- Qualitative and quantitative research in legal culture;
- Origins and emanation of external legal culture;
- Internal legal culture and its idiosyncrasies in different countries;
- Relations between internal and external legal culture;
- Historical aspects of development of legal culture in specific legal environments;
- Transformative effects of legal culture under the process of Europeanization – comparative analyses pre- and post- EU accession;
- Legal culture in SEE;
- Anomalies and deficiencies in legal culture in different countries (case studies or comparative studies etc.)
Authors are invited to submit papers on any subject related to and within the scope of the Conference topic. Submissions from academics, researchers and practitioners at any stage of their career, including PhD students, will be accepted.
2021 Annual International Conference
LAW, SOCIO-ECONOMICS AND POLITICS IN TROUBLED TIMES
Save the date: November 5, 2021; Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia (online)
In November 2021, the Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje marks its 70th anniversary.
To celebrate this jubilee, the Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University- Skopje, is announcing a Call for Papers for its Annual International Conference. The 2021 conference topic is “Law, socio-economics and politics in troubled times”.
Crisis seems to be the main operative term in academia in the last decade and a half. Starting from 2007 with the financial crisis, continuing with the migrant crisis of 2014 and the latest Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the global legal, political, and socio-economic order seems to have been thrown completely out of balance, if such a balance ever existed at all. In an atmosphere of permanent stress and global discord on important political issues, national and international systems, be it legal, economic, or political, undergo necessary change and transformation in order not just to adapt but also to evolve under precarious conditions. Troubled times brought many unexpected events, but they also gave birth to vibrant and layered academic debates on how legal, political, and economic systems should give reasonable and consistent answers to the challenges stemming from political uncertainty, legal and economic ambiguity and precedents happening in almost all fields of society.
In this challenging context, the Republic of North Macedonia celebrates three decades of independence. This jubilee presents a possibility to make a full retrospective of all the trials that the country has undergone in the last 30 years, but also an effort is to be made to predict its future legal, political and socio-economic development. As a country placed in the very turbulent region of Southeast Europe, regional developments and challenges will be taken in consideration both in retrospective and future scenario building in all three relevant aspects: law, politics and socio-economy.
The language of the conference is English. The presentation will be organized in panels and plenary session with keynote speakers and the program of the conference will be published no later than 15.10.2021.
- Keynote speakers:
Dr. Florian Bieber, Professor of Southeast European History and Politics and Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, Austria, Nationalism in a post-Covid Era. The Impact of the Global Pandemic on Nationalism in a Comparative Perspective.
Dr. Adam Lazowski, Professor of EU Law at the School of Law at the University of Westminster (London), Luxemburg Effect: the Tole of the Court of Justice in Shaping of the EU Legal Order.
The conference aims at opening and seeking answers in the main academic debates concerning the legal, political and socio-economic challenges that derive from the latest crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic but are also deeply rooted in the context of the permanent crisis that North Macedonia, the region of SEE as well as Europe are experiencing in continuity in the last decade and a half. Papers that touch upon interdisciplinary issues or cover more than one filed of expertise are strongly encouraged, as long as they present a coherent topic of analysis. Therefore, the topics of the conference are and are not limited to:
- State building and the sovereignty paradigm: North Macedonia and the region after 30 years of independence;
- Human rights in troubled times;
- Criminal Justice in troubled times;
- Economic recovery in post-Covid times;
- Health policies in pandemics;
- Jurisprudence during pandemic;
- Renegotiation and adaptation of contracts;
- Obstructed Europeanization: Southeast Europe on the verge of democratic backsliding;
- Enlightened authoritarianism vs. democratic governance – clash of two concepts or distinction without a difference;
- Legal responses to health emergences;
- Managing financial health in challenging times;
- Force Majeure and Contractual Performance;
- (Dis) integration of legal systems;
- National (government) and international policy responses to pandemics;
- Coronavirus politics and international relations;
- State of emergency and state of crisis due to the Coronavirus;
- Freedom of expression, hate speech and fake news during pandemics;
- Higher education in troubled times: Universities and their response during Covid-19 pandemics;
- Access to Courts, Civil Justice and a Fair Trial during Pandemics;
- Private and Family Life during Pandemics;
- Bioethics, Public Health and Human Rights in Times of Covid-19;
- Troubled times and state borders: remapping the Western Balkans.
Authors are invited to submit papers on any subject related to and within the scope of the Conference topic. Submissions from academics, researchers and practitioners at any stage of their career, including PhD students, will be accepted.
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2019 Annual International Conference |
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TRANSITIONS OF LEGAL SYSTEMS: 30 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL The Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University- Skopje, is announcing a Call for Papers for its Annual International Conference. The 2019 conference topic is “Transitions of Legal Systems: 30 Years after the fall of the Berlin Wall”. Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin wall, Europe has significantly changed. The ideas of protection of human rights, democracy and legal security are the cornerstones of any modern legal system in Central and Eastern European countries. The fall of the wall also changed the face of the European Communities and initiated new processes of integration and transition. While some countries in Europe represent the best practice of transitioning from one into another legal, political and economic reality, others are still struggling with their past and have not yet managed to accommodate to the new legal standards, economic system and political democracy. Our conference seeks to explore the different paths of transition selected and implemented across the continent. To facilitate a multi-disciplinary dialogue between scholars from social sciences, we encourage papers that also concentrate on best practices and lessons learned during the transition. Authors are invited to submit papers on any subject related to and within the scope of the Conference topic. Submissions from academics, researchers and practitioners at any stage of their career, including PhD students, will be accepted. |