World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists 2nd Congress 2007

Mixed legal systems are traditionally those in which at different times in history the distinct Common (Anglo-American) and Civil (Continental European) law approaches have held sway and in which today the two co-exist in sometimes uneasy semi-equilibrium. The overall aim of this second world congress on mixed jurisdictions was to consider the future of such jurisdictions, rather than to emphasise their past and present condition in the light of some supposed moment of previous perfection. The congress showed that within systems traditionally dubbed mixed a further process was well under way: a combination of modernisation, often under the influence of human rights, and recognition of local customary practices, especially in relation to the family. Modernisation also included internationalisation, and the conference debated how far this was a matter of mixing existing rules, whatever their source, or was rather the creation of something new, the pursuit of the best rule regardless of source or tradition.