VISITING SCHOLAR LANA BUBALO PRESENTS “LEGAL CULTURES IN TRANSITION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS”
October 2022 — Visiting Scholar Lana Bubalo presented a lecture on “Legal Cultures in Transition: A Comparative Analysis,” on Tuesday, October 11 in Penn State Dickinson Law’s Apfelbaum Family Courtroom and Auditorium. Professor Bubalo is an associate professor of law at the University of Stavanger School of Business in Norway.
This presentation in comparative law explained the legal cultures of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia through institutional and intellectual elements of the legal cultural model. Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, former Yugoslav republics, now independent states — belong to European-continental legal family, even though they for a while were classified as a third (socialist) legal family. They are today referred to as “legal cultures in transition.” These legal cultures are characterized by introduction of pluralistic democracy, rule of law, legal formalism, as well as legal transplants from Western countries. A common history and language shared by these states, together with the aspiration towards a future in European Union has resulted in many common features of these legal cultures. Although they no longer have common institutions, the similarities are visible with regards to intellectual elements, particularly in legal reasoning and operationalization of the law. This blend of common features creates a “uniquely shared something,” that unites them into a regional legal culture.
Professor Bubalo is pictured with Associate Dean Amy C. Gaudion, Dean Danielle Conway, and Director Anthony Ogden.