A THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSION ON LEGAL HARMONISATION:
THE THEORY AND THE PRACTICALITY

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers
and Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”

Following at least a decade of economic and political upheavals, as well as culture shocks -- primarily Brexit -- ‘is this the right time,’ asks the author of this book ‘for one to engage oneself with another legal harmonisation discussion?’

It’s good thing that the author, Antonios E Platsas, answers himself in the affirmative, otherwise this book would never have been written. That, of course, would have been unfortunate, as this is a thoughtful, articulate and carefully researched exploration of an important, understandably difficult and perplexingly controversial subject.

The preface alone, by this well-known legal scholar is worth a read, as one or two of the opening remarks indicate revealingly that the seeds of disquiet about the European Union model and its ‘democratic deficits’ were already germinating at least ten years ago.

Recently published by Edward Elgar, the book focuses on the models and factors by which ‘foreign harmonized legal norms’ are -- or can be -- transposed and implemented into the ‘domestic legal sphere.’ The overall aim is, in the author’s words, is ‘to bring extra-national law into the national legal order’ and to ‘open up an academic discussion’ of the ways and means by which theoretical models of harmonisation may, or might, become reality.

It is interesting to note in the author’s acknowledgements, the many academic contributors who have assisted the author, with advice and insights. There are forty-four of them -- from top universities worldwide, from Oxford, Cambridge and the LSE to Ottawa, Wellington, Florence, Potsdam, Istanbul, Delhi, Athens and Tel Aviv, to name only a few. The author himself hails from the Higher School of Economics at the National Research University, Moscow.

Drawing upon an impressive array of international influences and opinions, the book argues that what is termed ‘the harmonization thesis’ suggests a pragmatic, rather than a dogmatic approach. The point is made that ‘one cannot predict all potentialities through the presentation of theoretical models.’ Nevertheless, the author’s strictly analytical stance makes this book a valuable find for academics and those involved in the study of comparative law, especially from a theoretical viewpoint.

In one convenient volume, the author has provided an amazingly broad repository of references for researchers, from the extensive footnoting, to the bibliography of over thirty pages. Predictably, many of these references steer readers and researchers in the direction of human rights issues which obviously should form the core of any national legal system.

It is noteworthy that the book provides ample evidence of the sheer volume of treatises, learned articles and book-length studies of human rights that continue to be published on an industrial scale worldwide. It is a pity that these are apparently ignored by the numerous dictatorships which unfortunately outnumber democracies to which migrants in their millions (mentioned by the author) have yearned to escape. Perhaps this is a strong a case as any for the harmonisation of national legal systems, preferably in the direction of democratic values.

The publication date is cited as at 27th October 2017.