Call for Papers and Posters: 9th Biennial Conference of the European Society for Comparative Legal History - Transitions and Transfers [Lund, Sweden, 21-23 June 2027]

The organisers and the Executive Council of the European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) have called for papers and posters for the 9th Biennial Conference of the ESCLH, to be held from 21 to 23 June 2027 at Lund University, Sweden.

The conference series began in Valencia (2010) and was followed by Amsterdam (2012), Macerata (2014), Gdansk (2016), Paris (2018), Lisbon (2022), Augsburg (2023) and Szeged (2025). The 2027 edition is hosted by the Olin Foundation for Legal History and supported by the Faculty of Law at Lund University.

The theme of the conference is "Transitions and Transfers". The organisers note that we are living in a time of unpredictability and change, and that this gives reason to pay attention to periods of transition in history: how and why did changes occur, and who were the proponents and opponents?

Changes in legal history have often had elements of transfer. Sometimes legal needs have been met by drawing inspiration from other legal systems; on other occasions, legal rules have been imposed on other systems.

Papers, panels and posters offered should deal with either transitions or transfers, or both, and should engage in dialogue with aspects of law across time and/or space that are of interest to comparative legal historians.

Anyone at any stage in their research career can offer a paper, and anyone at any stage in their research career can propose a poster. The call places no restriction on nationality, jurisdiction or institutional affiliation, and does not require ESCLH membership as a condition of submission. Membership status affects only the attendance fee payable later.

One author may propose to give only one paper or present only one poster at the conference, so that as many people as possible can present their work.

• Submit an abstract of up to 400 words
• The abstract must include the title of the proposed paper and the author's personal data: full name, email address and work affiliation
• Also send a short CV of no more than 400 words
• All submissions must be in English

It is also possible to submit a proposal for a complete panel. Panels normally consist of three papers.

In addition to the abstracts and CVs of each person who wishes to present a paper in that panel, a panel proposal must include an abstract for the entire panel as well as a CV of the panel organiser.

• Submit an abstract of up to 400 words, including the title of the project and the proposer's full name, email address and work affiliation
• Also send a short CV of no more than 400 words
• Accepted participants will be asked to submit to the organisers a PDF file in A0 size with the poster design; the posters will be printed in Lund

Abstracts will be assessed against three criteria:

• The aim to have a diverse conference
• The novelty of the work
• A professionally grounded proposal, including a description of the methodology and the most important sources, and a concise description of the expected research results

All submissions, whether for papers, panels or posters, should be in English and sent to ESCLH2027@jur.lu.se no later than 31 October 2026. The list of accepted papers, panels and posters will be announced by December 2026.

There is no fee to submit. A conference website carrying further details will be launched in the autumn of 2026; it will also carry information on the attendance fee for those who are not members of the ESCLH, and on transport to and from Lund. Registration for the conference through that website will open early in 2027.

The conference will be preceded by a PhD workshop on 21 June 2027. Further information about the workshop will also be published in the autumn of 2026.