Legal Pluralism

The concept of legal pluralism tries to come to terms with tensions between different kinds of law. It does not only refer to the constitutive tension between citizenship rights as particularistic and exclusionary and human rights as universalistic and inclusionary. Not uncommonly supranational law contradicts national law. In this respect, in recent years the most obvious examples in Europe are the impact of human rights and European courts on national legal institutions. Further, growing religious heterogeneity has triggered considerable anxiety about the growth of Sharia in the West despite the welcome given to Sharia compliant mortgages and Sharia banking norms. How does legal pluralism relate to national sovereignty, and can legal pluralism contribute to social solidarity - or is it divisive? The centre investigates the legislation that the different legal systems in Europe and in the USA implement to deal with issues of legal pluralism.