New Book: Marie Seong-Hak Kim ed. The Spirit of Korean Law: Korean Legal History in Context

The Spirit of Korean Law: Korean Legal History in Context

Edited by Marie Seong-Hak Kim

Brill, 2016

Publisher’s description:

This is the first book on Korean legal history in English written by a group of leading scholars from around the world. The chapters set forth the developments of Korean law from the Chosŏn to colonial and modern periods through the examination of codified laws, legal theories and practices, and jurisprudence. The contributors’ shared premise is that the evolution of Korean law can be best understood when viewed in terms of its interactions with outside laws. Each chapter integrates literature in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Western languages into comprehensive analyses to make up-to-date research available to readers both inside and outside Korea. This volume provides a solid framework from which to approach Korean legal history in the perspective of comparative legal traditions.

Table of contents:

Preface List of Contributors

Introduction: Searching for the Spirit of Korean Law Marie Seong-Hak Kim

Part 1 Legal Codes and Institutions of the Chosŏn Dynasty

The Chosŏn Law Codes in an East Asian Perspective Jérôme Bourgon and Pierre-Emmanuel Roux

Circulation of Law and Jurisprudence in Korea and China: Homicide and the Notion of Requital for Life Frédéric Constant

Confucian Ideology and Legal Developments in Chosŏn Korea: A Methodological Essay Anders Karlsson

Part 2 Law and the Legal System under Colonial Rule

The Rise of Korean Constitutional Thought (1875–1945): An East Asian Perspective Noriko Kokubun

Can There Be Good Colonial Law? Korean Law and Jurisprudence under Japanese Rule Revisited Marie Seong-Hak Kim

Legality or Legitimacy: Revisiting Debates on the Korea-Japan Annexation Treaties Samuel Guex

Part 3 Law, Court, and Legal Reform in Modern Korea

The Making of the Constitution and the Civil Code in Postliberation Korea Joon-Young Moon

The Role of the Constitutional Court of Korea in the Transition from Authoritarian to Democratic Rule Justine Guichard

Korea and the Reform of the Northeast Asian Legal Complex Tom Ginsburg