W dniach 24 – 25 kwietnia 2023 r. na Wydziale Prawa Uniwersytetu w Cambridge odbyła się konferencja naukowa, na której Kolegium Nauk Społecznych UR reprezentował dr hab. Roman Uliasz, prof. UR, który wygłosił referat pt. The Transplantation of Legal Concepts by Means of Language.

Poniżej streszczenie wygłoszonego referatu:

This article explores the general processes involved in the dissemination of legal concepts between cultures and jurisdictions, taking a broad perspective rather than focusing solely on specific aspects of international law, such as the interpretation of multilingual treaties or EU law, for example. While these detailed topics will be touched upon, they will be presented within the broader context of language and culture, as these phenomena are interconnected and intertwined.

The primary focus of this paper is to address the potential distortions that arise when legal concepts are transplanted. Such distortions can occur during the framing of a concept within national legislation, as well as in its application in international commercial contracts. This article argues that, in several respects, the mechanism of transplantation remains consistent, regardless of whether it involves the dissemination of legal concepts from a superior legal order to national jurisdictions or the utilization of foreign concepts in international contracts.

Legal transplantation, dissemination or circulation of legal concepts is not a new phenomenon and has been explored extensively. The focus of this paper, however, will be on the potentially different perceptions of legal concepts within target legal systems, influenced by recipients' mother tongue, cultural background, historical factors, and other cognitive factors. In addition to law, this article draws on legal linguistics and cognitive science, particularly cognitive linguistics, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the connections between these fields. The approach taken in this article is post-modern in nature, aiming to consider multiple factors that shape the final result of transplanted concepts and examining legal transplantation from different perspectives.