Visit the CCLS webpage, moving the civil law front and center.

On October 8, at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, the Center of Civil Law Studies and the Chaire Senghor de la Francophonie (LSU Center of French and Francophone Studies) welcomed a delegation from Belgium and France of the Association France Louisiane. The program was chaired by Dr. Adelaide Russo and Mr. Philippe Gustin.

Dr. Evelyne Bornier (Auburn University) and Dr. Margaret Marshall (Baton Rouge) presented their book, Parours Louisinais: Panorama de la litterature francophone de Louisiane de ses origines a 1900. Dr. Olivier Moréteau (LSU Law) presented on Code civil, langue et citoyenneté.

A reception concluded the event.

Left to right: Dr. Adelaide Russo, Dr. Olivier Moreteau, Dr. Margaret Marshall, and Dr. Evelyne Bornier

Philippe Gustin, former director of the “Lafayette International Center” (Centre International de Lafayette)

Members of France Louisiane, Friends of French Studies at LSU, and LSU students attending the event in the Tucker Room

Our traditional Friday lunch with International Students (LLM and JD) at the LSU Faculty Club. Open table, always a happy moment!

Here is the final batch of recordings from our Bicentennial of the Louisiana Civil Code Conference, held on March 20-21, 2025. Unfortunately, all sessions could not be recorded. Please send feedback to moreteau@lsu.edu or leave a comment on the video page.

• Session 6A – La fonction de la loi et l‘avenir des codes au-delà des nations (Modérateur : Prof. D. Gruning) (1:37’)
• Mustapha Mekki (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France), La fonction de la loi dans le Code civil de 1804

• Nathalie Blanc (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, France), La codification face aux règles issues de l’Union européenne

• Viviane Curran (University of Pittsburgh, USA), Quel avenir pour les codes à l’aune de la mondialisation ?

• Session 8 – Bouquet Final: Conversation Panel (Chair: Prof. O. Moréteau) (1:49’)
• George Bermann (Columbia Law School, New York, USA)
• John Costonis (LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
• Viviane Curran (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
• Michele Graziadei (University of Turin, Italy)
• Asya Ostroukh (University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados)
• Vernon Valentine Palmer (Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana)
• John Randall Trahan (LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

On March 20-21, 2025, the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center hosted a two-day international conference to commemorate the 1825 Louisiana Civil Code. This event was organized by the LSU Center of Civil Law Studies (CCLS), led by Director Professor Olivier Moréteau. It was the largest academic event within the statewide commemoration coordinated by the Supreme Court of Louisiana Historical Society.

Over 40 leading experts on the Louisiana Civil Code and codification of the civil law, from Louisiana, the nation, and the world, presented and discussed papers that will be published in the Journal of Civil Law Studies over the next two years. The conference illustrated how Louisiana, as the first jurisdiction in the world to codify its private law in the wake of the Napoleonic Code, developed a code that is not merely a replica of the French Civil Code, but a synthesis of French and Spanish laws, presented in a didactic form. The relevance and content of the 1825 Civil Code and its influence in the United States, the Americas, and other parts of the world were also explored. The future of codification in mixed jurisdictions and the global context was also debated.

Over 90 participants attended the two-day event, contributing to rich and lively discussions. The enthusiastic students who greeted the participants and facilitated a smooth organization described this as an extraordinary learning experience. Links to photo gallery and the conference program.

Some of the sessions were recorded and can be accessed below:

• Opening Remarks (13’26’’)
  • Alena Allen (Dean of the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center)
  • Jacques Baran, Cultural Attaché, for Rodolphe Sambou (Consul General of France in New Orleans)
  • Olivier Moréteau (LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
• Session 1 – Learning from the Civil Code (Chair: Prof. N. Davrados) (1:57’)
• Ronald J. Scalise Jr. (Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana), The 1825 Louisiana Civil Code: A Didactic Code and Its Enduring Impact

• John W. Cairns (University of Edinburgh, Scotland), Reforming Guardianship of Children in the Civil Code of 1825

• David Gruning (Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana), Getting Here from There: Lessons from the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825

• Michael McAuley (Montréal, Québec), Civil Codes as Expressions of Social Projects

• Session 2 – Ownership of the Code and Codification of Ownership (Chair: Louis Koerner, Esq.) (1:39’)
• Warren Perrin, Esq. (Lafayette, Louisiana), Revisiting the Genesis of French Louisiana: It’s No Coincidence the Civil Code Was Adopted—We Ain’t Anglos!

• John A. Lovett (LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), The Civil Code of 1825 and the Rise of Absolute Dominion in Louisiana Property Law

• Asya Ostroukh (University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados), Louisiana Property Law from the Digest to the Code: A Substantive Reform?

• Session 3A – Louisiana Civil Code Influence in the United States (Chair: Prof. E. Viator) (1:28’)
• Peter L. Reich (University of California, Los Angeles, USA), The Rejection and Reinvention of the Louisiana Civil Code in California

• Julie Rocheton (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Germany), The Nineteenth-Century US Civil Codes and Their Codifiers

• Milton J. Hernandez (Mississippi College, Jackson, USA), Codification in Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century Efforts for a Mississippi Civil Code

• Session 4B – Codification et francophonie (Chair : Prof. O. Moréteau) (1 :39’)
• Jean-Louis Halpérin (École normale supérieure, Paris, France), Livingston, ses codifications et l’esclavage

• Marie-Ève Arbour (Université Laval, Québec, Québec), Les traditions dans les codes civils : de la coutume aux droits fondamentaux 

• Pascale Deumier (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France) et Mathieu Devinat (Université de Sherbrooke, Québec), L’avenir des codes civils à l’épreuve de leur réforme : regards croisés France-Québec 
• Session 7 – Long Live the Civil Code? (Chair: Prof. E. Viator) (1:43’)
• Nikolaos A. Davrados (LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), The Civil Code in the Cyber Age

• Nadia Nedzel (Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Louisiana’s Civil Code: Has our Beloved Catahoula Leopard Dog Been Contaminated by Common Law, and Is That a Good or a Bad Thing?

• Alain A. Levasseur (LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), The Louisiana Civil Code of 1825: Its ‘Crépuscule’?

On Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 6:00 p.m., Professor Agustín Parise (Maastricht University, The Netherlands) presented the 44th John H. Tucker, jr. Lecture in Civil Law, discussing A Bicentennial Approach to an Exegetical School of Private Law in Louisiana.

The Lecture was delivered on the first evening of the international conference commemorating the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, attracting a large global and local audience. This keynote event also marked the 60th anniversary of the Center of Civil Law Studies, founded in 1965. It was elegantly delivered and triggered lively discussions.

In his Lecture, Professor Parise provided an impressive diachronic overview of the contributions of scholars to the development of Louisiana’s civil law and its global connections. It will be published in Volume 17 of the Journal of Civil Law Studies, scheduled for publication in December 2025. Click here to watch the video of the Lecture.

Read

Comparative Law, the Law of War, and Usufruct

By LSU Law Alumn Dan Stigall

Comparative Law, the Law of War, and Usufruct

The Center of Civil Law Studies at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center invites you to attend an International Conference held at LSU on March 20-21, 2025, commemorating the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825: Content, Influence, and Languages; Past and Present. For conference details and registration, visit the CCLS Homepage. Conference events will be video-recorded and accessible from our webpage. Papers will be published.

Conference poster with conference details.

Baton Rouge, April 22, 2024. A delegation of four distinguished French law professors presented at an afternoon conference on how French tort law faces environmental challenges, to an audience including law professors from LSU, Southern University, Loyola University College of Law and Mississippi College.

Mustapha Mekki, Professor at the Sorbonne Law School, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, General Director of INFN, presented on Litigating Climate Liability: An Example of Democracy in Litigation, followed by Nathalie Blanc, Professor at the Sorbonne Paris Nord University, co-Director of IRDA, discussing Corporate Social Responsibility. Philippe Pierre, Professor at the University of Rennes, Holder of the International Chair of Notarial Law, then discussed The Notary’s Liability and Duty to Advise on Environmental Matters. Finally, Bernard Haftel, Professor at the Sorbonne Paris Nord University, co-director of IRDA, presented on The Compensation of Environmental Damage.

Professor Mustapha Mekki

Professor Nathalie Blanc

Professor Philippe Pierre

Professor Bernard Haftel

Each paper was discussed and a lively general discussion closed the event, followed by a tour of the LSU Campus. The conference papers will be published in the Journal of Civil Law Studies.