James Lorimer

James Lorimer (born November 4, 1818 in Aberdalgie , Perth and Kinross , † February 13, 1890 in Edinburgh ) was a British lawyer and legal and state philosopher . He was from 1862 to 1890 Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations (Professor of Public Law ) at the University of Edinburgh and co-founder of the Institut de Droit International (Institute of International Law). In addition, he is considered one of the early pioneers in the political integration of European states.

Life

Lorimer was born in Aberdalgie in 1818 and after attending school in Perth studied at the universities in Edinburgh and from 1840 to 1843 in Berlin , Bonn and Geneva . He completed his studies after his return to Edinburgh with the Doctorate of Law (LL.D.) from 1845 and received his license as a lawyer . The teachers who influenced his political and legal views included the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann in Bonn and the lawyer Georg Friedrich Puchta and especially the chemist Eilhard Mitscherlich in Berlin . According to Lorimer, this contributed more than most lawyers to his own legal philosophy, which was mainly shaped by natural law principles.

Since he was unsuccessful as a practicing lawyer, he devoted himself to further studies in the field of political philosophy and published corresponding treatises on political and legal subjects as well as in the field of international law . In February 1861 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . From 1862 until his death he was professor of public law at the University of Edinburgh . The professorship had not been filled since 1832. On September 11, 1873, he was one of eleven co-founders in Ghent who helped found the Institut de Droit international .

James Lorimer was married from 1851 and died in Edinburgh in 1890. His son Robert Lorimer was a well-known architect, his son John Henry Lorimer (1856–1936) worked as a painter. His daughter, Hannah Cassels Lorimer, married the researcher Everard Im Thurn in 1895 .

Act

One of the best-known works by James Lorimer is the book "The Institutes of the Law of Nations: A Treatise of the Jural Relations of Separate Political Communities" published in 1884. Among other things, this contained a proposal for a European federation in the form of an international republic, which should ensure peace in Europe. For this reason, Lorimer is considered one of the masterminds of European integration .

However, some of his views were perceived as eccentric and elitist. According to his critics, he also supported the colonial imperialism of the time in his writings . He was also seen as anti-Semitic in terms of his attitudes and viewed Islam as a “degenerate religion” (see Martti Koskenniemi, 2005). Although he was respected by his colleagues, for these reasons, for example, he did not gain any significant influence within the Institut de Droit international.

Works (selection)

• A Handbook of the Law of Scotland: Adapted to the Use of the General Public and of Students and Strangers. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh 1859
• The Institutes of Law: A Treatise of the Principles of Jurisprudence, as Determined by Nature. W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh 1872
• The Institutes of the Law of Nations: A Treatise of the Jural Relations of Separate Political Communities. W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh 1884

literature

• Lorimer, James . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 17, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 541. - Supplementary volume
• Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002. Biographical Index Part Two. The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Edinburgh 2006, ISBN 0-902198-84-X , p. 555
• AH Campbell: James Lorimer: A Natural Lawyer of the Nineteenth Century. In: Transactions of the Grotius Society. 39/1953. Oxford University Press and British Institute of International and Comparative Law, pp. 211-234, ISSN  1479-1234
• Peter Macalister-Smith: Bio-Bibliographical Key to the Membership of the Institut de Droit International, 1873-2001. In: Journal of the History of International Law. 5 (1) / 2003. Brill Academic Publishers, pp. 77-159, ISSN  1388-199X
• Martti Koskenniemi : Nationalism, Universalism, Empire: International Law in 1871 and 1919. Contribution to the conference Whose International Community? Universalism and the Legacies of Empire. Columbia University, Nov. 29-30 April 2005