On Monday 16 May, at a ceremony in Paris, Professor Emerita Esin Örücü will be honoured by the International Academy of Comparative Law as one of Five Great Comparatists, alongside Ewoud Hondius (Utrecht), Vernon Palmer (Tulane), Jorge Sánchez Cordero (Vice President, International Association of Legal Science) and Elisabeth Zoller (Paris-Panthéon-Assas). 

The group will join a small number of international scholars to be recognised in this way for their contributions to the field of Comparative Law. This is only the second cohort of comparatists to receive this accolade since the award’s creation by the Academy in 2017. 

Opening remarks at the event will be made by the IACL President, Professor Katharina Boele-Woelki (Bucerius Law School, Hamburg) and Professor Diego P. Fernandez Arroyo (Sciences Po Law School, Paris). 

During the event a 'laudatio' will be delivered for each laureate. The five laureate will then be invited to debate together on the topic 'teaching comparative law: current challenges'. Professor Örücü’s ‘laudatio’ will be delivered by Dr Sue Farran (Newcastle Law School). 

Professor Örücü said: 

“I deeply feel it is great to be recognised and appreciated for a job which I did for fifty years, taught, researched and produced in the field of comparative law which also happens to be my hobby. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends, especially Sue Farran, as well as absent friends who cheered me along the way throughout my career and life. I would also like to thank the Executive Committee of the International Academy of Comparative Law for planning the event.” 

Professor Jane Mair, Head of School of Law, said: 

"Esin exemplifies the meaning of her name - 'inspiration'. Many years ago, as a mid-career academic looking for direction, Esin inspired me. In the years that have followed, she has become the most wonderful colleague and friend - encouraging, challenging, rigorous, creative, collaborative, and endlessly outrageous and fun. In person or through the magic of her metaphors, she is an incomparable scholar and I am delighted to see her being publicly recognised in this way." 

Esin Örücü is Professor Emerita of Comparative Law and Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Glasgow; and Professor Emerita of Comparatıve Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam. She was born in 1940 in Istanbul and graduated from Istanbul University, Law Faculty. She completed her PhD in Istanbul University. She is a member of the Istanbul Bar. 

Professor Örücü was appointed as Lecturer in Jurisprudence and Comparative Law in Glasgow in 1976. She became one of the first female Professors of Law at the University of Glasgow when she was appointed Professor of Comparative Law in 1992; she was also part-time Professor in the Netherlands until 2005. She has been Professor Emerita since 2005 but continued teaching until 2017. Her areas of interest include comparative law, Turkish law, language and culture and jurisprudence. 

Further links

ICAL Laudatio 2022 webpage: https://aidc-iacl.org/laudatio/ 

Esin Örücü’s ‘100 Years of Women in Law’ webpage: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/100years/100voices/esinorucu/ 

First published: 13 May 2022

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