Legal Imperialism
Sovereignty and Extraterritoriality in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and China

Legal Imperialism examines the important role of nineteenth-century Western extraterritorial courts in non-Western states.

Turan Kayao?lu (Author)

9781107617889, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 January 2014

246 pages, 7 b/w illus. 8 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.38 kg

'… Legal Imperialism is a novel text that will inspire readers to keep in mind the diverse uses of law and see anew the concept of sovereignty.' Zülâl Muslu, Comparative Legal History

Legal Imperialism examines the important role of nineteenth-century Western extraterritorial courts in non-Western states. These courts, created as a separate legal system for Western expatriates living in Asian and Islamic countries, developed from the British imperial model, which was founded on ideals of legal positivism. Based on a cross-cultural comparison of the emergence, function, and abolition of these court systems in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and China, Turan Kayaoglu elaborates a theory of extraterritoriality, comparing the nineteenth-century British example with the post-World War II American legal imperialism. Ultimately, his research provides an innovative basis for understanding the assertion of legal authority by Western powers on foreign soil and the influence of such assertion on ideas about sovereignty.

Introduction: extraterritoriality in British legal imperialism
1. Positive law and sovereignty
2. Extraterritoriality and legal imperialism
3. Japan's rapid rise to sovereignty
4. The Ottoman Empire's elusive dream of sovereignty
5. China's struggle for sovereignty
Conclusion: American legal imperialism: extraterritoriality today.

Subject Areas: Comparative law [LAM], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]