James Lorimer (advocate)

James Lorimer (* November 4, 1818 in Aberdalgie, Perth and Kinross, † February 13, 1890 in Edinburgh ) was a British lawyer and law and political philosopher. He was 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 regarded as one of the early pioneers of political integration of the European states.

Life

Lorimer was born in 1818 in Aberdalgie and studied post-school in Perth at the Universities of Edinburgh and from 1840 to 1843 in Berlin, Bonn and Geneva. He completed his studies after his return to Edinburgh with a doctorate in law ( LL.D. ) from 1845 and was admitted to the Bar. Among the teachers who influenced his political and legal views, listed in Bonn, among others, the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, as well as in Berlin, the lawyer Georg Friedrich Puchta and especially the chemist Eilhard Mitscherlich. This was after presentation of Lorimer more than most lawyers to his own philosophy of law in which was mainly influenced 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 the Commission published treatises on constitutional and jurisprudential issues as well as in the field of international law. In February 1861 he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. From 1862 until his death he was professor of public law at the University of Edinburgh. On September 11, 1873, he has been involved internationally in Ghent as one of the eleven founders of the founding of the Institut de Droit.

James Lorimer was married in 1851 and died in 1890 in Edinburgh. His son Robert Lorimer was a famous architect, and his son John Henry Lorimer (1856-1936) worked as a painter.

Work

Among the best known works by James Lorimer include the 1884 published book "The Institutes of the Law of Nations: A Treatise of the Jural Relations of Separate Political Communities". This included, among other things, a proposal for a European Federation in the form of an international republic, which should ensure peace in Europe. Lorimer applies for this reason as one of the pioneers of European integration.

His views, however, were perceived in part as eccentric and elitist. According to his critics, he supported also in his writings the colonial imperialism of that time. He was moreover with regard to its settings as anti-Semitic and regarded Islam as " degenerate religion" (see Martti Koskenniemi, 2005). Although he was respected by his peers, he gained on these grounds, for example, no 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