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Join the discussion with PIL Faculty Director, Professor Intisar Rabb, on interpreting metacanons in this special podcast episode of Borderlines. The podcast builds upon ideas raised at the 2022 Irvine Tragen Lecture on Comparative Law at UC Berkeley School of Law. Professor Rabb discusses her leading research on shared methods of interpretation for textualists across different systems. She discusses the history and resurgent use of legal canons – principles of interpretation that judges derive from common law and use when resolving issues unclear from the text alone – including their ancient role in Islamic law and modern application at the U.S. Supreme Court. Shared similar legal canons threading across systems with like linguistic features, known as metacanons, are broken down. Dialogue covers how statutory interpretation connects to civil and criminal legal systems, the dubious term “civilized nations” in international law, and battling stereotypes of Islamic law with new scholarly resources and coded data. 

Grab your headphones and listen today!