Visiting Professor George Mousourakis (April 2025)
Professor George Mousourakis is a distinguished scholar with extensive international academic experience. He currently holds the position of Professor at Hiroshima University, School of Law & Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Japan, where he is also Director of the Foreign and Comparative Law Program and a member of the Advisory Board for International Academic Relations.
His academic background is broad, encompassing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Edinburgh, a Master of Jurisprudence (MJur) from the University of Manchester, and a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Athens. He has also obtained a PgCert from the European University Institute in Florence, the Free University of Berlin, the University of Salzburg, the University of Auckland, and Ritsumeikan University.
Throughout his career, Professor Mousourakis has held prominent positions at prestigious academic institutions worldwide, including Ritsumeikan University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Queensland. He has been a Visiting Professor at numerous universities in Japan, the United States, and Europe.
His main research areas include Philosophical Problems of Responsibility in Criminal Law, Comparative Criminal Law and Jurisprudence, History of the Roman and Civil Law Tradition, Epistemology and Methodology of Comparative Law, Legal Transplants and Reception of Laws, and Restorative Justice Theory and Practice.
Professor George Mousourakis will teach within the Phd Programme in Legal Sciences, within the course of European and Comparative Criminal Law, within the course of European Legal Roots course and.
1) For the PhD Program in Legal Sciences: Methodological Aspects of Comparative Law
Comparative law is concerned with the systematic comparison of legal systems, with a view to gaining knowledge that may be used for a variety of theoretical and practical purposes. It is a valuable tool when legislatures, courts and other authorities create, interpret and apply legal rules or are faced with the task of reforming or filling gaps in the law. However, when carrying out their tasks, comparative law researchers are often faced with difficult methodological issues.
2) For the Bachelor of Laws program: European and Comparative Criminal Law
This unit will explore three main topics that may be of interest to students of comparative criminal law. The problem of criminal liability for negligent conduct will be considered first, with particular attention paid on cases of medical malpractice in New Zealand. Then we will proceed to examine the issue of prostitution in Japan in its social and cultural context and the implications of the Prostitution Prevention Law and related statutes. In the third part of the unit we will consider the legal treatment of pornography in New Zealand and the way in which the criminal law addresses certain wrongdoings that may be committed in the context of pornography-making and consumption.
3) For the Master Program in International and European Relations: European Legal Roots
The legal system of Japan, similar to other Asian legal systems, is a composite structure influenced by Chinese legal traditions, European civil law, and Anglo-American common law. The cornerstone of this system is the Constitution along with the five principal Codes: civil, civil procedure, criminal, criminal procedure, and commercial. This unit aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of the Japanese legal system in its historical, social and political context, specifically focusing on the ongoing influence of European legal traditions on its development.
