What is law and how it works
06/16/2026On 25 June 2026, Hamburg criminal law expert Milan Kuhli will be a guest at the Faculty of Law at the University of Würzburg. He will talk about the foundations of the schools of law.
Is law primarily a system of rules? Or does it serve justice? How does law work in society? And how did certain legal traditions develop? Questions like these will soon be the subject of a public lecture at the University of Würzburg. The lecturer is the Hamburg legal scholar Milan Kuhli; the title of his lecture is: "Schools of Law. On theoretical, sociological and historical foundations".
The lecture will take place on Thursday, 25 June 2026, in Lecture Hall III of the Old University, Domerschulstraße 16, starting at 6.15 pm. Registration is not required.
The lecture is a regular part of the current GSiK programme. Students of the University of Würzburg can earn one GSiK point for the GSiK additional qualification in area A or B by attending.
About the person: Milan Kuhli
Milan Kuhli has been Head of the Chair of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, including its international and historical aspects, at the University of Hamburg since 2016. He has also been a judge at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court since November 2023.
His main works include "Das Völkerstrafgesetzbuch und das Verbot der Strafbegründung durch Gewohnheitsrecht. On the question of the admissibility of criminal law references to customary international law with regard to the prohibition of criminal justification by customary law under Article 103(2) of the Basic Law" (2010) and "Carl Gottlieb Svarez und das Verhältnis von Herrschaft und Recht im aufgeklärten Absolutismus" (2012). Last year saw the publication of his textbook "Geschichte des Strafrechts. From the Early Modern Period to the Present".
His research focuses on modern legal history, the legal and linguistic philosophical foundations of criminal law, international criminal law and criminal policy issues such as digitalisation, assisted suicide and triage.
The lecture series
The Faculty of Law at JMU has been organising the "Würzburger Vorträge für Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtstheorie und Rechtssoziologie" ( Würzburg Lectures on Legal Philosophy, Legal Theory and Legal Sociology) since 1984. It offers a platform to gain an in-depth insight into the multifaceted world of law beyond dogmatics. The series was initiated by Professors Hasso Hofmann, Ulrich Weber and Edgar Michael Wenz. Professor Anja Amend-Traut and Professor Horst Dreier are currently organising the lecture series and the associated publication series.
