Sima Avramovic
Encyclopedia
Professor Sima Avramović (b. 1950) of the University of Belgrade
's Law School
is one of the foremost Serbia
n authorities on comparative law
, legal history
, law and religion, Roman law
, and rhetoric
.
Avramovic extensively serves as a distinguished lecturer at leading universities in Greece
, the Republic of Macedonia
, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria
, Italy
, the United States
, Germany
, England
and Scotland
. His current academic assignments include the following: President of the Commission for the University of Belgrade
Bologna
Follow Up, President of the Statutory Commission of the University of Belgrade, Member of the OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Panel of Experts, Editor-in-Chief
of the Belgrade Law Review
, Member of the Universities’ of Serbia Conference, Member of the Section for Sources of Serbia
n Law at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
, President of the Center for Cooperation among Religious Communities
, President of the Society for Roman Law
and Classics Forum Romanum, President of the Alan Watson
Foundation, and he leads the Center for Oratory
Institutio oratoria. In addition, Avramovic is the founder of the monthly bulletin of the University of Belgrade's Law School
(Acta Diurna
). He is also an editorial board member for the General Encyclopedia of Law, the Journal of Matica Srpska
for Classical Studies
, and the European Lawyer Journal. Avramovic holds the Juris Doctor
, Master of Laws
and Doctor of Juridical Science
degrees from the University of Belgrade
. In 1984, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Maryland
. Professor Avramovic has a command of English
, German
, Greek
, French
, Italian
, Russian
and Serbian
, and knows two classical languages – Ancient Greek
and Latin
.
(2002), General Legal History
(2001), The Court Speeches of Isaeus
and the Law of Athens (1988), Early Greek Law
and the Code of Gortyn
(1977), Evolution of Testamentary
Freedom in Ancient Greek Law
(1981), Foundations of Modern Democracy
, Selected Declarations and Charters on Human Rights
(1989). Recent articles include “Searching for the New Law on Religious Freedom
in Serbia” (European Academy of Sciences and Arts
, Weimar 2006), “Simulation of Athenian Court – A New Teaching Method” in the Balkans Law Review (2006), “The Rhetra of Epithadeus and Testament
in Spartan Law” (Austrian Academy of Sciences
, Vienna 2005), et al. His book Ars Rhetorica was proclaimed as Book of the Year 2002 (F.R.Y. Official Gazette Award) and he received the prestigious Italian award Premio romanistico internationale “Gérard Boulvert” for the Italian translation of the book Court Speeches of Isaeus and the Law of Athens.
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
's Law School
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
The University of Belgrade Faculty of Law , also known as the Belgrade Law School, is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia...
is one of the foremost Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n authorities on comparative law
Comparative law
Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries. More specifically, it involves study of the different legal systems in existence in the world, including the common law, the civil law, socialist law, Islamic law, Hindu law, and Chinese law...
, legal history
Legal history
Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and is set in the wider context of social history...
, law and religion, Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
, and rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
.
Avramovic extensively serves as a distinguished lecturer at leading universities in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. His current academic assignments include the following: President of the Commission for the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
Bologna
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
Follow Up, President of the Statutory Commission of the University of Belgrade, Member of the OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
Panel of Experts, Editor-in-Chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of the Belgrade Law Review
Annals of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade
The Belgrade Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by the University of Belgrade's Law School. This publication is commonly called the Belgrade Law Review, but has also preserved the old name it acquired under the rule of Josip Broz Tito...
, Member of the Universities’ of Serbia Conference, Member of the Section for Sources of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n Law at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
, President of the Center for Cooperation among Religious Communities
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, President of the Society for Roman Law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
and Classics Forum Romanum, President of the Alan Watson
Alan Watson
Professor W.A.J. 'Alan' Watson is a Scottish law and legal history expert, and is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on Roman law, comparative law, legal history, and law and religion...
Foundation, and he leads the Center for Oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
Institutio oratoria. In addition, Avramovic is the founder of the monthly bulletin of the University of Belgrade's Law School
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
The University of Belgrade Faculty of Law , also known as the Belgrade Law School, is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia...
(Acta Diurna
Acta Diurna
Acta Diurna were daily Roman official notices, a sort of daily gazette. They were carved on stone or metal and presented in message boards in public places like the Forum of Rome...
). He is also an editorial board member for the General Encyclopedia of Law, the Journal of Matica Srpska
Matica srpska
The Matica srpska is the oldest cultural-scientific institution of Serbia. Matica srpska was founded in 1826 in Budapest and moved to Novi Sad in 1864....
for Classical Studies
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, and the European Lawyer Journal. Avramovic holds the Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
, Master of Laws
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
and Doctor of Juridical Science
Doctor of Juridical Science
Doctor of Juridical Science, Doctor of the Science of Law, Scientiae Juridicae Doctor , abbreviated J.S.D. or S.J.D., is a research doctorate in law and equivalent to the PhD It is offered primarily in the United States, where it originated, and in Canada...
degrees from the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
. In 1984, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
. Professor Avramovic has a command of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, and knows two classical languages – Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
.
Legal scholarship
Avramovic has over one hundred books and articles to his credit. Selected scholarship includes the pioneering books Rhetorike Techne (2008), State-Church Law in Serbia (2007), Comparative Legal Tradition (2006), Аrs RhetoricaRhetoric (Aristotle)
Aristotle's Rhetoric is an ancient Greek treatise on the art of persuasion, dating from the 4th century BC. In Greek, it is titled ΤΕΧΝΗ ΡΗΤΟΡΙΚΗ, in Latin Ars Rhetorica. In English, its title varies: typically it is titled Rhetoric, the Art of Rhetoric, or a Treatise on...
(2002), General Legal History
Legal history
Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and is set in the wider context of social history...
(2001), The Court Speeches of Isaeus
Isaeus
Isaeus , fl. early 4th century BC. One of the ten Attic Orators according to the Alexandrian canon. He was a student of Isocrates in Athens, and later taught Demosthenes while working as a metic speechwriter for others. Only eleven of his speeches survive, with fragments of a twelfth. They are...
and the Law of Athens (1988), Early Greek Law
Ancient Greek law
Ancient Greek law is a branch of comparative jurisprudence relating to the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece.Greek law has been partially compared with Roman law, and has been incidentally illustrated with the aid of the primitive institutions of the Germanic nations...
and the Code of Gortyn
Gortyn code
The Gortyn code was a legal code that was the codification of the civil law of the ancient Greek city-state of Gortyn in southern Crete.- History :...
(1977), Evolution of Testamentary
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
Freedom in Ancient Greek Law
Ancient Greek law
Ancient Greek law is a branch of comparative jurisprudence relating to the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece.Greek law has been partially compared with Roman law, and has been incidentally illustrated with the aid of the primitive institutions of the Germanic nations...
(1981), Foundations of Modern Democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, Selected Declarations and Charters on Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
(1989). Recent articles include “Searching for the New Law on Religious Freedom
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
in Serbia” (European Academy of Sciences and Arts
European Academy of Sciences and Arts
The European Academy of Sciences and Arts was created in 1990 in Salzburg, Austria by heart surgeon Felix Unger of Salzburg; the cardinal archbishop of Vienna, Franz König; and the political scientist and philosopher Nikolaus Lobkowicz....
, Weimar 2006), “Simulation of Athenian Court – A New Teaching Method” in the Balkans Law Review (2006), “The Rhetra of Epithadeus and Testament
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
in Spartan Law” (Austrian Academy of Sciences
Austrian Academy of Sciences
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is a legal entity under the special protection of the Federal Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every field, particularly in fundamental research...
, Vienna 2005), et al. His book Ars Rhetorica was proclaimed as Book of the Year 2002 (F.R.Y. Official Gazette Award) and he received the prestigious Italian award Premio romanistico internationale “Gérard Boulvert” for the Italian translation of the book Court Speeches of Isaeus and the Law of Athens.
See also
- Belgrade Law ReviewAnnals of the Faculty of Law in BelgradeThe Belgrade Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by the University of Belgrade's Law School. This publication is commonly called the Belgrade Law Review, but has also preserved the old name it acquired under the rule of Josip Broz Tito...
- Belgrade Competition in OratoryBelgrade Competition in OratoryThe Belgrade Competition in Oratory is an annual academic event at the University of Belgrade's Law School, which has gained significant popularity of the general public all over Serbia. In this competition students deliver their speeches on both free-choice and given topics...
Sources
- Biography at Belgrade Law School homepage (in Serbian)