William Elliott Butler
Encyclopedia
William Elliott Butler is a jurist and educator, the John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University (2005-) and Professorial Research Associate, School of Oriental and African Studies
, University of London
(2006-), and Emeritus Professor of Comparative Law in the University of London (2005-). He is a pre-eminent authority on the legal systems of Russia
, other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS), and Mongolia
. He is also extensively involved in the fields of public and private international law
.
Butler is a noted bibliophile and bookplate collector.
Married 1961 Darlene Mae Johnson (1939–1989), with two sons (William III, b. 1965) and Bradley (b. 1973); Married 1991 Maryann Elizabeth Gashi (b. 1955).
(1909–1996) offered at Johns Hopkins University
SAIS and, while at Harvard Law School
, worked with Harold J. Berman
(1918–2007), the founders of Soviet legal studies in the West. There he developed his interest in Soviet law
and in international and comparative legal studies.
He is the holder of the following university degrees: A.A., Hibbing Junior College, 1959; B.A., The American University (School of International Service), 1961; M.A., The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
, 1963; J.D., Harvard Law School
, 1966; LL.M., School of Law of the Academy University of Law
, Institute of State and Law
, Russian Academy of Sciences
, 1997; Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
, 1970 (for his dissertation “Soviet Union and the Law of the Sea”, which was later published); LL.D., University of London, 1979.
as Research Assistant at the Washington Center for Foreign Policy Research, Johns Hopkins SAIS
, working on a research contract for the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and a further two years (1968–70) as Research Associate in Law at the Harvard Law School
, working in Soviet, Chinese, and Western approaches to international law, in 1970 W. E. Butler was elected to the established Readership in Comparative Law at the University of London, tenable at University College London
, and elevated to a personal chair in 1976 as Professor of Comparative Law
. Till the late 1980s he pursued principally an academic career, although he acted as consultant to governments and international organisations.
His early research pursued the interface between Soviet law and the international legal system, a subject which he later broadened to address comparative approaches to international law. The key books of this period included: The Soviet Union and the Law of the Sea (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1971); The Merchant Shipping Code of the USSR 1968 (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1970) (with J. B. Quigley, Jr.); Northeast Arctic Passage (Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff, 1978); an edition of P. P. Shafirov, Discourse on the Causes of War between Russia and Sweden (Dobbs Ferry, Oceana Publications, 1973); Comparative Approaches to International Law (1978); Documents on Socialist International Organizations (1978); Russian Law: Historical and Political Perspectives (Leiden, A. W. Sijthoff, 1977); The Soviet Legal System (in co-authorship with John N. Hazard and Peter B. Maggs; 3d ed.; Dobbs Ferry: Oceana Publications, 1977; new ed., 1984) and Soviet Law (London: Butterworths, 1983; new ed., 1988).
In 1982 Butler founded the Centre for the Study of Socialist Legal Systems, University College London, which in 1993 was renamed The Vinogradoff Institute and in 2005 was removed to Dickinson School of Law
. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Laws, University College London
(1977–79) and of the University of London (1988–90). He has been Visiting Professor of Law at New York University Law School, Harvard Law School
, Washington and Lee School of Law, and the Moscow State University
. For many years he was a member of the Council of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies
, University of London, including one term as Vice-Chairman.
He is the author, co-author, editor, or translator of more than 3,500 books, loose-leaf services, articles, and reviews on Soviet, Russian, Ukrainian
, Belarus
, Tajikistan
, Uzbekistan
, Kazakhstan
, Baltic, and other CIS legal systems. His articles have been published in the leading law reviews of the United Kingdom
, the Russian Federation, and the United States
.
In 1985 he delivered a cycle of lectures at the Hague Academy of International Law
on “Comparative Approaches to International Law”.
During the late years of perestroika
in the Soviet Union and then in the post-Soviet period he took active role in law reform as a recognised expert on many areas of law. Butler’s principal treatise is Russian Law (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999; 2d ed., 2003; 3d ed., 2009), which gives a comprehensive account of the history, sources and all branches of Russian law, as well as its place within international context. It was cited by the United States Court of Appeals in 2004. Butler maintains that the transition from a planned economy to a market economy is one which no State has previously undertaken in human history, and Russian law is the principle vehicle of this transition. He is of the view that CIS legal systems are currently in search of their legal identity and therefore present a unique laboratory of comparative law approaches.
Among salient titles of recent years which pursue these themes are:
He has published a number of works in the Russian Federation, including the Russian-English Legal Dictionary (Moscow, Zertsalo, 1995; 2d ed., 2001) and edited editions in the classics of Russian legal history, amongst them a revised edition of V. E. Grabar’s History of the literature of international law in Russia, 1647-1917; an edition of Shafirov’s Discourse on the law of nations, Kamarovskii’s work on an international court, and Catherine II’s Nakaz, usually in collaboration with Professor V. A. Tomsinov (Moscow State University). His translation of the Ukrainian Criminal Code was published by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev (2001). His translations of the Russian Civil Code
, Family Code, Tax Code
, Land Code, Labor Code, and Criminal Code
have appeared in parallel Russian and English texts (Moscow, JurinfoR) in large editions.
In addition to original works he has engaged extensively in the translation of Soviet and post-Soviet legislation. Mostly these appeared in the quarterly journal Soviet Statutes and Decisions (White Plains, New York, Sharpe Publishing) and in looseleaf services published by Oceana Publications and, since 2006, by Juris Publishers in New York. In total he has published translations of more than 2,500 normative legal acts adopted in the former Soviet Union, all CIS countries, and Mongolia (a full bibliography is contained International and Comparative Law: А Bibliography, London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2005). As a result, the largest body of English translations of post-Soviet legislation has been created of academic quality. Although Butler is not the only scholar who has contributed to the translation of Russian legal texts, it is mainly due to his efforts that the Western law student or lawyer has now more available to him in English translation concerning the Russian legal system
than for any continental European jurisdiction.
He founded the quarterly journal Sudebnik (1995–2007) and serves on the editorial boards of the principal English-language journals, law reviews, and yearbooks devoted to Russia and other CIS legal systems. Commencing in 2004, he became the founding editor of Russian Law: Theory and Practice, issued by the Russian Academy of Legal Sciences (2004–2009) and Consulting and Book Review Editor, elevated from 2008 to co-editor (with Professor Michael Palmer) of The Journal of Comparative Law (London, Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2005-).
In October 2003 he was elected a Trustee of the Hakluyt Society
and has served as a Member of the Committee for Central and Inner Asia attached to The British Academy since its inception and as a member of The Bentham Committee since 2003. He has been appointed editor of Bentham
's works on international law.
's perestroika and onwards, Butler became more deeply involved in consulting activities, providing expertise for the legal reforms in the USSR and its successor states. In 1989 he was appointed Special Counsel and Chairman of a Working Group attached to the Commission for Economic Reform of the USSR Council of Ministers. In this capacity he evaluated key draft perestroika legislation and was co-author of the Draft USSR Law on Pledge which, in May 1992, was the basis for legislation enacted by the Russian Parliament and then of similar laws adopted in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The same Working Group prepared the Edict of the President of the Russian Federation on Trust Ownership, adopted 24 December 1993 and still in force. From July 1992 to February 1993 he was seconded as Senior Legal Counsel to the Russian Federation State Committee for the Administration of State Property, where he headed a small team of legal specialists to prepare draft Russian laws on trust ownership, securities and investment funds, joint-stock societies, full partnerships, Kommandit partnerships, and limited responsibility partnerships.
He served as a member of the European Union Joint Task Force on Law Reform in the Independent States together with leading Russian, European, and CIS jurists and was a co-author of the Report produced by this Task Force. In October–November 2002 he acted as a Consultant to a health project in Russia for the Department for International Development
of the Government of the United Kingdom, and in Spring 2003 completed a substantial report for International Family Health Foundation on the legal regime of harm reduction programs in Russia. In 2003 he completed a major study for the Department for International Development, published separately in the English and Russian languages as: HIV/AIDS and Drug Misuse in Russia: Harm Reduction Programmes and the Russian Legal System (London, DFID/IFH, 2003). Pursuing the same subject, in 2009 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
in Moscow published his study on the legal aspects of substitution therapy in Russia.
He has advised numerous governmental bodies and international organizations on various aspects of law reforms in the CIS countries. Among them were the World Bank
, the Office of the Legal Adviser, United States Department of State
, the United States Department of Justice
, the Department of Health and Social Security of the United Kingdom
, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the authorities of Lithuania
, Kyrgyzia, Belorussia, Azerbaijan
, Uzbekistan
, Tadzhikistan, as well as banks, large corporations, and industry associations.
In addition, he has advised on and given formal legal opinions on all aspects of Russian and Soviet Law
before English and American courts, tribunals, and arbitral tribunals. In particular, in February 2005 he appeared as a legal expert before the US Bankruptcy Court
for the Southern District of Texas in Houston within the litigation between Russian oil giant Yukos
, on the one hand, and Deutsche Bank
and Gazpromneft
, on the other. In his statement before the court Butler said that there was no treaty between the US and Russia on the mutual recognition of legal rulings. That essentially meant Russian authorities were under no obligation to comply with any US rulings in the Yukos case.
In May 1995 he was elected to a five-year term as a member of the Russian International Court of Commercial Arbitration, and re-elected for further terms in 2000 and 2005. He has acted in more than twenty Moscow arbitrations, including as Chairman of the tribunal. He also has acted in the London and Stockholm courts of international arbitration as an arbitrator and has conducted arbitrations ad hoc. In 2008 he was appointed to the Panels of Distinguished Neutrals, both International and Pennsylvania, as an arbitrator by the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
In 1993 he founded the Faculty of Law of the unique Russian-British postgraduate university – the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences attached to the Academy of National Economy of the Russian Federation. He served as the founding Dean (1993–98) and M. M. Speransky Professor of International and Comparative Law (till 2004) of that faculty.
to Cole Corette & Abrutyn (1988–92) and Clifford Chance
(1992–94) and as Partner and Head of the CIS London Group and the Almaty and Tashkent offices of White & Case
(1994–96). From 1997-2001 he was a co-founder and Senior Partner in the PwC (later Landwell) CIS International Law Firm in Moscow, and in 2002 co-founded Phoenix Law Associates CIS, a Russian law firm located in Moscow.
He is admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia (1967) and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
(1970), and has been licensed by the respective Ministry of Justice in Uzbekistan (1996) and the Russian Federation (1997).
He was awarded a Certificate of Honor by the International Union of Jurists (CIS) in 1996 and 2005 for services to Russian law and in June 2003, the G. I. Tunkin
Medal by the Russian International Law Association for services to international law (2003). Other awards include a Certificate of Honor by the Russian Association of Maritime Law (2003), the Ivan Fedorov Medal and Diploma for services to Anglo-Russian cultural relations (2004) and a Certificate of Honor of the Russian Association of International Law (2007).
He was the Founding Editor of The Bookplate Journal (London, 1983-) and of the journal Bookplate International (1994–2005). He has served as the Executive Secretary of the International Federation of Ex-Libris Societies (FISAE) since 1986. He is a member of the Grolier Club
(1996-); the Organization of Russian Bibliophiles (1992-), and the Section for the Book and Graphics, St. Petersburg, attached to the Russian Academy of Sciences.
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
(2006-), and Emeritus Professor of Comparative Law in the University of London (2005-). He is a pre-eminent authority on the legal systems of Russia
Law of the Russian Federation
The primary and fundamental statement of laws in the Russian Federation is the Constitution of the Russian Federation.-Domestic sources:Since its adoption in a 1993 referendum the Russian Constitution is considered to be the supreme law of the land...
, other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
(CIS), and Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. He is also extensively involved in the fields of public and private international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
.
Butler is a noted bibliophile and bookplate collector.
Married 1961 Darlene Mae Johnson (1939–1989), with two sons (William III, b. 1965) and Bradley (b. 1973); Married 1991 Maryann Elizabeth Gashi (b. 1955).
Education
Butler received his education in the U.S. In the early 1960s he attended lectures of John N. HazardJohn N. Hazard
John N. Hazard was a leading American scholar of Soviet law and public administration. Hazard was one of the pioneers in the field of Sovietology, particularly in Soviet law, administration and politics-Early life:...
(1909–1996) offered at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
SAIS and, while at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, worked with Harold J. Berman
Harold J. Berman
Harold J. Berman was an American legal scholar who was an expert in comparative, international and Soviet/Russian law as well as legal history, philosophy of law and the intersection of law and religion...
(1918–2007), the founders of Soviet legal studies in the West. There he developed his interest in Soviet law
Soviet law
The Law of the Soviet Union—also known as Socialist Law—was the law developed in the Soviet Union following the October Revolution of 1917...
and in international and comparative legal studies.
He is the holder of the following university degrees: A.A., Hibbing Junior College, 1959; B.A., The American University (School of International Service), 1961; M.A., The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
, 1963; J.D., Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, 1966; LL.M., School of Law of the Academy University of Law
Academic Law University
The Academic Law University is a private law school founded in 1993 under the auspices of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences...
, Institute of State and Law
Institute of State and Law
The Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences is the largest scientific legal center in the Russian Federation. The ISL is part of the Philosophical, Sociological, Psychological, and Law Department of RAS...
, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
, 1997; Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
, 1970 (for his dissertation “Soviet Union and the Law of the Sea”, which was later published); LL.D., University of London, 1979.
Academic career
After serving two years (1966–68) in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
as Research Assistant at the Washington Center for Foreign Policy Research, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
, working on a research contract for the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and a further two years (1968–70) as Research Associate in Law at the Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, working in Soviet, Chinese, and Western approaches to international law, in 1970 W. E. Butler was elected to the established Readership in Comparative Law at the University of London, tenable at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and elevated to a personal chair in 1976 as Professor of 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...
. Till the late 1980s he pursued principally an academic career, although he acted as consultant to governments and international organisations.
His early research pursued the interface between Soviet law and the international legal system, a subject which he later broadened to address comparative approaches to international law. The key books of this period included: The Soviet Union and the Law of the Sea (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1971); The Merchant Shipping Code of the USSR 1968 (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1970) (with J. B. Quigley, Jr.); Northeast Arctic Passage (Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff, 1978); an edition of P. P. Shafirov, Discourse on the Causes of War between Russia and Sweden (Dobbs Ferry, Oceana Publications, 1973); Comparative Approaches to International Law (1978); Documents on Socialist International Organizations (1978); Russian Law: Historical and Political Perspectives (Leiden, A. W. Sijthoff, 1977); The Soviet Legal System (in co-authorship with John N. Hazard and Peter B. Maggs; 3d ed.; Dobbs Ferry: Oceana Publications, 1977; new ed., 1984) and Soviet Law (London: Butterworths, 1983; new ed., 1988).
In 1982 Butler founded the Centre for the Study of Socialist Legal Systems, University College London, which in 1993 was renamed The Vinogradoff Institute and in 2005 was removed to Dickinson School of Law
Dickinson School of Law
Penn State University Dickinson School of Law is the law school of The Pennsylvania State University...
. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Laws, University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
(1977–79) and of the University of London (1988–90). He has been Visiting Professor of Law at New York University Law School, Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, Washington and Lee School of Law, and the Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
. For many years he was a member of the Council of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies is a school of University College London . It is the largest centre for the study and research of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and Russia in the United Kingdom...
, University of London, including one term as Vice-Chairman.
He is the author, co-author, editor, or translator of more than 3,500 books, loose-leaf services, articles, and reviews on Soviet, Russian, Ukrainian
Law of Ukraine
The legal system of Ukraine is based on the framework of civil law, and belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal tradition. The main source of legal information is codified law. Customary law and case law are not as common, though case law is often used in support of the written law, as in many other...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Baltic, and other CIS legal systems. His articles have been published in the leading law reviews of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the Russian Federation, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1985 he delivered a cycle of lectures at the Hague Academy of International Law
Hague Academy of International Law
The Hague Academy of International Law is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands...
on “Comparative Approaches to International Law”.
During the late years of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
in the Soviet Union and then in the post-Soviet period he took active role in law reform as a recognised expert on many areas of law. Butler’s principal treatise is Russian Law (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999; 2d ed., 2003; 3d ed., 2009), which gives a comprehensive account of the history, sources and all branches of Russian law, as well as its place within international context. It was cited by the United States Court of Appeals in 2004. Butler maintains that the transition from a planned economy to a market economy is one which no State has previously undertaken in human history, and Russian law is the principle vehicle of this transition. He is of the view that CIS legal systems are currently in search of their legal identity and therefore present a unique laboratory of comparative law approaches.
Among salient titles of recent years which pursue these themes are:
- Russian Foreign Relations and Investment Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)
- The Law of Treaties in Russia and Other Member Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
- Foreign Investment Law in the Commonwealth of Independent States (London, Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2002)
- Russian-English Legal Dictionary (Ardsley: Transnational, 2001)
- The Corporation and Securities Under Russian and American Law (with Maryann E. Gashi-Butler) (Moscow: Zertsalo, 1997).
He has published a number of works in the Russian Federation, including the Russian-English Legal Dictionary (Moscow, Zertsalo, 1995; 2d ed., 2001) and edited editions in the classics of Russian legal history, amongst them a revised edition of V. E. Grabar’s History of the literature of international law in Russia, 1647-1917; an edition of Shafirov’s Discourse on the law of nations, Kamarovskii’s work on an international court, and Catherine II’s Nakaz, usually in collaboration with Professor V. A. Tomsinov (Moscow State University). His translation of the Ukrainian Criminal Code was published by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev (2001). His translations of the Russian Civil Code
Russian Civil Code
The Russian Civil Code is the prime source of civil law for the Russian Federation. The Russian Civil Law system descendanted from Roman Law through Byzantine tradition. It was heavily influenced by German and Dutch norms in 1700-1800's...
, Family Code, Tax Code
Tax code
In the UK, every person paid under the PAYE scheme is allocated a tax code by HM Revenue and Customs. This is usually in the form of a number followed by a letter suffix, though other 'non-standard' codes are also used. This code describes to employers how much tax to deduct from an employee. The...
, Land Code, Labor Code, and Criminal Code
Criminal Code
A criminal code is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law...
have appeared in parallel Russian and English texts (Moscow, JurinfoR) in large editions.
In addition to original works he has engaged extensively in the translation of Soviet and post-Soviet legislation. Mostly these appeared in the quarterly journal Soviet Statutes and Decisions (White Plains, New York, Sharpe Publishing) and in looseleaf services published by Oceana Publications and, since 2006, by Juris Publishers in New York. In total he has published translations of more than 2,500 normative legal acts adopted in the former Soviet Union, all CIS countries, and Mongolia (a full bibliography is contained International and Comparative Law: А Bibliography, London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2005). As a result, the largest body of English translations of post-Soviet legislation has been created of academic quality. Although Butler is not the only scholar who has contributed to the translation of Russian legal texts, it is mainly due to his efforts that the Western law student or lawyer has now more available to him in English translation concerning the Russian legal system
Law of the Russian Federation
The primary and fundamental statement of laws in the Russian Federation is the Constitution of the Russian Federation.-Domestic sources:Since its adoption in a 1993 referendum the Russian Constitution is considered to be the supreme law of the land...
than for any continental European jurisdiction.
He founded the quarterly journal Sudebnik (1995–2007) and serves on the editorial boards of the principal English-language journals, law reviews, and yearbooks devoted to Russia and other CIS legal systems. Commencing in 2004, he became the founding editor of Russian Law: Theory and Practice, issued by the Russian Academy of Legal Sciences (2004–2009) and Consulting and Book Review Editor, elevated from 2008 to co-editor (with Professor Michael Palmer) of The Journal of Comparative Law (London, Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2005-).
In October 2003 he was elected a Trustee of the Hakluyt Society
Hakluyt Society
Founded in 1846, the Hakluyt Society is a registered charity based in London, England, which seeks to advance knowledge and education by the publication of scholarly editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material...
and has served as a Member of the Committee for Central and Inner Asia attached to The British Academy since its inception and as a member of The Bentham Committee since 2003. He has been appointed editor of Bentham
Bentham
-People:* Billy Bentham, English rugby league footballer* Charles Bentham, English shipwright in Dutch service* Craig Bentham , English footballer* Ethel Bentham , Irish doctor, politician and suffragette...
's works on international law.
Helping law reform in CIS countries
Commencing with Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
's perestroika and onwards, Butler became more deeply involved in consulting activities, providing expertise for the legal reforms in the USSR and its successor states. In 1989 he was appointed Special Counsel and Chairman of a Working Group attached to the Commission for Economic Reform of the USSR Council of Ministers. In this capacity he evaluated key draft perestroika legislation and was co-author of the Draft USSR Law on Pledge which, in May 1992, was the basis for legislation enacted by the Russian Parliament and then of similar laws adopted in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The same Working Group prepared the Edict of the President of the Russian Federation on Trust Ownership, adopted 24 December 1993 and still in force. From July 1992 to February 1993 he was seconded as Senior Legal Counsel to the Russian Federation State Committee for the Administration of State Property, where he headed a small team of legal specialists to prepare draft Russian laws on trust ownership, securities and investment funds, joint-stock societies, full partnerships, Kommandit partnerships, and limited responsibility partnerships.
He served as a member of the European Union Joint Task Force on Law Reform in the Independent States together with leading Russian, European, and CIS jurists and was a co-author of the Report produced by this Task Force. In October–November 2002 he acted as a Consultant to a health project in Russia for the Department for International Development
Department for International Development
The Department For International Development is a United Kingdom government department with a Cabinet Minister in charge. It was separated from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1997. The goal of the department is "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". The current...
of the Government of the United Kingdom, and in Spring 2003 completed a substantial report for International Family Health Foundation on the legal regime of harm reduction programs in Russia. In 2003 he completed a major study for the Department for International Development, published separately in the English and Russian languages as: HIV/AIDS and Drug Misuse in Russia: Harm Reduction Programmes and the Russian Legal System (London, DFID/IFH, 2003). Pursuing the same subject, in 2009 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations agency that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations...
in Moscow published his study on the legal aspects of substitution therapy in Russia.
He has advised numerous governmental bodies and international organizations on various aspects of law reforms in the CIS countries. Among them were the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, the Office of the Legal Adviser, United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, the Department of Health and Social Security of the United Kingdom
Department of Health and Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.-History:...
, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the authorities of Lithuania
Law of Lithuania
Lithuanian law is a part of the legal system of Lithuania. It belongs to the civil law legal system, as opposed to the common law legal system.The legal system of Lithuania is based on epitomes of the French and German systems...
, Kyrgyzia, Belorussia, Azerbaijan
Law of Azerbaijan
The legal system of Azerbaijan is based around civil law. As the country was a republic of the Soviet Union until 1991, its legal history has also been influenced heavily by socialist law.-Criminal law:...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Tadzhikistan, as well as banks, large corporations, and industry associations.
In addition, he has advised on and given formal legal opinions on all aspects of Russian and Soviet Law
Soviet law
The Law of the Soviet Union—also known as Socialist Law—was the law developed in the Soviet Union following the October Revolution of 1917...
before English and American courts, tribunals, and arbitral tribunals. In particular, in February 2005 he appeared as a legal expert before the US Bankruptcy Court
United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. They function as units of the district courts and have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases arising...
for the Southern District of Texas in Houston within the litigation between Russian oil giant Yukos
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
, on the one hand, and Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
and Gazpromneft
Gazpromneft
This article is about a former subsidiary of Gazprom. For the current oil arm of Gazprom, see Gazprom Neft.Invest Union is a Russian company based in St. Petersburg and a former subsidiary of Gazprom...
, on the other. In his statement before the court Butler said that there was no treaty between the US and Russia on the mutual recognition of legal rulings. That essentially meant Russian authorities were under no obligation to comply with any US rulings in the Yukos case.
In May 1995 he was elected to a five-year term as a member of the Russian International Court of Commercial Arbitration, and re-elected for further terms in 2000 and 2005. He has acted in more than twenty Moscow arbitrations, including as Chairman of the tribunal. He also has acted in the London and Stockholm courts of international arbitration as an arbitrator and has conducted arbitrations ad hoc. In 2008 he was appointed to the Panels of Distinguished Neutrals, both International and Pennsylvania, as an arbitrator by the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
In 1993 he founded the Faculty of Law of the unique Russian-British postgraduate university – the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences attached to the Academy of National Economy of the Russian Federation. He served as the founding Dean (1993–98) and M. M. Speransky Professor of International and Comparative Law (till 2004) of that faculty.
Legal practice
He has acted as Of CounselOf counsel
Of counsel is often the title of an attorney who is employed by a law firm or an organization, but is not an associate or a partner. Some firms use titles like "counsel," "special counsel," and "senior counsel" for the same concept...
to Cole Corette & Abrutyn (1988–92) and Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance LLP is a global law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a member of the 'Magic Circle' of leading UK law firms. It is one of the ten largest law firms in the world measured by both number of lawyers and revenue...
(1992–94) and as Partner and Head of the CIS London Group and the Almaty and Tashkent offices of White & Case
White & Case
White & Case was founded in New York in 1901 and has grown into one of the world's leading global law firms. The firm has since expanded, and has practice groups in emerging markets including Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as in Europe...
(1994–96). From 1997-2001 he was a co-founder and Senior Partner in the PwC (later Landwell) CIS International Law Firm in Moscow, and in 2002 co-founded Phoenix Law Associates CIS, a Russian law firm located in Moscow.
He is admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia (1967) and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
(1970), and has been licensed by the respective Ministry of Justice in Uzbekistan (1996) and the Russian Federation (1997).
Recognition and awards
Member of:- The International Union of Jurists in Moscow (1991-; Executive Committee, 1994- )
- The Russian Academy of Natural SciencesRussian Academy of Natural SciencesRussian Academy of Natural Sciences is a Russian public organization, an academy of sciences, founded on August 31, 1990 in Moscow....
(1992- ) - The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1992- )
- Honorary Member of the Kazakhstan Association of Business Lawyers (1995- )
- The Senior Common Room of St Antony’s CollegeSt Antony's College, OxfordSt Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
, Oxford University (2004- ) - The Union of Russian Jurists (2004- )
- The Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law (2006- )
- Executive Committee of the Russian Association of Maritime Law (2008- )
- The American Law InstituteAmerican Law InstituteThe American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law...
(2009- ).
He was awarded a Certificate of Honor by the International Union of Jurists (CIS) in 1996 and 2005 for services to Russian law and in June 2003, the G. I. Tunkin
Grigory Tunkin
Grigory Ivanovich Tunkin was a Soviet jurist, diplomat, Corresponding Member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , and a Meritorious Scientist of the RSFSR .-Early life:...
Medal by the Russian International Law Association for services to international law (2003). Other awards include a Certificate of Honor by the Russian Association of Maritime Law (2003), the Ivan Fedorov Medal and Diploma for services to Anglo-Russian cultural relations (2004) and a Certificate of Honor of the Russian Association of International Law (2007).
Bibliophily and bookplate collecting
W. E. Butler has gathered an enormous collection of bookplates and penned a number of books on this subject, including:- Modern Soviet Literary Bookplates (1988);
- The Golden Era of American Bookplate Design (1986) and Modern English Bookplates (1990), both in co-authorship with the late Darlene J. Butler;
- American Bookplates (2000), and others.
He was the Founding Editor of The Bookplate Journal (London, 1983-) and of the journal Bookplate International (1994–2005). He has served as the Executive Secretary of the International Federation of Ex-Libris Societies (FISAE) since 1986. He is a member of the Grolier Club
Grolier Club
The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Treasurer General of France, whose library was famous; his...
(1996-); the Organization of Russian Bibliophiles (1992-), and the Section for the Book and Graphics, St. Petersburg, attached to the Russian Academy of Sciences.