Miss Anna Lukina

Law, with its ability to change one’s moral obligations and authorize coercion, has the capacity not only for eradicating, but also for producing evil. This, to use Leslie Green's words, ‘immorality that law makes possible’ – as well as the ways in which it can be resisted – has remained among the most intriguing subjects of study in jurisprudence. In my project, I ask: what is the relationship between this ‘immorality’ – or evil – and law? My dissertation will cover the following questions:

• What is evil, evil law, and evil legal system?
• Is evil 'law' law in the first place?
• Does law hinder or help evil regimes?
• What duties do we have in relation to evil law?
• Can evil law be resisted from the ‘inside’, or only from the ‘outside’?
• Does transitional justice necessitate a ‘clean break’ with evil law after the evil regime falls?

I am looking at these issues from a legal-historical as well as legal-theoretical perspective, focusing on law of Nazi Germany, Soviet Union under Stalin, and slavery in the antebellum United States.

My project is funded by the Institute for Humane Studies, Modern Law Review, and Cambridge Law Journal.