The British Spanish Society, in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes, presents a lecture on constitutional culture with speakers Javier García Oliva – Professor at the University of Manchester – and Professor Helen Hall from Nottingham Trent University.
Law is often imagined as something dry, dusty, and abstract. However, in reality, it is vibrant, creative, and unique in every jurisdiction. Law forms part of broader systems of rules, norms, and expectations that govern everyday life—or, in other words, the “Constitutional Culture” of a community. The principles that exist, and the way they are applied (or ignored!) in practice, depend as much on the social beliefs, morals, and habits that surround them.
There are fascinating differences between the Constitutional Cultures of Spain and the United Kingdom, and these reveal a great deal about the contrasting social values in both contexts. We propose to explore them through the following illustrative examples, as the British and Spanish legal systems offer very different responses in each case:
Strangers in danger – If you see a stranger drowning in a shallow pond in a park, do you have any duty to help, or can you keep eating your sandwich or doom-scrolling on your phone?
Wills – What happens if you want to leave all your money to the local donkey sanctuary instead of your irresponsible family?
Bodily autonomy – If someone touches you in a way that is neither violent nor sexual, but extremely annoying, can you sue them for it?
Insults and rumors – What is acceptable to say or insinuate about your fellow citizens, and what triggers legal consequences?
Buying a home – At what point can buyers and sellers change their minds and withdraw from an agreement?
