Toward a North American Legal System is a collection of scholarship that looks at a timely issue in public policy. Two decades after NAFTA, the team assembled by James T. McHugh works through both philosophical and practical questions related to a possibly more integrated legal system on the North American continent.
"Like early geographers of the Americas, the contributors to this book have undertaken a formidable challenge: to map a shifting legal terrain that is as intricate and varied as the book's continental scale would suggest. The authors, noted experts in comparative law and/or international relations, make it clear that there is no single "North American legal system." To the contrary, unlike our European allies, most 'North Americans' do not subscribe to a continental movement towards homogeneous norms. Nevertheless, as the authors in this book point out in discerning detail, the increasing interdependence of North American societies not only creates contentious fault lines , but also generates opportunities for North America's overlapping legal regimes to interact harmoniously. The book, in dealing with the relatively neglected subject of North American comparative law, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the underlying forces that influence continental shifts in legal regimes." - Stephen Zamora, Leonard B. Rosenberg Professor of Law and director, Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, University of Houston Law Center