ANICETO MASFERRER DOMINGO

Aniceto Masferrer Domingo is a Professor in the Department of Financial Law and Legal History at the Faculty of Law, University of Valencia, Spain. His research is centered on legal history, comparative law, and constitutional theory, with particular attention to the historical evolution of criminal law, human dignity, freedom of expression, and codification in the Western legal tradition. He is a member of the WESTLAW research group, dedicated to the study of Western legal development.

• PhD in Law, Universitat de Girona, with thesis on the penalty of infamy in medieval and early modern Catalonia and Castile (2000).
• Supervised by Dr. José Sarrión Gualda.

His research interests include the secularization of criminal law, the historical roots of human dignity (from figures like Francisco de Vitoria), the influence of foreign legal systems on Spanish law, and the transformation of moral norms into legal categories. He critically examines myths in legal historiography, such as the overwhelming influence of French law on Spanish codification.

His recent publications reflect a strong trend toward analyzing the Spanish Supreme Court’s jurisprudence (1870–1978) in shaping criminal law, the historical development of sexual freedom and privacy, and the emergence of postmodern 'rights-desire' in contemporary society. His work often bridges legal doctrine, historical analysis, and philosophical inquiry.

Among his notable contributions are studies on the Cortes of León (1188) as the first example of parliamentarism, the decline of freedom of expression in Western democracies, and the uniqueness of the Spanish Civil Code. He frequently publishes in both Spanish and English, contributing to international discourse in journals such as International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Comparative Legal History, and Journal of Civil Law Studies.

Aniceto Masferrer is an active academic with a prolific output, serving as editor and contributor to numerous volumes on legal history and comparative law. His work demonstrates a deep engagement with both historical sources and contemporary legal challenges.