The papers collected in this volume grew out of a conference on “General Principles of Law and the Judiciary” held at the University of Parma in May, 2014, at the 13th annual meeting of the European-American Consortium for Legal Education (EACLE), under the direction of Prof. Laura Pineschi. The chapters that follow speak for themselves and are a tribute to the editor and organizers at Parma. The formal program is reflected in the table of contents. Less immediately visible, but equally valuable, were the many opportunities for serendipitous mutual enlightenment to be found the less formal interstices of a beautiful setting, among kind and generous hosts. This recalls the broader project, of which this volume and the Parma conference are such excellent exempla—the pursuit of justice and the rule of law through transnational dialog, the exchange of insights, and the comparison of similar but differing experiences. Law often is and sometimes should be parochial in its development, but lawyers and legislators will benefit from better understanding the contingency (and frequent imperfections) of their own local practices and institutions. Europe and the USA provide particularly useful opportunities for mutual advancement in their shared (but inevitably partial and imperfect) commitment to the liberal and republican principles of universal human dignity and equal justice for all. When shared general principles yield differing practical results, we can and should question the unstated assumptions of our parochial traditions.