Jan M. Smits holds the Chair of European Private Law at Maastricht University (The Netherlands) and is research professor of Comparative Legal Studies in the University of Helsinki (Finland). He directs the new Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI). His publications and teaching are in the fields of European private law, comparative law and legal theory. Jan Smits was previously a professor of European private law and comparative law at Tilburg University. He holds a doctorate from Leiden University, was a visiting professor at several foreign universities and is a co-editor of various law journals and book series. In 2004, he was appointed a deputy judge in the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. A full CV (including a list of publications) can be downloaded from this website (click on the right).
Comparative Law
A Dialogue on Comparative Functionalism (with Jaakko Husa), Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (2011)
The use of the functional method when comparing legal systems remains debated, even to such...
Does Law Matter? An Introduction (with Michael G. Faure), Does Law Matter? On Law and Economic Growth (2011)
This contribution addresses the importance of institutions for economic development and in particular the role...
European Legal Education, or: How to Prepare Students for Global Citizenship?, The Law Teacher, Vol. 45 (2011), pp. 163-180; Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI) Working Paper No. 2011/02 (2011)
Legal education is gradually moving away from the teaching of national law towards a more...
Is Law a Parasite? An Evolutionary Explanation of Differences Among Legal Traditions, Review of Law and Economics 7 (2011), 791-804; Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper No. 2011/31 (2011)
One of the most salient characteristics of law is that it can be seen as...
The Law of Contract: An Introduction (2011)
The Maastricht European Law School offers a full programme designed to educate European lawyers. This...
European Private Law
A Radical View of Legal Pluralism, Pluralism and European Private Law (2012)
Law is increasingly pluralist, meaning that different claims to legal authority exist at the same...
Plurality of Sources in European Private Law, or: How to Live With Legal Diversity, The Foundations of European Private Law (2011)
Private law is no longer primarily governed by rules produced by national legislatures and courts....
The Right to Change Your Mind? Rethinking the Usefulness of Mandatory Rights of Withdrawal in Consumer Contract Law, Penn State International Law Review, Vol. 29 (2011), pp. 671-684; Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI) Working Paper No. 2011/01 (2011)
Both in Europe and the United States, withdrawal rights are increasingly part of mandatory legislation...
European Private Law and the Comparative Method, THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO EUROPEAN UNION PRIVATE LAW (2010)
European Private Law has now firmly established itself as a new field of academic study:...
Optional Law: A Plea for Multiple Choice in Private Law, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (2010)
The recent publication of the Green Paper on European contract law by the European Commission...
Legal Theory
Beyond Euroscepticism: on the Choice of Legal Regimes as Empowerment of Citizens, Utrecht Law Review (2010)
This contribution aims to show that Euroscepticism is based on a particular view of how...
Redefining Normative Legal Science: Towards an Argumentative Discipline, METHODS OF HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH (2009)
Academic legal scholarship increasingly relies on non-normative perspectives. This raises the question what is actually...
Some Recent Publications in Other Languages than English
Kodifikation ohne Demokratie? Zur Legitimität eines europäischen (optionalen) Zivilgesetzbuches, Europäisches Verfassungsdenken ohne Privatrecht – Europaisches Privatrecht ohne Demokratie? (ZERP-Diskussionspapier 1/2011) (2011)
Im Rahmen der anhaltenden Debatte über die Europäisierung des Privatrechts nehmen die Bedenken bezüglich der...
Bezduvodné obohacení v návhru ceského obcanského zákoniku – z evropské perspektivy, Sborník statí z diskusních fór o rekodifikaci obcanského práva (2009)
Part Four of the draft for a new Czech Civil Code contains several provisions on...
Consumentenrecht: een zaak voor de Europese Unie? Een kritische beschouwing over het ontwerp voor een Europese richtlijn consumentenrechten, Ars Aequi (2009)
In oktober 2008 publiceerde de Europese Commissie een voorstel voor een Europese richtlijn consumentenrechten. Dit...
Návrh Spoločného referenčného rámca, metodologický nacionalizmus a ďalší postup, Justičná Revue (2009)
The Draft Common Frame of Reference for a European Private Law (DCFR) suffers from so-called...
不当利得に関するヨーロッパ法？共通参照枠草案における原状快復法の批判的考察, 民商法雑誌 第 (2009)
This contribution discusses the European principles on unjustified enrichment as recently published in the Draft...