Articles

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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...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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Democracy and (European) Private Law: A Functional Approach, European Journal of Legal Studies (2009)

The development towards a European private law (and in particular the drafting of the Draft...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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A European Law on Unjustified Enrichment? A Critical View of the Law of Restitution in the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR), Stellenbosch Law Review (2008)

This contribution discusses the European principles on unjustified enrichment as recently published in the Draft...

 

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The Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) for a European Private Law: Fit for Purpose?, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (2008)

This brief editorial (published in the Maastricht Journal) discusses the Draft Common Frame of Reference...

 

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The Draft Common Frame of Reference, Methodological Nationalism and the Way Forward, European Review of Contract Law (2008)

The Draft Common Frame of Reference for a European Private Law (DCFR) suffers from so-called...

 

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法 律 模 式 的 進 口 與 出 口: 荷 蘭 的 經 驗, Xiamen University Law Review (2008)

This contribution offers an overview of Dutch efforts in law reform in Central and Eastern...

 

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私法与基本权利：一种怀疑论的观点, Latest Studies of Social Science of Foreign Countries, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (2008)

Over the last decade or so, many European countries have seen a growing influence of...

 

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Dret Privat Europeu: Per Un Ordre Juridic Espontani, Revista Catalana de Dret Privat (2007)

This contribution focuses on European integration through private law. After a sketch of the existing...

 

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Law Making in the European Union: On Globalization and Contract Law in Divergent Legal Cultures, Louisiana Law Review (2007)

An important problem of law making in a globalizing world is how to deal with...

 

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The Principle of Unjust Enrichment and Formation of Contract: the Importance of a Hidden Policy Factor, European Review of Private Law (2006)

The two types of situations discussed in this contribution show how the principle against unjust...

 

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Import and Export of Legal Models: The Dutch Experience, Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems (2003)

This contribution offers an overview of Dutch efforts in law reform in Central and Eastern...

 

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The Harmonisation of Private Law in Europe: Some Insights from Evolutionary Theory, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (2002)

In this article, it is investigated whether it is possible to predict the evolution of...

 

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Trusts in Mixed Legal Systems:A Challenge to Comparative Trust Law (with J. Michael MIlo), European Review of Private Law (2000)

This is the introduction to a special issue of ERPL 2000. The issue deals with...

 

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A European Private Law as a Mixed Legal System, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (1998)

In this article, it is defended that a European Private Law should not come about...

 

Books

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Private Law 2.0: On The Role of Private Actors in a Post-National Society (2011)
 

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The Good Samaritan in European Private Law; On the Perils of Principles without a Programme and a Programme for the Future (2000)

This paper (based on the author's inaugural address) discusses the liability of the Good Samaritan...

 

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The reliance principle and contractual liability: an inquiry into the dogmatics of contract law (in Dutch) (1995)

This is the original English summary of the PhD-thesis defended at Leiden University in 1995....

 

Contributions to Books

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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...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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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....

 

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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:...

 

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The Complexity of Transnational Law: Coherence and Fragmentation of Private Law, Netherlands Reports to the XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law (forthcoming) (2010)

It is generally acknowledged that legal rules increasingly flow from different (national, European and supranational)...

 

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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...

 

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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...

 

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Contract Law in the European Union: Convergence or Not?, Sammelband Europaischer Juristentag 4 (2008)

This contribution argues that convergence of (European) contract law should not be found in uniform...

 

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European Private Law and Democracy: A Misunderstood Relationship, ESSAYS IN THE LAW AND ECONOMICS OF REGULATION IN HONOUR OF ANTHONY OGUS (2008)

An important strand of scholarship claims that creating a new European private law (such as...

 

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Human Dignity and Uniform Law: An Unhappy Relationship, Essays In Honor of Saul Litvinoff (2008)

This contribution argues that there is no `transnational' concept of human dignity or of public...

 

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The German Schuldrechtsmodernisierung and the New Dutch Civil Code: A Study in Parallel, SCHULDRECHTSMODERNISIERUNG UND EUROPÄISCHES VERTRAGSRECHT (2008)

Both the Netherlands and Germany have recently introduced important reforms of their law of obligations....

 

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Nordic Law in a European Context, Nordic Law - Between Tradition and Dynamism (2007)

This contribution looks at Nordic law in a comparative perspective. It discusses four features of...

 

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Convergence of Private Law in Europe: Towards a New Ius Commune?, COMPARATIVE LAW: A HANDBOOK (2007)

This contribution - a chapter in a well-known textbook on comparative law - discusses several...

 

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Legal Culture as Mental Software, or: How to Overcome National Legal Culture?, Private Law and the Many Cultures of Europe (2007)

The concept of legal culture plays an important role in the debate about the unification...

 

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European Private Law: A Plea for a Spontaneous Legal Order, European Integration and Law: Four Contributions on the Interplay between European Integration and European and National Law (2006)

This contribution focuses on European integration through private law. After a sketch of the existing...

 

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Private Law and Fundamental Rights: A Sceptical View, Constitutionalisation of Private Law (2006)

Over the last decade or so, many European countries have seen a growing influence of...

 

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Comparative Law and its Influence on National Legal Systems, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (2006)

This contribution explores the use of comparative law by the legislature and the courts in...

 

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Diversity of Contract Law and the European Internal Market, The Need for a European Contract Law: Empirical and Legal Perspectives (2005)

This contribution discusses the question whether diversity of contract law among the European member states...

 

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The Europeanisation of National Legal Systems: Some Consequences for Legal Thinking in Civil Law Countries, Epistemology and Methodology of Comparative Law (2004)

This paper focuses on the consequences of the Europeanisation of private law for national legal...

 

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Toward a Multi-layered Contract Law for Europe, An Academic Green Paper on European Contract Law (2002)

In this paper, the author discusses one of the options for the future development of...

 

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On Successful Legal Transplants in a Future Ius Commune Europaeum, COMPARATIVE LAW IN THE 21ST CENTURY (2002)

This paper investigates to what extent legal transplants can contribute to the emergence of a...

 

Unpublished Papers

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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...

 

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The Law of Contract: An Introduction (2011)

The Maastricht European Law School offers a full programme designed to educate European lawyers. This...

 

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Common Core Evaluation of the Draft CFR - Book VII (Unjustified Enrichment) (with Vanessa Mak), TICOM Working Paper on Comparative and Transnational Law No. 2009/04 (2009)

This contribution contains an evaluation of Book VII (Unjustified enrichment) of the Draft Common Frame...

 

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Full Harmonization of Consumer Law? A Critique of the Draft Directive on Consumer Rights, Tilburg Institute of Comparative and Transnational Law Working Paper 2009/3 (2009)

This contribution looks into the Proposal for a European directive on consumer rights as published...

 

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اصول اروپايي حقوق قراردادها و فرايند يكسان سازي حقوقي در اروپا, www.armans.info (2007)

This article offers an overview of the process of harmonisation of private law in the...