Recent books

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Coherence and Fragmentation in European Private Law (with Pia Letto-Vanamo) (2012)

One of the most important characteristics of today’s private law is that it increasingly flows...

 

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Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law Second Edition (2012)

With updated contributions and several new entries, the second edition of this unique Encyclopedia cements...

 

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The Mind and Method of the Legal Academic (2012)

In a context of changing times and current debate, this highly topical book discusses the...

 

European Private Law

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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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Introduction to special issue. Harmonisation of Contract Law: an Economic and Behavioural Perspective, European Journal of Law and Economics (2012)

This is the introduction to a special issue of the EJLE devoted to harmonization in...

 

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Party Choice and the Common European Sales Law, or: How to Prevent the CESL from Becoming a Lemon on the Law Market, Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper Series 2012/13 (2012)

Optional legal regimes, such as the Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales...

 

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Self-Sufficiency of European (Regulatory) Private Law: a Discussion Paper, EUI Working Papers LAW 2012/31; Hans-W. Micklitz & Yane Svetiev (eds.), A Self-Sufficient European Private Law – A Viable Concept?, in: EUI Working Papers Law No. 2012/31, pp. 83-88 (2012)

This brief paper is part of a larger publication on the 'self-sufficiency' of European regulatory...

 

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The Common European Sales Law (CESL) Beyond Party Choice, Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper No. 2012/11 (2012)

The Proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL), published by the European Commission in...

 

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What Do Nationalists Maximise? A Public Choice Perspective on the (Non-) Europeanization of Private Law, Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper No. 2012/09 (2012)

This contribution explores the relationship between (private) law and nationalism from a public choice perspective....

 

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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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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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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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Full Harmonization of Consumer Law? A Critique of the Draft Directive on Consumer Rights, European Review of Private Law (2010)

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

 

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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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Common Core Evaluation of the Draft CFR - Book VII (Unjustified Enrichment) (with Vanessa Mak), A Factual Assessment of the Draft Common Frame of Reference (2009)

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

 

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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...

 

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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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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...

 

Comparative Law

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Problems of Uniform Sales Law – Why the CISG May Not Promote International Trade, Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper No. 2013/1 (2013)

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is the...

 

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European Harmonisation of Intellectual Property Law: Towards a Competitive Model and a Critique of the Proposed Unified Patent Court (with William A. Bull), Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper 2012/16 (2012)

This contribution compares the European harmonisation of intellectual property law (in particular of patent law)...

 

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Rethinking Methods in European Private Law, Practice and Theory in Comparative Law (2012)

It is well known that there is a gap between comparative law theory and the...

 

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The Mind and Method of the Legal Academic (2012)

In a context of changing times and current debate, this highly topical book discusses the...

 

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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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....

 

Legal Theory

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If You Shoot My Dog, I Ma Kill Yo’ Cat: An Enquiry into the Principles of Hip-Hop Law (with Steven Iseger, Andrei Ernst, and Nida Riaz), Ars Aequi 2013 (forthcoming) (2013)

This article investigates how the law is perceived in hip-hop music. Lawyers solve concrete legal...

 

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What Do Nationalists Maximise? A Public Choice Perspective on the (Non-) Europeanization of Private Law, Maastricht European Private Law Institute Working Paper No. 2012/09 (2012)

This contribution explores the relationship between (private) law and nationalism from a public choice perspective....

 

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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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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

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Drept privat într-o societate post-naţională: de la reglementarea ex post la reglementarea ex ante, Revista Română de Drept European (2012)

This contribution (in Romanian) shows how the role of law is changing as a result...

 

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Gemeenschappelijk Europees Kooprecht gaat niet ver genoeg, Ars Aequi (2012)

In oktober 2011 publiceerde de Europese Commissie een voorstel voor een verordening betreffende een Gemeenschappelijk...

 

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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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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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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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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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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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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...

 

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