Reinhard Zimmermann

Helmut Koziol

Bernhard A. Koch

Bénédict Winiger

In order to contribute to a better understanding of natural causation, which is a central concept in civil law, the present book offers a large collection of leading cases from 25 European countries and from the Court of Justice of the European Community. Each case is shortly summarised and commented on. Further, an important number of cases collected are resolved according to the recently published ‘Principles of European Tort Law’.

Essential Cases on Natural Causation

Kenneth G C Reid

Marius J de Waal

Launching a major new research project examining the principles of succession law in comparative perspective, this book discusses the formalities which the law imposes in order for a person to make a testamentary disposal of property. Among the questions considered are the following. How are wills made? What precisely are the rules - as to the signature of the testator, the use of witnesses, the need for a notary public or lawyer, and so on? Is there is a choice of will-type and, if so, which type is used most often and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How common is will-making or do most people die intestate? What happens if formalities are not observed? How can requirements of form be explained and justified? How did the law develop historically, what is the state of the law today, and what are the prospects for the future? The focus is on Europe, and on countries which have been influenced by the European experience. Thus in addition to giving a detailed treatment of the law in Austria, Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, the book explores legal developments in Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, and in some of the countries of Latin America with a particular emphasis on Brazil. It also includes chapters on two of the mixed jurisdictions - Scotland and South Africa - and on Islamic Law. The book opens with chapters on Roman law and on the early modern law in Europe, thus setting the historical scene as well as anticipating and complementing the accounts of national history which appear in subsequent chapters; and it concludes with an assessment of the overall development of the law in the countries surveyed, and with some wider reflections on the nature and purpose of testamentary formalities.

Volume I: Testamentary Formalities

Comparative Succession Law

Kenneth G. C. Reid

Marius J. de Waal

This book is about the protection from disinheritance. Regardless of what a person's will might say, the closest relatives usually have a claim to some of the deceased's property. The book explores this issue in a sample of countries in Europe as well as in the USA, Canada, Latin America, China, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Volume III: Mandatory Family Protection

David Johnston

Andrew Burrows

Collecting together 47 essays from colleagues and friends of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, this book commemorates his work and contribution to law and legal scholarship, including his role as a judge of the UK Supreme Court and his interests in Roman law, Scots law, and legal history.

Essays in Memory of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry

Judge and Jurist

Hugh Beale

Oliver Radley-Gardner

Among the most significant legal developments of our time is the emergence of a European private law. The European Union enacts directives which profoundly affect the practice,teaching and study of core areas of 'classical' private law. Internationally commissions have formulated principles of European trusts, contract and commercial law. Furthermore, uniform private law can be found in a number of international conventions. This book gathers together fundamental texts from these three sources into one convenient volume. Its emphasis is on general civil and commercial law, particularly on the obligations and property aspects of these. Fully updated, it contains the recent directives in the areas of E-Commerce, Electronic Signatures and Late Payments. It also makes available for the first time English language versions of a number of texts by international commissions. This book is a sister volume to the original German and the subsequent Spanish version. With full references to the implementation of the directives in Denmark, EIRE, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, this book will be a useful resource for practitioners, students and teachers working in the field of European private law.

Fundamental Texts on European Private Law

Nils Jansen

The book provides rule-by-rule commentaries on European contract law (general contract law, consumer contract law, the law of sale and related services), dealing with its modern manifestations as well as its historical and comparative foundations. After the collapse of the European Commission's plans to codify European contract law it is timely to reflect on what has been achieved over the past three to four decades, and for an assessment of the current situation. In particular, the production of a bewildering number of reference texts has contributed to a complex picture of European contract laws rather than a European contract law. The present book adopts a broad perspective and an integrative approach. All relevant reference texts (from the CISG to the Draft Common European Sales Law) are critically examined and compared with each other. As far as the acquis commun (ie the traditional private law as laid down in the national codifications) is concerned, the Principles of European Contract Law have been chosen as a point of departure. The rules contained in that document have, however, been complemented with some chapters, sections, and individual provisions drawn from other sources, primarily in order to account for the quickly growing acquis communautaire in the field of consumer contract law. In addition, the book ties the discussion concerning the reference texts back to the pertinent historical and comparative background; and it thus investigates whether, and to what extent, these texts can be taken to be genuinely European in nature, ie to constitute a manifestation of a common core of European contract law. Where this is not the case, the question is asked whether, and for what reasons, they should be seen as points of departure for the further development of European contract law.

Commentaries on European Contract Laws

Kenneth Reid

Marius de Waal

Intestate Succession is the second volume in the Comparative Succession Law series which examines the principles of succession law from a comparative and historical perspective. This volume discusses the rules which apply where a person dies either without leaving a valid will, or leaving a will which fails to dispose of all of the person's assets. Among the questions considered are the following: What is the nature of the rules for the disposal of the deceased's assets? Are they mechanical or is there an element of discretion? Are particular types of property dealt with in particular ways? Is there entitlement to individual assets (as opposed to money)? Do the rules operate in a parentelic system or a system of some other kind? Are spouses treated more favourably than children? What provision is made for extra-marital children, for adopted children, for step-children? Does cohabitation give rise to entitlement? How are same-sex couples treated? Broader questions also arise of a historical and comparative nature. Where, for example, do the rules in intestate succession come from in particular legal systems? Have they been influenced by the rules in other countries? How are the rules explained and how are they justified? To what extent have they changed over time? What are the long-term trends? And finally, are the rules satisfactory, and is there pressure for their reform? As in the first volume, this book will focus on Europe and on countries which have been influenced by the European experience such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States of America, Quebec, and the countries of Latin America. Further chapters are devoted to Islamic Law and Nordic law. Opening with a discussion on Roman law and concluding with an assessment of the overall development of the law in the countries surveyed, this book will provide a wider reflection on the nature and purpose of the law of intestate succession.

Volume II: Intestate Succession

Marius Johannes De Waal

Launching a major new research project examining the principles of succession law in comparative perspective, this volume analyses the formalities imposed by the law on making a will across a wide range of European and international jurisdictions.

Benedict Winiger

With an emerging ius commune in the field of tort law, the extensive range of experiences derived from national court practice on the basis of prior laws will in certain respects be of comparatively less importance. A major lacuna is thus apparent: While publications of court decisions and databases exist, none provide access to a comparative selection of recurring issues in the various European legal systems. Along the lines of the previous Digest project on Causation, this study covers another key element of tort law – damage. The publication contains a systematic selection of cases from 27 countries across Europe in addition to ECJ case-law, with each case benefiting from an analysis and commentary from a national and, where appropriate, a comparative perspective. Further, the impact of these rulings on a future European law of torts is highlighted. Finally, the publication also looks into how key cases would be resolved under unified European tort law drafts. The object of the study is thus to bridge domestic case-law with the new body of uniform tort law thus facilitating the continuity of legal development in Europe.

Essential Cases on Damage

This third volume in a series on Comparative Succession Law concerns the entitlement of family members to override the provisions of a deceased person's will to obtain money or assets (or more money or assets) from the person's estate. Some countries, notably those in the civil law tradition (such as France or Germany), confer a pre-ordained share of the deceased's estate or of its value on certain members of the deceased's family, and especially on the deceased's children and spouse. Other countries, notably those in the common law tradition (such as England, Canada, or Australia), leave the matter to the discretion of the court, the amount awarded depending primarily on financial need. Whichever form it takes, mandatory family provision is both a protection against disinheritance and also, therefore, a restriction on testamentary freedom. The volume focuses on Europe and on countries influenced by the European experience. In addition to detailed treatment of the law in Austria, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Scotland, and Spain, the book also has chapters on Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Canada, the countries of Latin America, and the People's Republic of China. Some other countries are covered more briefly, and there is a separate chapter on Islamic law. The book opens with accounts of Roman law and of the law in medieval and early-modern Europe, and it concludes with a comparative assessment of the law as it is today in the countries and legal traditions surveyed in this volume.

Exploring the rules that apply when a person dies without leaving a valid will, 'Intestate Succession' delivers a comparative and historical review of the relevant law in Europe and beyond, including an analysis of legal development, justifications, and reform.

Intestate Succession

Mauro Bussani

Simon Whittaker

For some Western European legal systems the principle of good faith has proved central to the development of their law of contracts, while in others it has been marginalised or even rejected. This book surveys the use or neglect of good faith.

Good Faith in European Contract Law

Daniel Visser

D. P. Visser

This work provides a history of the main institutions of South African private law, as well as exploring the process through which the integration of English common law and continental civil law was achieved in that jurisdiction. It is a first stepping stone in the writing of the history of private law in South Africa.

Civil Law and Common Law in South Africa

Southern Cross

Mathias Reimann

This fully revised and updated second edition of The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law provides a wide-ranging and diverse critical survey of comparative law at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It summarizes and evaluates a discipline that is time-honoured but not easily understood in all its dimensions. In the current era of globalization, this discipline is more relevant than ever, both on the academic and on the practical level. The Handbook is divided into three main sections. Section I surveys how comparative law has developed and where it stands today in various parts of the world. This includes not only traditional model jurisdictions, such as France, Germany, and the United States, but also other regions like Eastern Europe, East Asia, and Latin America. Section II then discusses the major approaches to comparative law - its methods, goals, and its relationship with other fields, such as legal history, economics, and linguistics. Finally, section III deals with the status of comparative studies in over a dozen subject matter areas, including the major categories of private, economic, public, and criminal law. The Handbook contains forty-eight chapters written by experts from around the world. The aim of each chapter is to provide an accessible, original, and critical account of the current state of comparative law in its respective area which will help to shape the agenda in the years to come. Each chapter also includes a short bibliography referencing the definitive works in the field.

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law

Kunstliche Ruinen sind Bauwerke, die mehr oder weniger stark verfallen sind, die jedoch bewusst so angelegt worden sind. Das fruheste bekannte Beispiel stammt etwa aus dem Jahr 1535. Kunstliche Ruinen sind hinsichtlich ihrer kunst- und geistesgeschichtlichen Implikate interessant: Die vorliegende Studie untersucht sie auf ihre vielfaltigen und weitreichenden (kunst-)historischen und ideologischen Bezuge hin. Dem Band vorangestellt ist eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme aller bekannten kunstlichen Ruinen im deutschen Sprachraum und aller wichtigen Bauten der ubrigen europaischen Lander, vor allem England und Italien. Bei der Deutung kunstlicher Ruinen erweisen sich theologische, geschichtsphilosophische und asthetische Auffassungen des Mittelalters als Schlussel fur die Interpretation des Ruinenmotivs uberhaupt, sei es in der Gartenkunst, in der Malerei oder in der Literatur.

Studien zu ihrer Bedeutung und Form

Künstliche Ruinen

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry was a distinguished judge and scholar. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the author of many high quality law journal articles and two books. Written in memory of Lord Rodger, this collection contains 47 essays by Lord Rodger's friends and colleagues from the UK and Europe. The essays reflect Lord Rodger's role as a leading judge and also his wide-ranging academic interests including Roman law, Scots law and legal history, and a miscellany of other topics. The authors in this volume are leading academics or judges, and a particularly notable feature is the nine essays written by Supreme Court justices. As the highest judges in the UK they provide a unique insight into the work of the Supreme Court, as well as Lord Rodger's work in the Court. The book also includes the memorial tributes to Lord Rodger which explain his remarkable legal career, including his roles as Lord Advocate (Senior Law Officer of Scotland) Lord President of the Court of Session, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and, finally, Justice of the UK Supreme Court. The essays include personal reminiscences of Lord Rodger, helping the reader to understand why he was so highly regarded and why his untimely death has dealt such a devastating blow to law in the UK.

Hector L. MacQueen

This volume sets out initially to test the claim that, as combinations of Civil and Common Law influences, the mixed systems of contract law in Scotland and South Africa have anticipated the content of the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) concluded and published in 2003 by the unofficial Commission on European Contract Law. The studies go much further, however. Current official moves towards a European contract law within the European Union lend the critiques of PECL offered in this volume an especial urgency and significance. A European contract law is nearer to reality than ever before, and mere policy critiques of that possibility are no longer enough. Technical and substantive assessments of PECL are also essential. This book provides just such assessments from the perspective of Scots and South African contract lawyers, and is offered to the European debate without prejudice as to the deeper policy questions. At the same time it may help to inform Scots and South African lawyers about the substance of international developments in the field, and suggest ways in which their still vigorous and vital national laws may continue to be developed to remain in step with the needs of the present day.

Scots and South African Perspectives

European Contract Law

J. Beatson

As a result of the Nazi regime, German law faculties lost over a quarter of their members. This book looks at these refugee and emigré lawyers and their contribution to the development of English law.

Reinhard Zimmermann

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