Ulrich Drobnig

K. Zweigert

No Sales rights in German-speaking countries, Eastern Europe, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, South and Central America

International Encylopedia of Comparative Law, Instalment 7

Klaus J. Hopt

Jürgen Basedow

Reinhard Ellger

Hein Kotz

English summary: Authors from 25 countries have contributed to a Festschrift to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Max Planck Institute for Private Law in Hamburg. The articles cover the history and future research projects of the Institute, aspects of German, European and international economic law, private international law and civil procedure, issues of comparative law and the unification of laws and selected private law topics from non-German legal systems. German description: Die Grundung des Max-Planck-Instituts fur auslandisches und internationales Privatrecht geht auf das Jahr 1926 zuruck. In der Festschrift zu seinem 75-jahrigen Bestehen sind Beitrage von Autoren aus aller Welt, die dem Institut verbunden sind, vereinigt. Mit dem 'Aufbruch nach Europa' wird programmatisch ein Bogen uber die meisten Beitrage gespannt, aber auch der Weg des Instituts beschrieben, von den Anfangen und bis in die Zukunft hinein.

75 Jahre Max-Planck-Institut für Privatrecht

Aufbruch nach Europa

Christian von Bar

Against the background of the creation of an EU-wide frame of reference for private law relevant to the Common Market, this study, which was requested by the EU Commission, analyses the dovetailing between contract and tort law on the one hand, and between contract and property law on the other. The study examines the legal orders of almost all the Member States of the EU, illustrates the differences between contractual and non-contractual liability and evaluates the different systems of the transfer of property, of movable and immovable securities as well as trust law. The study comes to the conclusion that the intensive considerations on the creation of a model-law in the area of European private law do not allow these thoughts to be limited to contract law. Such a limitation to the scope of the regarding of this area would probably cause more problems than it would solve, or at any rate not do justice to the needs of the Common Market.

A Comparative Study

The Interaction of Contract Law and Tort and Property Law in Europe

Henricus Joseph Snijders

Eric-Jan Zippro

This work is inspired by the comparative study published in The Interaction of Contract Law and Tort and Property Law in Europe (ISBN 3 935808 20 8-Cloth-$79.00-2004). Out of a transnational (comparative and EU-oriented) perspective, the essays included discuss whether divergences of property law on contractual security rights in movables constitute an obstacle to the internal market and, if so, what solutions could be offered. Unification or harmonization of private international law cannot offer an adequate solution, while unification of domestic security laws could. However, the latter will take a very long time, partly due to the specific nature of property law. The contributing authors advocate the development of a European Security Right in Movables (ESRM) in addition to the respective contemporary national security rights. A real ESRM would clearly support free competition within the European Union. However, the development of an ESRM will take much time, in particular when dealing with the relation between that ESRM and domestic security rights in the member states. The reader will also find considerations on the contents of an ESRM and on the outlines of the required additional provisions.

An Obstacle to the Internal Market?

Divergences of Property Law

A creditor who made a loan to a debtor but does not have full confidence into the ability or willingness of the debtor to repay the loan fully and punctually, has two main options for securing his loan capital: He either can demand that the debtor gives him real security by encumbering one or several of his assets. Or he suggests to the debtor to win over a third party to act as a guarantor and to assume joint liability for repayment of the loan. Such a form of personal security by means of a bond has been known for centuries. During the last decades, however, a number of other models for providing personal security for loans have been developed, in particular the guarantee, by now widely used in commerce. Within the framework of plans of the Commission of the European Union to work out a uniform "framework of reference" for contract law, a multinational work group of the Study Group on a European Civil Code prepared proposals for uniform rules on personal security models. The proposals are based on legal developments formulated in the member states in the last decades and present draft uniform rules for the two basic types, viz. the dependent and the independent personal security for loans. Each proposal not only is accompanied by explanations but the legal situation in each of the 15 old member states is sketched also. The work therefore is not only a presentation of a future model for European rules to come but provides also a fairly detailed indication of the present legal situation in the member states.

Ulrich Drobnig

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