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  3. The Common Core of European Private Law

For the transnational lawyer the present European situation is equivalent to that of a traveller compelled to cross legal Europe using a number of different local maps. To assist lawyers in the journey beyond their own locality The Common Core of European Private Law Project was launched in 1993 at the University of Trento under the auspices of the late Professor Rudolf B. Schlesinger. The aim of this collective scholarly enterprise is to unearth what is already common to the legal systems of European Union member states. Case studies widely circulated and discussed between lawyers of different traditions are employed to draw at least the main lines of a reliable map of the law of Europe.

  • General Editors: Mauro Bussani, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy, Ugo Mattei, Universitá degli Studi di Torino, Italy and University of California
  • Honorary Editors: Rodolfo Sacco, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy
  • Editorial Boards: James Gordley, University of California, Berkeley, Antonio Gambaro, Universitá degli Studi di Milano, Italy, Franz Werro, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany and Georgetown University, Washington DC

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16 results in The Common Core of European Private Law

Causation in European Tort Law
  • Edited by Marta Infantino, Eleni Zervogianni
  • Published online:
    08 December 2017
    Print publication:
    28 December 2017
  • Through a comprehensive analysis of sixteen European legal systems, based on an assessment of national answers to a factual questionnaire, Causation in European Tort Law sheds light on the operative rules applied in each jurisdiction to factual and legal causation problems. It highlights how legal systems' features impact on the practical role that causation is called upon to play, as well as the arguments of professional lawyers. Issues covered include the conditions under which a causal link can be established, rules on contribution and apportionment, the treatment of supervening, alternative and uncertain causes, the understanding of loss-of-a-chance cases, and the standard and the burden of proving causation. This is a book for scholars, students and legal professionals alike.

Transfer of Immovables in European Private Law
  • Edited by Luz M. Martínez Velencoso, Saki Bailey, Andrea Pradi
  • Published online:
    19 May 2017
    Print publication:
    25 May 2017
  • The transfer of immovables in Europe creates a series of challenges and questions in practice. The increase in cross-border transactions of immovable property within the European Union has created a demand for knowledge of the system of land registration across a range of jurisdictions. This volume compares and contrasts the different legal processes of seventeen countries and includes a comprehensive analysis of the transfer of immovables and the Land Register in Europe. With fifteen case studies, it provides both theoretical and practical information on the applicable contract and land law. This volume encourages the reader to evaluate legal issues by using the wider European legal sources available. For this very purpose, it is an important research tool for comparative study in the field.

Protection of Immovables in European Legal Systems
  • Edited by Sonia Martin Santisteban, Peter Sparkes
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    11 September 2015
  • How should a landowner respond when a squatter occupies their land? This book discusses the issues focussing on vindicatio, possessory remedies and trespass, but also explores administrative procedures for their removal. In many cases, these actions derive from Roman laws, which are expertly explored in an introductory chapter. Also included is a chapter exploring human rights interventions in such actions. Twelve case studies offer an extensive and comparative analysis across sixteen European jurisdictions. The basic defendants covered are squatters taking over a home, environmental protesters, licensees and former tenants. The case studies include, amongst others, self-help; restitution; competing claims to ownership (and the relevance of registration systems to claims to ownership); adverse possession; neighbours; nuisance and encroachment.

The Recovery of Non-Pecuniary Loss in European Contract Law
  • Edited by Vernon V. Palmer
  • Published online:
    05 July 2015
    Print publication:
    02 July 2015
  • This is the first comprehensive work to capture the rise of moral damages (non-pecuniary loss) in European contract law through a historical and comparative analysis. Unique features of this study include the first classification scheme of the systems into liberal, moderate and conservative regimes, a taxonomy of non-pecuniary loss drawn from a European-wide jurisprudence, and a comprehensive bibliography of the subject. Written by a leading academic on comparative law, Palmer's precise and practical insights on Europe's leading cases will be of great interest to academic researchers and practitioners alike.

European Condominium Law
  • Edited by Cornelius Van Der Merwe
  • Published online:
    05 March 2015
    Print publication:
    26 February 2015
  • This is the first comprehensive comparative treatment of condominium (apartment ownership, commonhold, horizontal property) law in 21 European jurisdictions. This book explores the genesis of condominium law in Europe and in each of the jurisdictions represented and the use made of the condominium format to structure residential, commercial, industrial and tourist condominiums. It examines the establishment of condominiums, basic condominium concepts and the role by-laws play in establishing harmony in a condominium. Included are ten case studies, which illustrate a variety of factual scenarios and focus on providing legal solutions to practical cases. The scenarios include, amongst others, the legal consequences of a sale of apartments from building plans; restrictions on the sale and letting of apartments; the keeping of pets and the conduct of a profession (such as a medical practice) in an apartment; the sanctions against defaulters of contributions; and the requirements for undertaking maintenance and improvements.

Time Limited Interests in Land
  • Edited by Cornelius Van Der Merwe, Alain-Laurent Verbeke
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
  • A comprehensive comparative treatment of six instances of time-limited interests in land as encountered in fourteen European jurisdictions. The survey explores the commercial or social origins of each legal institution concerned and highlights their enforceability against third parties, their content and their role in land development. The commercial purpose of residential and agricultural leases is contrasted with the social aim of personal servitudes (and its common-law equivalent liferent) to provide sustenance for life to mostly family members making the latter an important estate planning device. Whereas the ingrained principles of leases and personal servitudes restrain the full exploitation of land, it is indicated that public authorities and private capital could combine to turn the old-fashioned time-limited institutions of hereditary building lease (superficies) and hereditary land lease (emphyteusis) into pivotal devices in alleviating the acute shortage of social housing and in promoting the fullest exploitation of pristine agricultural land.

Unexpected Circumstances in European Contract Law
  • Edited by Ewoud Hondius, Christoph Grigoleit
  • Published online:
    04 April 2011
    Print publication:
    03 March 2011
  • The recent financial crisis has questioned whether existing contracts may be adapted, terminated or renegotiated as a result of unexpected circumstances. The question is not a new one. In medieval times the notion of clausula rebus sic stantibus was developed to cope with such situations, and Germany introduced the theory of Wegfall der Geschäftsgrundlage. In England, the Coronation cases provided one possible answer. This comparative study explores the possibility of classifying jurisdictions as 'open' or 'closed' in this regard.

Personality Rights in European Tort Law
  • Edited by Gert Brüggemeier, Aurelia Colombi Ciacchi, Patrick O'Callaghan
  • Published online:
    06 July 2010
    Print publication:
    15 April 2010
  • This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of civil liability for invasion of personality interests in Europe. It is the final product of the collaboration of twenty-seven scholars and includes case studies of fourteen European jurisdictions, as well as an introductory chapter written from a US perspective. The case studies focus in particular on the legal protection of honour and reputation, privacy, self-determination and image. This volume aims to detect hidden similarities (the 'common core') in the actual legal treatment accorded by different European countries to personal interests which in some of these countries qualify as 'personality rights', and also to detect hidden disparities in the 'law in action' of countries whose 'law in the books' seem to protect one and the same personality interest in the same way.

Precontractual Liability in European Private Law
  • Edited by John Cartwright, Martijn Hesselink
  • Published online:
    10 August 2009
    Print publication:
    19 February 2009
  • This volume analyses thirteen cases, from the perspective of sixteen national European legal systems, in order to explore the legal nature of the precontractual phase and the liability which may follow a break-off of precontractual negotiations. The precontractual phase is difficult to characterise and analyse in either legal or practical terms. The negotiating parties have begun their journey together, but they are not yet in the relationship - the contract - which is their aim. The negotiations may fail after a lengthy period in which either party may have incurred significant expenses and invested time and effort. The break-off of the negotiations may come as a shock to one party where the negotiations were far advanced, or at least where there was nothing to suggest that they were not likely to lead to their fruition in the contract. The disappointed party is therefore likely to seek a remedy.

Environmental Liability and Ecological Damage In European Law
  • Edited by Monika Hinteregger
  • Published online:
    23 July 2009
    Print publication:
    24 July 2008
  • Providing a comprehensive analysis of environmental liability law in Europe, this book offers a general introduction to the status of environmental liability in Europe. It describes the relevant international treaties and the EC-Environmental Liability Directive and discusses the conflict of laws issues regarding transfrontier environmental damage. It also contains the results of a comparative project covering 14 jurisdictions in 13 European countries (Austria, Belgium, England and Wales, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden) on the private law aspects of environmental liability. It addresses the main problems of the application of tort law in environmental law, such as the availability of non-fault liability, the establishment of causation, the scope of available remedies and the issue of legal standing. Due to the very limited harmonizing effect of the EC-Environmental Liability Directive national tort law will keep its importance in the field of environmental liability.

The Enforcement of Competition Law in Europe
  • Edited by Thomas M. J. Möllers, Andreas Heinemann
  • Published online:
    29 June 2009
    Print publication:
    10 January 2008
  • In the debate on the enforcement of competition law, many take the view that Europe should avoid the traps US law has fallen into by admitting excessive litigation. European law should not pave the way for judicial proceedings which ultimately serve the interests of lawyers or other agents rather than injured parties. This inquiry describes the state of remedies in competition law in fifteen European countries, analyses the underlying determinants, and proposes ways of improving the enforcement of competition law. The International and European legal frameworks are presented, as is the approach of US-American law. It is argued that efforts to strengthen private enforcement of antitrust law should benefit from the rich European experience in unfair competition law. The divergence between the two fields of law is not so huge that a completely different treatment is justified. Thus, a specifically European way of competition law enforcement could be developed.

Commercial Trusts in European Private Law
  • Edited by Michele Graziadei, Ugo Mattei, Lionel Smith
  • Published online:
    22 August 2009
    Print publication:
    03 November 2005
  • In European legal systems, a variety of approaches to trust and relationships of trust meet the universal professionalisation of asset management services. This book explores that interface in order to seek a better understanding of the legal regulation of the entrustment of wealth. Within the methodology of the Common Core of European Private Law, the book sets out cases on the establishment and termination of management relationships, obligations of loyalty and of professionalism, and the choice of law. More specialized cases address collective investment, collective secured lending, pension funds, and securitisation. Reports on these cases from fifteen jurisdictions of the European Union tackle fundamental problems of trust law and show which legal techniques are deployed to solve them across Europe. In addition to a much-needed comparative treatment of the subject, the book discusses the scholarly setting for the issues and gives guidance on the terminology in the evolving European scene.

Mistake, Fraud and Duties to Inform in European Contract Law
  • Edited by Ruth Sefton-Green
  • Published online:
    06 August 2009
    Print publication:
    10 February 2005
  • This 2005 examination of twelve case studies about mistake, fraud and duties to inform reveals significant differences about how contract law works in thirteen European legal systems and, despite the fact that the solutions proposed are often similar, what divergent values underlie the legal rules. Whereas some jurisdictions recognise increasing duties to inform in numerous contracts so that the destiny of mistake and fraud (classical defects of consent) may appear to be uncertain, other jurisdictions continue to refuse such duties as a general rule or fail to recognise the need to protect one of the parties where there is an imbalance in bargaining power or information. Avoiding preconceptions as to where and why these differences exist, this book first examines the historical origins and development of defects of consent, then considers the issues from a comparative and critical standpoint.

Security Rights in Movable Property in European Private Law
  • Edited by Eva-Maria Kieninger
  • Assisted by Michele Graziadei, George L. Gretton, Cornelius G. van der Merwe, Matthias E. Storme
  • Published online:
    23 December 2009
    Print publication:
    26 August 2004
  • For every transnational lawyer, it is vital to know the differences between national secured transactions laws. Since the applicable law is determined by the place where the collateral is situated, it may change when movables are brought from one state to another. Introductory essays from comparative lawyers set the scene. The book then presents a survey of the law relating to secured transactions in the member states of the European Union. Following the Common Core approach, the national reports are centred around fifteen hypothetical cases dealing with the most important issues of secured transactions law, such as the creation of security rights in different business situations, the relationship between debtor and secured creditor, the nature of the creditor's rights and their enforcement as against third parties. each case is followed by a comparative summary. A general report evaluates the possibilities of European harmonisation in the field of secured transactions law.

Pure Economic Loss in Europe
  • Edited by Mauro Bussani, Vernon Valentine Palmer
  • Published online:
    03 November 2009
    Print publication:
    31 July 2003
  • Pure economic loss is one of the most discussed and controversial legal issues in Europe today, raising complex questions which affect the law of tort and contract. How far can tort liability expand without imposing excessive burdens upon individual activity? Should the recovery of pure economic loss be the domain principally of the law of contract? And is there a common core of principles, policies and rules governing tortious liability for pure economic loss in Europe? Originally published in 2003, this is a comprehensive study of the subject, using a fact-based comparative method and in-depth research into the laws of thirteen European countries. Following a historical and analytical introduction to economic loss, experts from most European countries consider how their national systems would deal with the same practical problem, highlighting similarities and differences in a range of comprehensive issues. This is the third publication of the Common Core of European Private Law.

The Enforceability of Promises in European Contract Law
  • Edited by James Gordley
  • Published online:
    18 May 2010
    Print publication:
    12 July 2001
  • Civil law and common law systems are held to enforce promises differently: civil law, in principle, will enforce any promise, while common law will enforce only those with 'consideration'. In that respect, modern civil law supposedly differs from the Roman law from which it descended, where a promise was enforced depending on the type of contract the parties had made. This 2001 volume is concerned with the extent to which these characterizations are true, and how these and other differences affect the enforceability of promises. Beginning with a concise history of these distinctions, the volume then considers how twelve European legal systems would deal with fifteen concrete situations. Finally, a comparative section considers why legal systems enforce certain promises and not others, and what promises should be enforced. This is the second completed project of The Common Core of European Private Law launched at the University of Trento.