In this volume, the Study Group and the Acquis Group present the first academic Draft of a Common Frame of Reference (DCFR). The Draft is based in part on a revised version of the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) and contains Principles, Definitions and Model Rules of European Private Law in an interim outline edition. It covers the books on contracts and other juridical acts, obligations and corresponding rights, certain specific contracts, and non-contractual obligations. One purpose of the text is to provide material for a possible "political" Common Frame of Reference (CFR) which was called for by the European Commission's Action Plan on a More Coherent European Contract Law of January 2003.
This work has become a key point of reference on English private law for lawyers in the UK and throughout the world. Packed within its 2,000 pages users will find a lucid, concise yet immensely authoritative account of all of the key areas of private law. Each section is written by anacknowledged expert, bringing to bear their experience and understanding to provide a clear distillation and analysis of the relevant subject. The second supplement, included in this set, fully updates the main volumes with all developments affecting English Private Law up to January 2004.
This book offers a general framework for understanding the main concepts, rules, and institutions of the Thai legal system. It details the history of the civil and commercial code and provides readers with valuable information about the main principles that regulate relations between private individuals. Written in a clear and easy-to-understand style, it first presents the general principles of law and then addresses more specific aspects. It not only defines private law, but also explores how it works, and why it works the way it does. Topics covered include general rules of law, the law of obligations and contracts, the management of affairs without mandate and unjustified benefits, the law of property, family law and the law of inheritance.
This publication aims at establishing a clear analysis of the nature and growth of the C-factor (C for constitutionalisation) in Germany, France, the UK and The Netherlands.
"Private Law" is a translation of Book III of "The Doctrine of Law and State," providing the detailed outworking in private law of the principles of law developed in Book II, "Principles of Law." In it, the rights of man receive full explanation within the context of higher, God-given legal principles. Thus, for Stahl human rights do not serve as the source of law but as a secondary principle subservient to a higher law. The further outworking of this concept in rights of property, contract, the law of the family, is masterfully laid out. Institutions such as property and marriage are not made the creature of will and contract but are fully explained as given realities which the human will cannot alter. This book constitutes a return to sound principles of private law and an antidote to contemporary emotivism and primacy of the will.
Foundations of Private Law is a treatise on the Western law of property, contract, tort and unjust enrichment in both common law systems and civil law systems. The thesis of the book is that underlying these fields of law are common principles, and that these principles can be used to explain the history and development of these areas. These underlying common principles are matters of common sense, which were given their archetypal expression by older jurists who wrote in the Aristotelian tradition. These principles shaped the development of Western law but can resolve legal problems which these older writers did not confront.
This study focuses on a rapidly developing, but still highly controversial, area of EU law: the emergence of general principles with constitutional relevance for EU civil law guiding its interpretation, gap filling, and legality control. The book brings to light seven principles in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Principles 1, 2, and 3 on framed autonomy, protection of the weaker party, and non-discrimination are now part of substantive EU law, mainly contract law. Principle 4 on effectiveness, together with the principle of equivalence, is an "old acquaintance" of EU law and has mostly to do with procedures, but can also be extended to cover substantive and remedial matters. Principles 5 and 6 on balancing and proportionality are primarily concerned with methodological questions: the first has to do with judicial interpretation and application of EU civil law, the second with legal-political questions on the future of a (questionable) codified or optional EU civil law, in particular sales law. Finally, Principle 7 on good faith is still an emerging principle, but is gradually gaining importance. This book will allow the reader to understand and to assess the current evolution of EU civil law, in days where its autonomous character is increasingly recognized in the case law of the Court, and where the Charter is having a growing impact on its constitutional foundations.
This book is a translation of Book III of The Doctrine of Law and State. It provides Stahl’s detailed outworking in private law of the principles of law developed in Book II. Private law forms the cornerstone of individual freedom. Even so, it is not derived from individual freedom, which is what modern legal philosophy claims. Rather, it is derived from the law of God, which establishes the principles of which it is the further outworking. In line with the understanding of law as given in Book II of this series, it establishes the institutions and authorities within which individual freedom can effectively function. The law forms part of the ethical world. The two poles around which the ethical world revolves are the fear of God and full humanity. Both of these need to be given their due in a properly-regulated legal order. The problem with modernist law is that “it only seeks man while being detached from what stands above man. Of the two parts through which the law is fulfilled – you shall love the Lord your God above all things, and your neighbor as yourself – it has arbitrarily picked out the second while ignoring the first, it has demolished the first of the two tables of the law while proposing to establish only the second” (§. 21). Therefore the rights of man – that shibboleth of modernist legal philosophy – receive full explanation only within the context of higher, God-given legal principles. As such, human rights do not serve as the source of law but as a secondary principle subservient to a higher law. That higher law establishes, besides the free action of the individual, family and property as the bases of private law. The further outworking of this concept in rights of property, contract, the law of the family, is masterfully laid out. Institutions such as property and marriage are not made the creature of will and contract but are fully explained as given realities which the human will cannot alter. This book constitutes a return to sound principles of private law and an antidote to contemporary individualism, emotivism, and primacy of the will. Sections left out of the first edition have been included in this second edition of Private Law. The text has been corrected where necessary and improved where appropriate.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. In this Advanced Introduction, one of the world’s leading private law scholars takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the different facets and dimensions of the field, from the family home to Kuta Beach and from Thomas Piketty to Nina Hagen. This concise book provides an accessible and fresh introduction to private law, presenting the topic as a unified whole of which the main branches – on contract, tort, property, family and inheritance – are governed by conflicts between individual autonomy and countervailing principles. The book stands out as a unique account of how private law allows individuals to optimally flourish in matters of economy, work, leisure, family and life in general.
