Category Archives: European Private Law
Anna Beckers, ‘Party Autonomy and Public Regulation in European Commercial Contract Law’
INTRODUCTION The relationship between party autonomy and market regulation has been analysed extensively for consumer law and regulated industries. It seems to be a common understanding that European contract law in this area is predominantly characterised by a regulatory approach and consequently contains a regulated construction of party autonomy. In his contribution, Stefan Grundmann traces […]
Lauren Harris, ‘Frustration in Crisis: How the Spanish Doctrine of Rebus Sic Stantibus Can Inform a Post-Pandemic Reexamination of English Contract Law’s Approach to Hardship’
ABSTRACT Compares the doctrine of frustration to the Spanish doctrine of rebus sic stantibus, which allows the modification of contractual obligations in the face of unforeseen circumstances (‘hardship’) such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Considers whether English contract law could adopt a doctrine of hardship, looking at the principles of freedom of contract, the economic aspects […]
Jonathan Griffiths, ‘The (Surprisingly Undramatic) Impact of Brexit on United Kingdom Copyright Law’
ABSTRACT In the immediate wake of the Brexit vote, questions were raised concerning Brexit’s potential impact in the sphere of copyright law. Would it, for example, bring about a return to the form of copyright law that had existed in the UK before the EU harmonization programme began in the early 1990s? Would the UK’s […]
Call for Papers: ‘Fairness in Digital Contract Law: European and Global Comparative Perspectives’: Kraków, Poland, 4-5 December 2025
The event will serve as a platform for critical engagement with the evolving legal framework applicable to digital contracts in Europe (the EU and national law, Switzerland and the UK), North America and the Asia-Pacific Region, on a national, regional and supranational level. The organisers invite contributions applying doctrinal, comparative, economic, theoretical, philosophical, and empirical […]
Katherine Nolan, ‘Data Protection’s Intersections: Reconciling Data Protection Requirements with Regulated Data use Beyond the GDPR’
ABSTRACT Lawful data processing is not merely a question of compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. Rather, data processing is often subjected to overlapping regulatory requirements, deriving from multiple legislative instruments. For this reason, understanding the relationship between the GDPR and other legislation which impacts data processing is a crucial component of data protection […]
Jiang and Gordley, ‘Causa Concreta and Voluntariness: An Old Doctrine Rediscovered’
ABSTRACT When a contractual performance was useless to one of the parties at the time of contracting or becomes so, his purpose in contracting is defeated. It may be unfair to the other party to allow him to withdraw. But if it is not unfair, can he do so? Leonard Lessius (1554-1623) believed that he […]
Riabchenko, Onyshchenko, Kudin, Kononets and Holdskyi, ‘Digital assets and property rights: regulation and legal implications within the EU and globally’
ABSTRACT The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the legal regulation of digital assets in leading jurisdictions. It discusses the key aspects of defining and protecting ownership rights to digital assets. The author focuses on how different countries regulate the circulation of these assets, identifying common features and differences in the approaches used […]
Zuzanna Nowicka, ‘SLAPP vs Mutual Trust: Protecting the Public Debate Through Public Policy Considerations’
ABSTRACT This Article argues that to protect public debate, which is vital for democratic societies, it is crucial for courts in EU Member States to apply the freedom of expression standards established by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) when adjudicating cases, particularly in the context of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The […]
Jabotinsky and Sarel, ‘The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: A Law & Economics Evaluation’
ABSTRACT The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), adopted by the European Union in June 2024, represents an ambitious regulatory experiment that transforms large corporations into gatekeepers of sustainable supply chains. This paper provides a comprehensive Law & Economics analysis of the CS3D, revealing several overlooked incentive problems that may undermine its effectiveness. We identify […]
Francisco de Elizalde, ‘The Silent Transformation of Spanish Contract Law’
ABSTRACT Several proposals to modernize obligations and contracts law in the Spanish Civil Code have not succeeded. However, Spanish contract law has evolved through judicial interpretation, which has reformulated existing rules and recognized new ones. This article deals with major transformations in general contract law and special contracts. Additionally, the Civil Code has been affected […]