Law (all)

The class Comparative Law II – The Common/Civil Law divide will focus on the Common/Civil Law divide and in particular compare aspects of the legal system in Germany on the one hand, and Australia/the United States on the other hand. Methodological differences between the Civil law and the Common law systems will be pointed out, and subjects of particular importance for daily business, such as formation of contracts, agency, contract interpretation etc., will be treated in greater detail.

The course has three main components. The first part of the course will consider the origins and utility of comparative law, its aims, tools and methods. The second part of the course will review and analyse the two main legal traditions in the world, Common Law and Civil Law. The objective will be to understand differences and similarities between these two ways of understanding law and organizing legal institutions and procedures, on the other hand. In this context, an overview on the differences with regard to the rule of law, judicial review and the legal profession will be provided. The third part of the course will focus upon applying comparative legal analysis to actual cases and international disputes and show how the results differ depending on which legal order is applied.

• Basic features, tools and methods of comparative law
• Development and current status of Common Law as a legal family
• Development and current status of Civil Law as a legal family
• The education and role of lawyers
• Judges and judiciaries, lay judges and juries
• Legal reasoning
• Statutes and their construction
• Judicial precedents
• Particular legal institutions and instruments in a comparative assessment

The course gives an introduction to German private law especially for foreign law students. The course begins with an overview of the legal sources of German law. In particular, the special position of the Civil Code and its historical development will be discussed.

Then the most important legal areas of the Civil Code will be worked out on the basis of systematic descriptions and case solutions. By focusing on the law of torts, the law of obligations and the law of property, the working method in German civil law is clarified. Short introductions to inheritance and family law, company law and civil procedural law round off the course through private law.

Structure

- Definition of private law, historical development

- Structure of the BGB

- tort law

- law of obligations

- property law

- Inheritance and Family Law, Company Law and Civil Procedure Law at a Glance

The aim of the course is to ensure that students are familiar with the structures of German civil law by the end of the course and that they are able to handle smaller cases with the knowledge they have acquired.

Decades before the invention of the word “globalization”, economic activities were no longer, if ever, confined to the internal markets of States. However, the intensity of international trade and commerce at the beginning of the 21st century is quite probably unprecedented. Whether in efforts to enable, to enhance or to control international economic activities, the States of the world have grown dependent upon one another. This is reflected by cooperation at regional levels or in global contexts.

Such cooperation more and more makes use of the forums provided by international organizations, many of which are much more than mere “negotiation frameworks”, but are rather vested with legal personality and regulatory, or even adjudicative, powers.

• Economically relevant international organizations (ILO, WTO, UN, OECD)
• International organizations as subjects of public international law and of private law
• Distinguishing between governmental and non-governmental organizations
• Creation of international organizations
• International Organizations as law-makers and standard-setters
• Interaction of international law and domestic legal orders
• Responsibility of international organizations under public international law
• Legal remedies against acts of international organizations

The International Trade Law course seeks to familiarize students with the numerous legal issues that commonly arise in the context of the trade in goods and services between and among nations. In addition, the course provides students with the economic theories underlying international trade and the history of international trade. The areas of coverage during the course include the following:

• The theory of „comparative advantage“ developed and popularized by the Eighteenth Century British economist, David Ricardo, along with subsequent critiques and modifications of this theory.
• The beginnings of trade between nations beginning in ancient times and its expansion, development and increasing sophistication during the subsequent centuries.
• The continuing conflict between the principles and practices of „free trade“ and those of „mercantilism,“ sometimes described as „import substitution.“
• The development of free trade agreements („FTAs“) during the previous 300 years and the relatively recent phenomenon of „trade blocs“ and „customs unions“ involving groups of nations pursuing common economic and political objectives. Examples of these latter types of trade combinations are the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations („ASEAN“)
• The establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade („GATT“) after World War II and its transformation into the World Trade Organization („WTO“) in 1995.
• The structure, operations and goals of the WTO and the various trade agreements that bind all WTO members („Multilateral Agreements“) and those agreements that only bind those nations acceding to their terms („Plurilateral Agreements“).
• The future of the WTO and trade blocs in the Twenty-First Century.

• Historical background and mode of development,
• Institutional and constitutional role,
• Importance of various sources of law (legislation, administrative orders, case-law),
• Approach to anti-competitive coordination, abuse of market power, and merger control, and
• Mechanisms of public and private enforcement

The class Comparative Law II – The Common/Civil Law divide will focus on the Common/Civil Law divide and in particular compare aspects of the legal system in Germany on the one hand, and Australia/the United States on the other hand. Methodological differences between the Civil law and the Common law systems will be pointed out, and subjects of particular importance for daily business, such as formation of contracts, agency, contract interpretation etc., will be treated in greater detail.

The course has three main components. The first part of the course will consider the origins and utility of comparative law, its aims, tools and methods. The second part of the course will review and analyse the two main legal traditions in the world, Common Law and Civil Law. The objective will be to understand differences and similarities between these two ways of understanding law and organizing legal institutions and procedures, on the other hand. In this context, an overview on the differences with regard to the rule of law, judicial review and the legal profession will be provided. The third part of the course will focus upon applying comparative legal analysis to actual cases and international disputes and show how the results differ depending on which legal order is applied.

• Basic features, tools and methods of comparative law
• Development and current status of Common Law as a legal family
• Development and current status of Civil Law as a legal family
• The education and role of lawyers
• Judges and judiciaries, lay judges and juries
• Legal reasoning
• Statutes and their construction
• Judicial precedents
• Particular legal institutions and instruments in a comparative assessment

The course offers an introduction to the economic theory of corporate governance and its application to corporate law, including aspects of insolvency and securities law. To obtain a thorough understanding of the theory, students are asked to read classic contributions to the corporate governance literature and to discuss them in class. They will also be required to apply the theory to a broad range of legal settings, both in the classroom and in preparing the course.

Foundations of corporate governance

• Corporate governance as a functional perspective
• Economic theory of the firm
• Agency cost view on corporate governance: agency costs of equity and debt
• Transaction cost view on corporate governance: bargaining over quasi-rents of the firm

Application to corporate, insolvency and securities law

• Legal institutions to minimize the agency costs of equity: constraints on management and dominant shareholders in the public corporation
• Legal institutions to minimize the agency costs of debt: legal capital; piercing the corporate veil
• Legal institutions to minimize the costs of rent-seeking: management independence
• Employee codetermination
• Special focus on corporate control transactions: private benefits of control; the market for corporate control; mergers and acquisitions; insolvency

The course gives an introduction to German private law especially for foreign law students. The course begins with an overview of the legal sources of German law. In particular, the special position of the Civil Code and its historical development will be discussed.

Then the most important legal areas of the Civil Code will be worked out on the basis of systematic descriptions and case solutions. By focusing on the law of torts, the law of obligations and the law of property, the working method in German civil law is clarified. Short introductions to inheritance and family law, company law and civil procedural law round off the course through private law.

Structure

- Definition of private law, historical development

- Structure of the BGB

- tort law

- law of obligations

- property law

- Inheritance and Family Law, Company Law and Civil Procedure Law at a Glance

The aim of the course is to ensure that students are familiar with the structures of German civil law by the end of the course and that they are able to handle smaller cases with the knowledge they have acquired.

Intellectual property is an indispensable tool to foster innovation and assure protection of achievements. They are an important factor for remaining competitive in the global knowledge-based economy. The shift from corporal goods to intellectual property however has many implications for today’s businesses: they have to play the system to gain from it, have to develop new business models, acquire rights by contract and closely watch the market and competitors to avoid liability. The course accordingly is designed to provide an overview on the concept of intellectual property and the practical implications for businesses.

Students will familiarize themselves with the multi-level system of IP-protection on a worldwide (TRIPS and WIPO-Treaties), European (EU-legislation) and national level. With regard to the latter the transformation of international and European requirements into national law, German intellectual property law will be taken as an example. Participants from other jurisdictions however will be encouraged to analyse differences to the corresponding legal concepts in their home jurisdictions.

The course will cover the legal concepts of patent protection and utility models, the rules on the protection of trademarks and designations of origin, the basics of copyright law and of design protection. Where appropriate the course will also highlight certain rules under unfair competition law providing ancillary remedies for avoiding unfair exploitation of work results.

The course devotes to the co-existence of national and Community IP-rights. The advantages and disadvantages of the existing unitary Community concepts, i.e. the Community Trade Mark and the Community Design as compared to national IPRs will be discussed in the light of relevant case law.

Furthermore, the conflicting aims of freedom of competition (and in particular free movement of goods) on the one hand and strict IP-protection on the other hand will be tackled. This gives the opportunity to discuss current trends to narrow the scope of protection by means of compulsory licences, FRAND-licences and similar limitations imposed by cartel and competition law.

• Concept of IP-law
• The legal sources (TRIPS, WIPO-Treaties, EU-Regulations and Directives)
• The distinct IP-rights: patent, utility model, trademark, design & copyright
• The impact of competition law on intellectual property protection
• Contractual exploitation of IPRs (transfer and licence agreement)
• Enforcement of IP-rights (remedies and procedural strategies)

Intellectual property is an indispensable tool to foster innovation and assure protection of achievements. They are an important factor for remaining competitive in the global knowledge-based economy. The shift from corporal goods to intellectual property however has many implications for today’s businesses: they have to play the system to gain from it, have to develop new business models, acquire rights by contract and closely watch the market and competitors to avoid liability. The course accordingly is designed to provide an overview on the concept of intellectual property and the practical implications for businesses.

Students will familiarize themselves with the multi-level system of IP-protection on a worldwide (TRIPS and WIPO-Treaties), European (EU-legislation) and national level. With regard to the latter the transformation of international and European requirements into national law, German intellectual property law will be taken as an example. Participants from other jurisdictions however will be encouraged to analyse differences to the corresponding legal concepts in their home jurisdictions.

The course will cover the legal concepts of patent protection and utility models, the rules on the protection of trademarks and designations of origin, the basics of copyright law and of design protection. Where appropriate the course will also highlight certain rules under unfair competition law providing ancillary remedies for avoiding unfair exploitation of work results.

The course devotes to the co-existence of national and Community IP-rights. The advantages and disadvantages of the existing unitary Community concepts, i.e. the Community Trade Mark and the Community Design as compared to national IPRs will be discussed in the light of relevant case law.

Furthermore, the conflicting aims of freedom of competition (and in particular free movement of goods) on the one hand and strict IP-protection on the other hand will be tackled. This gives the opportunity to discuss current trends to narrow the scope of protection by means of compulsory licences, FRAND-licences and similar limitations imposed by cartel and competition law.

• Concept of IP-law
• The legal sources (TRIPS, WIPO-Treaties, EU-Regulations and Directives)
• The distinct IP-rights: patent, utility model, trademark, design & copyright
• The impact of competition law on intellectual property protection
• Contractual exploitation of IPRs (transfer and licence agreement)
• Enforcement of IP-rights (remedies and procedural strategies)

Intellectual property is an indispensable tool to foster innovation and assure protection of achievements. They are an important factor for remaining competitive in the global knowledge-based economy. The shift from corporal goods to intellectual property however has many implications for today’s businesses: they have to play the system to gain from it, have to develop new business models, acquire rights by contract and closely watch the market and competitors to avoid liability. The course accordingly is designed to provide an overview on the concept of intellectual property and the practical implications for businesses.

Students will familiarize themselves with the multi-level system of IP-protection on a worldwide (TRIPS and WIPO-Treaties), European (EU-legislation) and national level. With regard to the latter the transformation of international and European requirements into national law, German intellectual property law will be taken as an example. Participants from other jurisdictions however will be encouraged to analyse differences to the corresponding legal concepts in their home jurisdictions.

The course will cover the legal concepts of patent protection and utility models, the rules on the protection of trademarks and designations of origin, the basics of copyright law and of design protection. Where appropriate the course will also highlight certain rules under unfair competition law providing ancillary remedies for avoiding unfair exploitation of work results.

The course devotes to the co-existence of national and Community IP-rights. The advantages and disadvantages of the existing unitary Community concepts, i.e. the Community Trade Mark and the Community Design as compared to national IPRs will be discussed in the light of relevant case law.

Furthermore, the conflicting aims of freedom of competition (and in particular free movement of goods) on the one hand and strict IP-protection on the other hand will be tackled. This gives the opportunity to discuss current trends to narrow the scope of protection by means of compulsory licences, FRAND-licences and similar limitations imposed by cartel and competition law.

• Concept of IP-law
• The legal sources (TRIPS, WIPO-Treaties, EU-Regulations and Directives)
• The distinct IP-rights: patent, utility model, trademark, design & copyright
• The impact of competition law on intellectual property protection
• Contractual exploitation of IPRs (transfer and licence agreement)
• Enforcement of IP-rights (remedies and procedural strategies)

The course addresses the particularities and pitfalls of international trade transactions. It focuses on international aspects of business transactions and their legal and commercial backgrounds, and allows students to get an initial understanding of what legal advice in practical terms is like. In this context, the course will focus on legal as well as on non-legal institutions that can help solving problems of cross-border transactions. At the end of the course, students will participate in a simulated negotiation of an international contract.

• Pitfalls of cross-border transactions
• The role of contracts in international business
• Legal and non-legal means of contract enforcement
• Financing of international transactions
• European regulations on cross-border trade
• International Conventions related to cross-border trade
• Transnational Law
• Dispute resolution
• The enforcement of court decisions and arbitral awards
• Distribution networks
• Regulatory issues in international business
• Accountability in international trade

The course will scrutinize processes of contract drafting and highlight the institutional framework, national and international as well as legal and non-legal, of international business transactions.

Students will learn to analyse pitfalls from an interdisciplinary perspective and create sustainable solutions for cross border trade. The course will give a comprehensive overview over legal, ethical, political, economic, environmental, societal, and strategic questions of international trade. Students will acquire skills to negotiate, develop, design, finance, and implement sustainable business partnerships.

This course offers the opportunity to take a comparative view on various employment and labor law issues that cover a wide range of subject matters. The class focuses on seven in some aspects quite similar, in others however completely different legal systems. These are: Germany, Japan, Brazil, Australia, France, Great Britain and the US. After an introduction we will pick out specific topics and compare and discuss the various approaches of these legal systems to deal with them. Among others, we will speak about:

• Employees request to pray during working time
• Dating Policies
• Surveillance of employees by use of video cameras
• Critical blogs and the employment relationship

Active participation is expected. This encompasses in particular that the students give lectures about the legal system of the country they come from and solve the cases provided in advance on the basis of this legal system.

Decades before the invention of the word “globalization”, economic activities were no longer, if ever, confined to the internal markets of States. However, the intensity of international trade and commerce at the beginning of the 21st century is quite probably unprecedented. Whether in efforts to enable, to enhance or to control international economic activities, the States of the world have grown dependent upon one another. This is reflected by cooperation at regional levels or in global contexts.

Such cooperation more and more makes use of the forums provided by international organizations, many of which are much more than mere “negotiation frameworks”, but are rather vested with legal personality and regulatory, or even adjudicative, powers.

• Economically relevant international organizations (ILO, WTO, UN, OECD)
• International organizations as subjects of public international law and of private law
• Distinguishing between governmental and non-governmental organizations
• Creation of international organizations
• International Organizations as law-makers and standard-setters
• Interaction of international law and domestic legal orders
• Responsibility of international organizations under public international law
• Legal remedies against acts of international organizations

The International Trade Law course seeks to familiarize students with the numerous legal issues that commonly arise in the context of the trade in goods and services between and among nations. In addition, the course provides students with the economic theories underlying international trade and the history of international trade. The areas of coverage during the course include the following:

• The theory of „comparative advantage“ developed and popularized by the Eighteenth Century British economist, David Ricardo, along with subsequent critiques and modifications of this theory.
• The beginnings of trade between nations beginning in ancient times and its expansion, development and increasing sophistication during the subsequent centuries.
• The continuing conflict between the principles and practices of „free trade“ and those of „mercantilism,“ sometimes described as „import substitution.“
• The development of free trade agreements („FTAs“) during the previous 300 years and the relatively recent phenomenon of „trade blocs“ and „customs unions“ involving groups of nations pursuing common economic and political objectives. Examples of these latter types of trade combinations are the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations („ASEAN“)
• The establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade („GATT“) after World War II and its transformation into the World Trade Organization („WTO“) in 1995.
• The structure, operations and goals of the WTO and the various trade agreements that bind all WTO members („Multilateral Agreements“) and those agreements that only bind those nations acceding to their terms („Plurilateral Agreements“).
• The future of the WTO and trade blocs in the Twenty-First Century.

The course provides an introduction to “law and economics” (also known as the “economic analysis of law”), i.e. the application of concepts and methods from economics to legal problems. It is offered in collaboration with the university’s economics department. The course starts with the foundations of microeconomic theory, welfare economics and law and economics and then covers selective topics from the three main areas of private law.

Foundations of law and economics

• Basic positive economics: utility maximization under constraints
• Basic welfare economics: Pareto and Kaldor/Hicks efficiency
• Coase theorem

Property law and economics

• Tragedy of the commons as the main rationale of property rights
• Information problems in property rights
• The limits of property rights: tragedy of the anticommons

Tort law

• The objective of accident cost minimization
• Negligence liability and strict liability
• Unilateral and bilateral care
• Special problems: causation, punitive damages, pure economic loss, liability for physical injury

Contract law

• The objective of maximizing surplus
• Default rules as a way to economize on transaction costs
• Efficient and inefficient breach of contract
• Penalty defaults
• Legal remedies to adverse selection caused by asymmetric information
• Economic analysis of standard terms and conditions