The class Comparative Law II – The Common/
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.
The course equips the students with fundamental knowledge about the application of competition law. European and German competition law are addressed equally as well as their relationship with one another. The aim is to capacitate the students to apply competition law to concrete cases and help them understand the competitive concerns that might arise from certain behavior by undertakings. The course consists of seven parts:
The course focuses not only on the similarities between European and German competition law but also on the differences in the application by the European Commission and courts on the one side and the German competition authorities and courts on the other side. The course also covers distinct features particular to the German Competition Act that are missing in the European provisions, e.g. prohibited conduct of undertakings with relative or superior market power, damages and certain modifications that have been adopted with respect to digital markets.
The course will take place online only.
The course addresses compliance requirements in several fields of law. Roughly the first half of the course will be dedicated to compliance programmes in general. The analysis is broken down into the upstream phase, the governance, and the downstream phase of an effective compliance programme. This includes issues, such as “culture” of compliance, codes of conduct, the “tone at the top”, training, audits, and whistleblowing. The second half will be dedicated to the specific requirements for an effective compliance programme in three important areas of law:
In this context, the course will deal with the most important legislation in the respective fields. Due to their global geographical scope in the field of anti-corruption compliance, these are first and foremost the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Regarding antitrust law, special attention will be given to leniency programmes and the possibilities of a compliance defence in cartel fine procedures. Moreover, the course will cover the requirements imposed on businesses by the General Data Protection Regulation.
Learning outcomes and qualification goals:
Students having completed the course will understand the importance of legal compliance for businesses and know the main methods of implementing and ensuring it. They will moreover be familiar with the most important legislation and be able to identify specific requirements of a compliance programme regarding different legal provisions.
The course addresses compliance requirements in several fields of law. Roughly the first half of the course will be dedicated to compliance programmes in general. The analysis is broken down into the upstream phase, the governance, and the downstream phase of an effective compliance programme. This includes issues, such as “culture” of compliance, codes of conduct, the “tone at the top”, training, audits, and whistleblowing. The second half will be dedicated to the specific requirements for an effective compliance programme in three important areas of law:
In this context, the course will deal with the most important legislation in the respective fields. Due to their global geographical scope in the field of anti-corruption compliance, these are first and foremost the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Regarding antitrust law, special attention will be given to leniency programmes and the possibilities of a compliance defence in cartel fine procedures. Moreover, the course will cover the requirements imposed on businesses by the General Data Protection Regulation.
Learning outcomes and qualification goals:
Students having completed the course will understand the importance of legal compliance for businesses and know the main methods of implementing and ensuring it. They will moreover be familiar with the most important legislation and be able to identify specific requirements of a compliance programme regarding different legal provisions.
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.
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:
Der Schutz der Menschenwürde ist nicht nur ein Kernelement des deutschen Verfassungsrechts, sondern auch Bezugspunkt des völkerrechtlichen Menschenrechtsschutzes. Zugleich ist die Würde des Menschen Gegenstand philosophischer Reflexion – auch als möglicher Ausgangspunkt für die Konstruktion einer freiheitlichen demokratischen Verfassung.
Vor diesem Hintergrund soll Gegenstand des Kolloquiums das Buch „Was ist Menschenwürde?“ von Paul Tiedemann sein. Darin beschreibt der Autor zunächst, wie sich der Begriff der Menschenwürde in Rechtswissenschaft und Philosphie entwickelt hat, um sodann sein eigenes Begriffsverständnis zu entfalten.
Beifachstudierende des Öffentlichen Rechts können mit Kurzreferaten zu einem der Buchkapitel (oder zu einem Ausschnitt daraus) die Prüfungsleistung für ihr Wahlfach erbringen.
Der Schutz der Menschenwürde ist nicht nur ein Kernelement des deutschen Verfassungsrechts, sondern auch Bezugspunkt des völkerrechtlichen Menschenrechtsschutzes. Zugleich ist die Würde des Menschen Gegenstand philosophischer Reflexion – auch als möglicher Ausgangspunkt für die Konstruktion einer freiheitlichen demokratischen Verfassung.
Vor diesem Hintergrund soll Gegenstand des Kolloquiums das Buch „Was ist Menschenwürde?“ von Paul Tiedemann sein. Darin beschreibt der Autor zunächst, wie sich der Begriff der Menschenwürde in Rechtswissenschaft und Philosphie entwickelt hat, um sodann sein eigenes Begriffsverständnis zu entfalten.
Beifachstudierende des Öffentlichen Rechts können mit Kurzreferaten zu einem der Buchkapitel (oder zu einem Ausschnitt daraus) die Prüfungsleistung für ihr Wahlfach erbringen.
The class Comparative Law II – The Common/
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.
The course equips the students with fundamental knowledge about the application of competition law. European and German competition law are addressed equally as well as their relationship with one another. The aim is to capacitate the students to apply competition law to concrete cases and help them understand the competitive concerns that might arise from certain behavior by undertakings. The course consists of seven parts:
The course focuses not only on the similarities between European and German competition law but also on the differences in the application by the European Commission and courts on the one side and the German competition authorities and courts on the other side. The course also covers distinct features particular to the German Competition Act that are missing in the European provisions, e.g. prohibited conduct of undertakings with relative or superior market power, damages and certain modifications that have been adopted with respect to digital markets.
The course will take place online only.
The course addresses compliance requirements in several fields of law. Roughly the first half of the course will be dedicated to compliance programmes in general. The analysis is broken down into the upstream phase, the governance, and the downstream phase of an effective compliance programme. This includes issues, such as “culture” of compliance, codes of conduct, the “tone at the top”, training, audits, and whistleblowing. The second half will be dedicated to the specific requirements for an effective compliance programme in three important areas of law:
In this context, the course will deal with the most important legislation in the respective fields. Due to their global geographical scope in the field of anti-corruption compliance, these are first and foremost the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Regarding antitrust law, special attention will be given to leniency programmes and the possibilities of a compliance defence in cartel fine procedures. Moreover, the course will cover the requirements imposed on businesses by the General Data Protection Regulation.
Learning outcomes and qualification goals:
Students having completed the course will understand the importance of legal compliance for businesses and know the main methods of implementing and ensuring it. They will moreover be familiar with the most important legislation and be able to identify specific requirements of a compliance programme regarding different legal provisions.
The course addresses compliance requirements in several fields of law. Roughly the first half of the course will be dedicated to compliance programmes in general. The analysis is broken down into the upstream phase, the governance, and the downstream phase of an effective compliance programme. This includes issues, such as “culture” of compliance, codes of conduct, the “tone at the top”, training, audits, and whistleblowing. The second half will be dedicated to the specific requirements for an effective compliance programme in three important areas of law:
In this context, the course will deal with the most important legislation in the respective fields. Due to their global geographical scope in the field of anti-corruption compliance, these are first and foremost the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Regarding antitrust law, special attention will be given to leniency programmes and the possibilities of a compliance defence in cartel fine procedures. Moreover, the course will cover the requirements imposed on businesses by the General Data Protection Regulation.
Learning outcomes and qualification goals:
Students having completed the course will understand the importance of legal compliance for businesses and know the main methods of implementing and ensuring it. They will moreover be familiar with the most important legislation and be able to identify specific requirements of a compliance programme regarding different legal provisions.
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
Application to corporate, insolvency and securities law
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.
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.
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:
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.
This course aims at studying the law of international sales agreements based on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), which entered into force in 1988 and today has almost eighty Contracting States world-wide. It is the most important uniform private law Convention in practice, covering potentially more than 80% of global trade. Since the CISG was influenced by both the common law and civil law systems of contract law, the course will furthermore focus on the basic principles of the law of contract of both systems in a comparative approach, where appropriate.
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:
Der Schutz der Menschenwürde ist nicht nur ein Kernelement des deutschen Verfassungsrechts, sondern auch Bezugspunkt des völkerrechtlichen Menschenrechtsschutzes. Zugleich ist die Würde des Menschen Gegenstand philosophischer Reflexion – auch als möglicher Ausgangspunkt für die Konstruktion einer freiheitlichen demokratischen Verfassung.
Vor diesem Hintergrund soll Gegenstand des Kolloquiums das Buch „Was ist Menschenwürde?“ von Paul Tiedemann sein. Darin beschreibt der Autor zunächst, wie sich der Begriff der Menschenwürde in Rechtswissenschaft und Philosphie entwickelt hat, um sodann sein eigenes Begriffsverständnis zu entfalten.
Beifachstudierende des Öffentlichen Rechts können mit Kurzreferaten zu einem der Buchkapitel (oder zu einem Ausschnitt daraus) die Prüfungsleistung für ihr Wahlfach erbringen.
Der Schutz der Menschenwürde ist nicht nur ein Kernelement des deutschen Verfassungsrechts, sondern auch Bezugspunkt des völkerrechtlichen Menschenrechtsschutzes. Zugleich ist die Würde des Menschen Gegenstand philosophischer Reflexion – auch als möglicher Ausgangspunkt für die Konstruktion einer freiheitlichen demokratischen Verfassung.
Vor diesem Hintergrund soll Gegenstand des Kolloquiums das Buch „Was ist Menschenwürde?“ von Paul Tiedemann sein. Darin beschreibt der Autor zunächst, wie sich der Begriff der Menschenwürde in Rechtswissenschaft und Philosphie entwickelt hat, um sodann sein eigenes Begriffsverständnis zu entfalten.
Beifachstudierende des Öffentlichen Rechts können mit Kurzreferaten zu einem der Buchkapitel (oder zu einem Ausschnitt daraus) die Prüfungsleistung für ihr Wahlfach erbringen.
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
Property law and economics
Tort law
Contract law