This class makes the nature of Comparative Law as well as its functions and aims accessible to students from different legal backgrounds. As studying even one legal system fully is difficult and time-consuming, the course must necessarily take a selective approach to comparative law and to the multitude of legal systems in the world. The class Comparative Law I therefore will focus on European Legal Traditions, whose similarities and differences are an important driver of European harmonization. Matching the overall aim of this module the course will focus on private law and business law aspects of comparative law.

The course has three main components. The first part will cover the origins and utility of comparative law, its aims, tools and methods. This part will particularly focus on the legal orders, which the participants of the class are most familiar with.

The main second part of the course will look at common features of generally accepted concepts of both contract law and of building bricks necessary for any business law, such as division of work, liability, tort law and insurance. The different possible solutions for these problems, which appear in different forms in many jurisdictions, will be presented, followed by an analysis of how they are governed by legal orders belonging to different legal families. Lines of influence and hybrids will similarly be covered.

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.

• Development of European private law
• The different layers of legal sources
• Uniform sales law
• UNIDROIT and PECL
• Excessive harmonization
• The function of soft law
• Freedom of contracts as corner stone of European private law
• Restraints of party autonomy: the concept of the weaker party

• Cassese, Antonio, ‘International Criminal Law’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008)
• Cryer, Robert, ‘An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure’ (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Schabas, William A., ‘The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010)
• Werle, Gerhard, ‘Principles of International Criminal Law’ (The Hague, Asser, 2005)

The course is designed to give a comprehensive survey of German private law, i.e. general rules of private law, commercial law, and civil procedure.

An important structural decision of German private law (sic!) is already displayed by the fact that the Civil Code is the ‘law book for citizens’ – today including consumers – whereas particular rules for businesses are comprised in the commercial code, corporate law, and various other codifications.

However, both general private law, and commercial law are enforced by the same rules of civil procedure. The German Civil Code is of paramount importance for understanding German law as its concept and system has impressed the legal thinking of generations of German lawyers. Students will be acquainted with both its sources, and its general principles. In the course of the class students will learn to work with the German civil code, understand the underlying system, influences on the Civil Code from the European Union (EU), and the accepted methods of interpretation.

• Introduction to German Private Law
•  The division between public law, general private law and commercial law
•  The German Civil Code
•  Influence from the EU
•  Basic concepts and means of interpretation
•  Function and Content of the General Part
•  Law of obligations (contracts, torts, and unjust enrichment)
•  Property Law
•  Law of succession and company law (including partner­ships and corporations)
• The system of law enforcement

1. Introduction

1. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Platform Regulation – Prof. Dr. Michael W. Müller, M.A., LL.M. (Cambridge)/PD Dr. Hannes Beyerbach, Mannheim
2. Goals, Approaches and Structures of European Platform Regulation – Dr. Ranjana Achleitner, Linz

1. Technical Foundations
   1. Algorithmic Bias and Systemic Risks of AI and Platforms – Dr. Carsten Orwat, KIT, Karlsruhe
   2. “Decided by AI – what could go wrong?” – Risk Amplification when Using Machine Learning – Prof. Dr. Heiner Stuckenschmidt, Mannheim
   3. Platform governance from a complementor perspective – Prof. Dr. Thomas Kude, Bamberg

1. Societal foundations
   1. Economic Interests of Platform Operators –Dr. Dominik Rehse, ZEW, Mannheim
   2. Platforms as a Digital Public Sphere: Platform Communication and Self-representation on Social Platforms– Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann, Bremen

1. 1. Biased Algorithms – Discrimination Risks of Platforms – Prof. Dr. Indre Zliobaite, Helsinki
   2. Regulatory Pitfalls with Old and New Intermediary Powers in the EU – Dr. Laura Jung, BADW, München

1. Legal Principles of Platform Regulation
   1. Risk-based regulation as principle of digital law – Prof. Dr. David Roth-Isigkeit, Speyer
   2. Company law and platform regulation – Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Linardatos, Saarbrücken
   3. Financial markets law as a blueprint for platform regulation – Dr. Sonja Heitzer, München
   4. European Liability Principles for Digital Platforms – PD Dr. Tobias Voigt, Köln

1. Regulatory Strategies in the European Union and Beyond
   1. Regulatory Strategies: Regulated Self-Regulation, Codes, Technical Standardisation – Prof. Dr. Hannah Ruschemeier, Hagen
   2. Content Moderation by Platforms and Free Expression – Dr. Christian Neumeier, HU Berlin
   3. Approaches to a Horizontal Applicability of EU Fundamental Rights – Prof. Dr. Walther Michl, Universität der Bundes­wehr München
   4. Approaches to a Global Understanding on Principles of Platform Regulation – PD Dr. Andreas Kulick, Tübingen

This class makes the nature of Comparative Law as well as its functions and aims accessible to students from different legal backgrounds. As studying even one legal system fully is difficult and time-consuming, the course must necessarily take a selective approach to comparative law and to the multitude of legal systems in the world. The class Comparative Law I therefore will focus on European Legal Traditions, whose similarities and differences are an important driver of European harmonization. Matching the overall aim of this module the course will focus on private law and business law aspects of comparative law.

The course has three main components. The first part will cover the origins and utility of comparative law, its aims, tools and methods. This part will particularly focus on the legal orders, which the participants of the class are most familiar with.

The main second part of the course will look at common features of generally accepted concepts of both contract law and of building bricks necessary for any business law, such as division of work, liability, tort law and insurance. The different possible solutions for these problems, which appear in different forms in many jurisdictions, will be presented, followed by an analysis of how they are governed by legal orders belonging to different legal families. Lines of influence and hybrids will similarly be covered.

The course gives a thorough introduction to the legal problems, which may occur in the course of the use of the internet in general and e-commerce in particular. It is focused on the view of business related activities. Based on an introduction to the infrastructure of the internet the course will analyse the major legal issues of five economically relevant sections :

• E-Commerce & Private Law
• Advertising for e-commerce
• Online shops and copyright law
• Domains
• Cross border e-commerce

The chapter on E-Commerce & Private Law will inter alia cover formation of contract, standard terms and conditions, consumer protection and specific problems connected to internet auctions and mobile commerce.

Advertising for e-commerce will take a look at rules of unfair competition, required imprint information, the ban on spamming, specific requirements for sales of pharmaceutical products via the internet and, of course, on ad-words. Further the liability under tele media law, for hyperlinks, hotspot operators and for user generated content will be an important issue.

The section on copyright law and online shops will focus on copyright restrictions for the presentation of content (including file sharing and streaming) and will take a look on the protection of content and websites.

The section on domains will explain the domain name system and its implications on trademark law and unfair competition law. It will also look at the possibilities to protect a domain as trademark. Finally and the legal consequences of infringement will be covered.

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.

Over the past 40 years, the rules on Competition Law (Anti­trust) in the EU have developed into a substantial body of law. They constitute directly applicable rules for enterprises, and as such they are of immediate concern to them. Contracts in violation of the rules are unenforceable and huge fines are imposed in case of infringements while parties that suffered damages may litigate before a national civil court.

This course offers an introduction to main areas of EU competition law illustrated by practical examples which in part reflect the lecturer’s own experience as an eminent German anti­trust practitioner. Core elements of EU competition law treated include the concepts of horizontal and vertical restraints of competition, the importance of market definitions and the various techniques used therefore, the role of market power for Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (and implementing regulations and guidelines) and the basic outlines of European merger control.

It is the aim of the course to provide the participants with a solid basis for the practice of competition law. The course will cover the main features of the EU rules both from a substantive and a procedural perspective, including the relations­hip between EU and national competition law as well as the economic principles and procedures concerning merger control.

All private persons or companies upon entering one of the EU Member States not only come under this single State’s national legal order. They are immediately affected by “European Law”, the law of the European Union granting them certain rights and privileges but also requiring them to comply with certain duties and obligations.

The internal market is one of the essential cornerstones of the European Union. The Market Freedoms lie at its heart. The free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is essential for unifying the markets while ensuring competition and trade within Europe. The freedoms grant direct effective rights to private persons and legal persons, which can be enforced before national courts, and guarantee the freedom of contract in a trans­national perspective.

The course will focus on a systematic survey of the market freedoms by the means of studying the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

• General concept of the market freedoms
• Development and aim of market freedoms
• Leading cases of the European Court of Justice
• Function of market freedom fostering integration
• Further development of market freedoms
• Impact of market freedoms (compliance)

• Development of European private law
• The different layers of legal sources
• Uniform sales law
• UNIDROIT and PECL
• Excessive harmonization
• The function of soft law
• Freedom of contracts as corner stone of European private law
• Restraints of party autonomy: the concept of the weaker party

European Union Law has an increasing impact on the taxation of private individuals as well as of companies doing business in Europe. While the European Union has no original tax authority its law has a major influence on national tax laws.

The course will start with an introduction into European Union Tax Law, the aims and measures so far taken by European institutions. After that the course will cover the positive harmonization of indirect taxes mainly by European directives. In a third part the course will focus on secondary law harmonizing direct taxes in Europe, e.g. the Parent-Subsidiary Directive. In a last section the course deals with the importance of the fundamental freedoms for the taxation in Europe. A special focus will be put on the case law of the European Court of Justice.

• Basic principles of European Law
• Harmonization of indirect and direct taxes by primary and secondary law
• Fundamental freedoms referring to taxation in Europe
• Important case law

Parties to international disputes tend to strive for litigation in their home countries. This is primarily attributable to the parties’ and their representatives’ familiarity with the system and language. This tendency can even be observed in cases where an informed choice would prove a foreign venue to be more favourable, be it for procedural reasons (e.g. evidence, costs of litigation) or matters of substance (applicable law, ordre public, mandatory rules of the forum, scope of private autonomy).

The opposite effect can be observed with regard to arbitration. Arbitration often is chosen by parties in the belief that it is a superior means of dispute resolution, e.g. because it is said to be time- and cost-efficient, neutral, arbitrators ensure high legal quality and superior understanding of business contexts. In fact arbitration can be a very reasonable means of solving legal disputes. But whether state courts must be shy of the comparison will depend on the arbitration rules and venue chosen and the subject matter or the dispute.

The course consists of two parts: The first focuses on cross border litigation before state courts, the second will provide an overview on arbitration law.

• Introduction: Impact of the forum on the dispute (lex fori and lex causae)
• International Jurisdiction of state courts (Brussels I Regulation)
• Provisional measures and procedural strategy
• Access to evidence in cross-border litigation
• Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (Brussels I Regulation)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Arbitration
• Drafting arbitration agreements
• Introduction of common arbitration rules (ICC, LCIA, Swiss Rules, DIS)
• Conduct of arbitration proceedings
• Enforcing arbitration awards and the New York Convention

• Cassese, Antonio, ‘International Criminal Law’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008)
• Cryer, Robert, ‘An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure’ (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Schabas, William A., ‘The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010)
• Werle, Gerhard, ‘Principles of International Criminal Law’ (The Hague, Asser, 2005)

The course is designed to give a comprehensive survey of German private law, i.e. general rules of private law, commercial law, and civil procedure.

An important structural decision of German private law (sic!) is already displayed by the fact that the Civil Code is the ‘law book for citizens’ – today including consumers – whereas particular rules for businesses are comprised in the commercial code, corporate law, and various other codifications.

However, both general private law, and commercial law are enforced by the same rules of civil procedure. The German Civil Code is of paramount importance for understanding German law as its concept and system has impressed the legal thinking of generations of German lawyers. Students will be acquainted with both its sources, and its general principles. In the course of the class students will learn to work with the German civil code, understand the underlying system, influences on the Civil Code from the European Union (EU), and the accepted methods of interpretation.

• Introduction to German Private Law
•  The division between public law, general private law and commercial law
•  The German Civil Code
•  Influence from the EU
•  Basic concepts and means of interpretation
•  Function and Content of the General Part
•  Law of obligations (contracts, torts, and unjust enrichment)
•  Property Law
•  Law of succession and company law (including partner­ships and corporations)
• The system of law enforcement

1. Introduction

1. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Platform Regulation – Prof. Dr. Michael W. Müller, M.A., LL.M. (Cambridge)/PD Dr. Hannes Beyerbach, Mannheim
2. Goals, Approaches and Structures of European Platform Regulation – Dr. Ranjana Achleitner, Linz

1. Technical Foundations
   1. Algorithmic Bias and Systemic Risks of AI and Platforms – Dr. Carsten Orwat, KIT, Karlsruhe
   2. “Decided by AI – what could go wrong?” – Risk Amplification when Using Machine Learning – Prof. Dr. Heiner Stuckenschmidt, Mannheim
   3. Platform governance from a complementor perspective – Prof. Dr. Thomas Kude, Bamberg

1. Societal foundations
   1. Economic Interests of Platform Operators –Dr. Dominik Rehse, ZEW, Mannheim
   2. Platforms as a Digital Public Sphere: Platform Communication and Self-representation on Social Platforms– Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann, Bremen

1. 1. Biased Algorithms – Discrimination Risks of Platforms – Prof. Dr. Indre Zliobaite, Helsinki
   2. Regulatory Pitfalls with Old and New Intermediary Powers in the EU – Dr. Laura Jung, BADW, München

1. Legal Principles of Platform Regulation
   1. Risk-based regulation as principle of digital law – Prof. Dr. David Roth-Isigkeit, Speyer
   2. Company law and platform regulation – Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Linardatos, Saarbrücken
   3. Financial markets law as a blueprint for platform regulation – Dr. Sonja Heitzer, München
   4. European Liability Principles for Digital Platforms – PD Dr. Tobias Voigt, Köln

1. Regulatory Strategies in the European Union and Beyond
   1. Regulatory Strategies: Regulated Self-Regulation, Codes, Technical Standardisation – Prof. Dr. Hannah Ruschemeier, Hagen
   2. Content Moderation by Platforms and Free Expression – Dr. Christian Neumeier, HU Berlin
   3. Approaches to a Horizontal Applicability of EU Fundamental Rights – Prof. Dr. Walther Michl, Universität der Bundes­wehr München
   4. Approaches to a Global Understanding on Principles of Platform Regulation – PD Dr. Andreas Kulick, Tübingen