Private Law in Eastern Europe – Autonomous Developments or Legal Transplants?
MPI for Private Law, Hamburg, 27.03.2009 - 28.03.2009
The legal development in Eastern Europe over recent years has been characterised by legislative reforms and a trend towards the adoption of general European standards. The dynamism of the transformation process is reflected by comparative studies which are, however, few in total and are frequently overtaken by the speed of ongoing reform. A conference at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law in Hamburg titled „Private Law in Eastern Europe – Autonomous Developments or Legal Transplants?“ aims to trace the recent reform developments in the area of civil law in Eastern Europe and to analyse the continuing process of transformation. On 27 and 28 March 2009 guest speakers from numerous Eastern European countries will address the topic under three areas of emphasis. Following an introductory segment on policy aspects of the development of Eastern European civil law, presentations will be delivered considering classic civil law themes (including questions of property law and the law of obligations) as well as company law and capital market law. Legal practitioners and interested scholars are invited to attend. The conference, which will be conducted in English, is being held in cooperation with the Institute for East European Law at the University of Kiel.Conference Content
The central themes to be considered at the conference are the structural requirements for commencing a process of transformation, classic civil law matters as well as company and capital market law in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The comparative law treatment will focus in particular on the movement towards codifications and their implementation subsequent to 1990, the impact of comparative law analysis, the reception of foreign law, the influence of European private law, application of the law following the codification phase and foundational company law problems in respect of corporate governance. „The wide-ranging themes cannot be exhaustively covered in a two-day conference”, note Priv.-Doz. Dr. Rainer Kulms and Dr. Christa Jessel-Holst, conference organisers and senior research fellows at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. „The aim of the conference, rather, is to assemble a combination of speakers from various East European regions and thereby gain insight as to the typical parallels or noteworthy differences in the legal models and legal solutions being adopted by nations undergoing transformation.” Invited speakers include judges from the European Community’s Court of Justice in Luxemburg, scholars from Russia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, states from the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania as well as finance experts and consultants from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, London, and the Belgrade office of the Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GtZ).
Starting Points for Processes of Transformation
Eastern European nations have since the late 1980s witnessed an ongoing transformation of the political, economic and legal landscape. Since approximately 1990, the scholarly discussion has been concentrated on the processes which accompany transformation. Yet the numerous comparative law studies which have been undertaken in fields such as civil law and business law within individual East European states have failed to portray the dynamic in its full scope. Studies adopting long-term perspectives and offering multi-nation comparisons are particularly rare. These shortcomings hide risks for the political and economic actors who assume that the legal developments in the new EU Member-States are orienting themselves on collective European standards. In spite of the comparable transformation problems which are being confronted, the individual processes of codification in Eastern and Southeastern Europe are moving forward quite disparately since in some cases “old” codifications from the socialist era continue to be valid whereas in others newly applicable codifications have already resulted in a metamorphosis which is presenting new challenges for the jurisprudence. These distinct starting points demand intense and multifaceted cooperative research efforts.
A Comprehensive Research Paradigm for Eastern Europe
The planned legal conference is to take place at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. It is targeted towards comparative law researchers as well as legal practitioners having scholarly interests. The publication of the presented papers in a conference volume is foreseen. The Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg and the Institute for East European Law at the University of Kiel have for many years set a core focus on the region of Eastern Europe and have nurtured an intensive work network in Eastern European countries. The legal conference cooperatively organised by the Institutes will initiate the long-necessary comparative law discussion on the reform developments in civil law in Eastern Europe and promote an academic exchange between scholars from these transforming nations.
Date of publication: 17.12.2008
Program (104.1 KB)