General Principles in European Private Law
General principles of law play a prominent role in the development of European private law. The European Court of Justice has since the start of the Community regularly fallen back upon them in order to supplement and construe the fragmentary law of the Community. In part these principles are being reached comparatively on consideration of the law of the Member-States, but in part they are being derived from the Community law itself. Additionally, ascertaining general principles of law represents the methodological approach of numerous European and international research projects which have in part already propounded just such principles. The Lando Commission’s Principles of European Contract Law and the UNIDROIT-Principles of International Commercial Contracts are the best known of these projects. If one takes a broad perception of European private law and also factors in the autonomous legal systems of the Member States as well as uniform law and lex mercatoria, then even more types and functions of general principles appear.
The questions of legal theory and methodology which arise in regards to general principles in European private law have to this point only been addressed to an unsatisfactory extent. What differentiates general principles of law from other legal norms? What are the prerequisites for acceptance and application of such principles? What functions are filled by legal principles when trying cases? To what extent can principles be used to foster coherency of European private law? The project approaches these questions from two sides. First, it aims to reconstruct the concept of general principles in European private law in light of the ongoing international debate on “legal principles”. Second, through a comparative study of the legal methodologies applied in several Member-States, Community law and international law, it intends to identify a common conception of general legal principles which can be used in the entire European multi-level system.
The questions of legal theory and methodology which arise in regards to general principles in European private law have to this point only been addressed to an unsatisfactory extent. What differentiates general principles of law from other legal norms? What are the prerequisites for acceptance and application of such principles? What functions are filled by legal principles when trying cases? To what extent can principles be used to foster coherency of European private law? The project approaches these questions from two sides. First, it aims to reconstruct the concept of general principles in European private law in light of the ongoing international debate on “legal principles”. Second, through a comparative study of the legal methodologies applied in several Member-States, Community law and international law, it intends to identify a common conception of general legal principles which can be used in the entire European multi-level system.