Current News

Prof. Dr. Ralf Michaels, LL.M. (Cambridge), Director at the Institute, was elected to the Executive Committee of the International Association of Legal Science (AISJ-IALS) on 16 March 2021. He follows Institute Director Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Reinhard Zimmermann, who had served on the Committee since 2006, most recently as vice-president. more

Staff members and guests of the Institute are continuing to work within the limited on-site operation framework. There continues to be limited access to the Institute. more

Institute Director Ralf Michaels and Institute Research Fellow Justin Monsenepwo have initiated a virtual workshop series which will present and discuss academic work focused on the private international law of Africa. The initial workshop will take place on 12 April 2021. more

Long ignored by research, family firms and closed companies are slowly but steadily receiving more attention amongst legal scholars. In Germany as well as in Spain, they represent the most common private law business structure. In 2019 a German-Spanish symposium took stock of the current state of research in this area and explored promising avenues for future research. more

Should a party be allowed to keep the profits generated by its own breach of contract? In recent years this question has been the subject of considerable controversy in many jurisdictions. The discussion has now reached the CISG as well. Ben Köhler, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute, examines in his doctoral dissertation the role that gain-based remedies can play in the uniform sales law. more

Usufruct is a legal instrument claiming a long history. In addition to its application in the context of land and adjoining structures, it has come to play a particularly important role in estate planning as regards the transfer of businesses or partnerships upon succession. more

Since 1996 the ZJapanR/J.Japan.L. has been a central Western-language forum for academic exchange on Japanese law. With the release of Issue No. 50, Harald Baum, former head of the Centre of Expertise on Japan at the MPI for Private Law and founder of the Journal of Japanese Law, hands over editorial direction to his successor at the Institute, Ruth Effinowicz. more