Ernst Rabel Prize for Jennifer Trinks
Jennifer Trinks, senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, has been awarded the Ernst Rabel Prize 2020 by the Gesellschaft für Rechtsvergleichung for her doctoral dissertation. The award, conferred in September 2022, marks the second time the young scholar has been honoured for the publication “Voting Rights for Shares in Usufruct – A Comparative Analysis of German and French Law” (in German: “Stimmrechtszuordnung beim Nießbrauch an Gesellschaftsanteilen – Ein deutsch-französischer Rechtsvergleich”). Last year the doctoral study received the 2020 Helmut Schippel Prize as bestowed by the Deutsche Notarrechtliche Vereinigung.
In her dissertation, the award-winner addresses the question of who holds the voting rights when shares in a company are subject to a usufruct. In an inquiry situated at the intersection of property law and company law, she explores the scope of usufruct (Nießbrauch) in German law in comparison to its French counterpart (usufruit), while illuminating the different manners in which voting rights are protected under company law.
The Gesellschaft für Rechtsvergleichung e.V. (Society for Comparative Law) was established in 1950 as a professional organization focused on the comparative study of law. Its mission is to promote knowledge in terms of foreign legal systems and the application of comparative methodology. Its efforts to achieve these goals include the staging of academic conferences and support that is provided for research work, the publication of academic literature, and programs of study abroad. Since 2014 it has awarded the Ernst Rabel Prize annually in recognition of exceptional comparative dissertations.
Dr. Jennifer Trinks studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II). In 2011 she completed the first state law exam in Munich and attained the Maîtrise en droit (Paris II). In 2013 she sat for the second state exam in Hamburg. She was awarded her Masters of Law (LL.M) in 2017 after completing a one year program of study at Yale Law School. She has been a staff member at the Institute since 2013 and in 2020 was awarded her doctoral degree by Bucerius Law School in Hamburg.
Image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law / Johanna Detering