News

Cover "Enforcing Private Regulation in the Platform Economy"
Mateusz Grochowski, former research fellow at the Institute, is co-editor of a new open access volume that explores the role of online platforms as out-of-state regulators. The volume’s underlying research project was made possible by funding from Villa Vigoni – the German-Italian Center for European Dialogue.
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Philipp Ceesay with Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Reinhard Zimmermann
Philipp Ceesay, senior research fellow at the Institute, satisfied the final requirements of the habilitation process at Bucerius Law School on 7 July 2025. His professorial teaching qualification covers the fields of civil law, corporate law, civil procedure, and comparative law.
Portrait Dr. Ralph Lansky
Dr Ralph Lansky died on his 94th birthday on 18 July 2025. It was the conclusion of a life devoted to the institution of law libraries. He maintained this devotion to the last and did great service to the field during his lifetime.

New Releases

Journal Article
Anne Röthel, Wehrrechtlicher Rechtsschutz gegen sexuelle Untreue in der Ehe, Zeitschrift für das gesamte Familienrecht 2025, 1337–1339.
Contribution to a Collected edition
Mateusz Grochowski, The Knowledge Gap in Contract Law, in: Paul B. Miller, John Oberdiek (eds.), Oxford Studies in Private Law Theory, vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2025, 85–114.
Contribution to a Collected edition
Ralf Michaels, Toward Sustainable Private Law Theory, in: Paul B. Miller, John Oberdiek (eds.), Oxford Studies in Private Law Theory, vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2025, 115–142.
Contribution to a Collected edition
Dieter Martiny, Comparison as a Method in the Work of the CEFL, in: Katharina Boele-Woelki, Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg (eds.), What Family Law for Europe?, Intersentia, Louvain-la-Neuve 2025, 55–61.
Conference Report
Charlotte Mol, Susanna Roßbach, What Family Law for Europe? Debates and Insights at the Stockholm Conference, in: Katharina Boele-Woelki, Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg (eds.), What Family Law for Europe?, Intersentia, Louvain-la-Neuve 2025, 251–261.
Journal Article
Holger Fleischer, Hauptversammlungszuständigkeiten beim Beteiligungserwerb de lege lata und de lege ferenda, Der Betrieb 2025, 1879–1888.

Events

7. Fachgespräch Familienrecht „Familienfunktionen und Familienrecht: Finanzierung der Familie“

Sep 26, 2025 10:00 AM (Local Time Germany)
Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

The Institute

About Us
From the European Single Market to the global interweaving of multi-national businesses or financial firms to our increasingly international everyday lives, the world around us is steadily converging. At the same time, our laws are encountering the limits of their application. The Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law embraces the task of critically studying the social, economic and legal challenges of globalisation.
Library profile and holdings
The Institute library is Europe’s largest library specialising in foreign and international private law and is recognised worldwide for its scope and services. It has a collection of specialist literature from more than 200 countries around the world. The library has a particular focus on acquiring literature from countries that are not easily accessible, such that these can be gathered and made available at one location.

In the Spotlight

A Springboard for the Circular Economy: Private international law supporting a sustainability transformation of the fashion industry
Antonia Sommerfeld, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute, and Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Professor at Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh, are investigating the legal framework for sustainable solutions in the fashion industry. Toward this end, they are focusing on circular business models which allow sustainability and economic efficiency to merge together within a circular economy. What is the role of private international law (PIL) in this transformation process? How can PIL help to ensure that sustainable business practices prevail in global supply chains?
A call for the reform of German succession law
What happens to our assets after our death? Most individuals will face this question at some point in their lives – because they are considering who should one day receive their assets or because they themselves are beneficiaries of an inheritance. Yet few people have a detailed understanding of just what German succession law prescribes or of the problems it poses.
Complex Topics – Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Making the essential information about a research project quickly understandable by means of visualization: Research posters are increasingly being used for this purpose. Poster sessions complementing a lecture program have become a standard feature at academic conferences. As part of the most recent evaluation of the Institute by its advisory board, young researchers presented the topics addressed in their doctoral and post-doctoral theses in a poster session.
Go to Editor View