Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

Different countries, different cultures – and usually also a different basis for legal systems. The development of the European single market, the global integration of multinational business and commercial companies as well as the increasing internationalisation of our daily lives require that areas of private and commercial law provide solutions that cannot only be derived from the legal systems of individual countries. Academics at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg apply analysis of the differences and similarities between different legal systems to develop a foundation for an international understanding of law and its application to cross-border circumstances. This also includes addressing the methodological issues of comparative law and unification of law. The central research tool of the Institute is its library, which contains one of the world’s most extensive collections of literature on civil law.

Contact

Mittelweg 187
20148 Hamburg
Phone: +49 40 41900-0
Fax: +49 40 41900-288

PhD opportunities

This institute has no International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS).

There is always the possibility to do a PhD. Please contact the directors or research group leaders at the Institute. Please send your application to job@mpipriv.de.

Department / Main Fields of Research: German, European and International Company Law and Securities Regulation, Commercial Law including Accounting Law, Economic Analysis of the Law and Comparative Law

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Department / Main Fields of Research: Private International Law, Comparative Law, Private Law Theory, Law and Globalization

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Department / Main Fields of Research: Law of the Person, the Family, and Private Life

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Three gentlemen in suits, on the right three flags, including those of Italy and Europe

Reinhard Zimmermann awarded the Antonio Feltrinelli Prize

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Brexit is a done deal. Prime Minister Theresa May now faces the gargantuan task of negotiating the UK’s exit from the European Union. Disentangling the finely woven network of EU directives and regulations and national and EU law is certainly no mean feat.

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The TTIP Agreement is highly controversial in the public opinion in Europe and especially in Germany. First and foremost the opponents criticize the intended arbitration process for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). By the supporters it is considered as a general practice.

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An opinion article from Jürgen Basedow

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Gone are the days in which individual states were the only bodies that set the rules.

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To combat climate change, we need to do more than just stop burning coal, oil, and gas. We also need a change in other areas, such as our diet. Eating meat also harms the climate, yet most politicians are hesitant to intervene here. Lawyer Saskia Stucki explains why food is a taboo and how the state could effectively intervene.

Digital communication is prone to misunderstandings – and that especially applies when emojis are used. The popular pictograms are frequently understood in completely different ways, depending on age, gender, or cultural background. They are, therefore, increasingly becoming a subject for courts – for example, when contracts are concluded by e-mail or a messenger service or when posts are perceived as defamatory. Matthias Pendl, Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, has been researching the role of emojis in (private) law considering judgements from several jurisdictions around the world.

Colonization has become a thing of the past. However, its impact can still be felt today in the form of coloniality – the way in which the world is perceived, understood and governed. One example are European legal concepts that continue to apply as a standard worldwide. Our author demands that this Eurocentric perspective be abandoned, and makes the case for a new, pluriversal understanding of law.

For the past 70 years, the German Basic Law has guaranteed the independence of judges, whose decisions are “subject only to the law.” But aren’t there other influences at play? Legal scholars Konrad Duden from the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg and Jasper Kunstreich from the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt am Main have researched this question and come up with some astonishing answers.

Dynamic family law reform, recognition of adoption and consideration of a child’s best interests: Nadjma Yassari from the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg and her “Changes in God’s Law – An Inner-Islamic Comparison of Family and Succession Law” research group illustrate how complex and mutable law in Muslim countries is.

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Germany is the world’s third-largest import nation. The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), adopted by the German Bundestag on 11 July 2021, was preceded by long and difficult debates. For some, the law is a milestone in the fight against exploitation and environmental destruction in developing countries. For others, the legislation creates unreasonable burdens and competitive disadvantages for local companies. In addition, there are many unresolved legal issues, making factual orientation all the more important.

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Is the compulsory portion still appropriate today?

2021 Zimmermann, Reinhard

Jurisprudence

In Germany, freedom of testation prevails. Everyone can freely dispose of his/her property and therefore also determine by means of a will who is going to inherit it. The right to a compulsory portion fixes a clear limit concerning that power of disposal: The deceased’s closest family members are entitled to quotas of the estate. It does not matter whether they were economically dependent on the deceased. Today, however, it is increasingly rare that children are still entitled to financial support from their parents when the latter die. Hence, the compulsory portion needs to be reconsidered.

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Married young – separated by law?

2020 Michaels, Ralf; Yassari, Nadjma

Jurisprudence

Marriage between minors is prohibited in Germany, primarily to protect girls and young women from the consequences of a premature marriage. However, the scope of the Act to Combat Child Marriage extends beyond Germany and also negates the legitimacy of marriages legally entered under foreign law. Yet it is questionable whether this is compatible with the protection of marriage and the best interests and welfare of the children involved.

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Socially responsible corporate action

2019 Fleischer, Holger

Jurisprudence

The question of how to reconcile profitability with social responsibility is a key issue that is being discussed across disciplines. Amidst growing public attention to social and environmental standards as well as the fight against corruption in third countries, the debate surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR) has also reached company law and capital markets law. It touches on fundamental questions: What purposes should modern corporations serve? What goals may they pursue? What does CSR mean for cross-border companies?

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Negotiating the labyrinth of European contract laws

2018 Zimmermann, Reinhard

Jurisprudence

One European internal market and currently 28 different contract law regimes: this seems dysfunctional. Thus, over the past 40 years there have been numerous scholarly and politically motivated initiatives to create a uniform European contract law. At the political level, this project has – at least for the moment – foundered. Now the ball is in academia’s court: In Commentaries on European Contract Laws all existing reference texts are analysed from a historical and comparative perspective so as to provide orientation for future efforts at a European-wide unification of contract law.

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