Monthly Archives: September, 2024
Holger Spamann, ‘Civil v Common Law: The Emperor Has No Clothes’
ABSTRACT This Article debunks myths about the common/civil law distinction and offers a more sober, evidence-based account. Few rules and institutions are systematically different between common and civil law, and the few that are do not follow a pattern. Neither these differences nor anything else supports claims that common and civil law operate differently, or […]
Rachael Walsh, ‘Deliberation and Resilience: Tackling Wicked Property Problems’
ABSTRACT This chapter analyses the effectiveness of deliberative strategies in tackling three ‘wicked’ property problems: climate change, biodiversity loss, and affordable housing. It does so through a critical analysis of the use of deliberative mini-publics to shape policy on these issues, highlighting how deficiencies in the representativeness of these institutions create challenges in using them […]
Rabea Benhalim, ‘Oppression in American, Islamic, and Jewish Private Law’
ABSTRACT American, Islamic, and Jewish law all limit the enforcement of private law agreements in cases of oppression and exploitation. But each system uses a different justification. The common thread among the three legal systems is the opposition from jurists to enforce contracts with a fundamental aspect of oppression. The reasoning for preventing oppression within […]
Davis and Pargendler, ‘Legal Heterodoxy in the Global South: Adapting Private Laws to Local Contexts’
ABSTRACT How do private law institutions of developing countries differ from those of developed countries? A common view is that the legal systems of the Global South are often outdated, failed transplants of Global North models, or plagued by enforcement challenges. This book project offers a different perspective by focusing on legal innovation and adaptation […]
‘Interdepartmental Working Group on the Rising Cost of Health-Related Claims Report’
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly received government approval on 9 July 2024 to publish the Report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Rising Cost of Health-Related Claims and to establish a group to progress the implementation of its recommendations. The Group was chaired by Professor Rhona Mahony and comprised of membership from across relevant […]
‘Conference: “Rethinking Property: Decentralized Histories of Land Tenure (16th-19th centuries)” – IberLAND project (Messina: Faculty of Law, University of Messina, 3-4 October 2024)’
The IberLAND project is pleased to announce the upcoming conference, ‘Rethinking Property: Decentralized Histories of Land Tenure (16th–19th centuries)’, taking place from October 3rd to 4th, 2024, at the Faculty of Law, University of Messina (Italy), co-organized with its Law Department. This event aims to explore the complex evolution of land tenure and property concepts […]
Ichiro Kobayashi, ‘Understanding Japanese Contract Law – Contract Formation and Interpretation without an Offer and Acceptance Paradigm’
ABSTRACT This article hypothesizes that the uniqueness of contract formation methods in contemporary Japan, especially in the realm of long-term transactions, might have led to a contractual practice that does not necessarily serve to strengthen the binding force of contracts. Given the characteristics of Japanese society, where ambiguity is preferred in contractual obligations, the use […]
Mark Leeming, ‘Unconscionable transactions – the roles of knowledge and “predatory state of mind”’
ABSTRACT This note on Nitopi v Nitopi [2022] NSWCA 162 considers the bases on which equity will intervene to set aside an unconscionable transaction, directing attention to the role of establishing knowledge by the donee of the special disadvantage and the notions of ‘victimisation’ and ‘predatory state of mind’. Leeming, Mark, Unconscionable transactions – the […]
‘Tesco Express and implied terms put paid to firing and rehiring’
The UK Supreme Court interprets contractual provisions, and implies a term, to find in favour of a group of Tesco employees who argued that the supermarket chain was not entitled to fire and rehire them on less advantageous contractual terms. This decision has wider employment ramifications. I will focus on the pure contract law aspects […]
‘2024 Asia-Pacific Colloquium of the Journal of Private International Law (JPIL)’
The 2024 Asia-Pacific Colloquium of the Journal of Private International Law (JPIL) will be held on 5-6 December 2024 at the Melbourne Law School of the University of Melbourne in Australia. The format will be similar to previous colloquia where participants are requested to submit a paper for distribution in advance to other attendees. The […]