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This paper addresses binding judicial precedent. The semistructured interview was used as a methodology for execution and a total of thirty-two academics, from ten countries in Latin America and Europe, participated of it. The results are structured around the arguments for and against precedent as a theoretical position; to narrate how vertex courts and inferior courts behave on precedents; and finally, to know the roadblocks that prevent following precedent correctly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, many areas of our daily lives are determined by artificial intelligence (AI). Machines program software, translate texts rapidly, create beautiful images, and design fashion efficiently. They are capable of superhuman performances. Furthermore, machines make the impression of boundless creativity. AI's achievements in traditional areas of copyright subject matters inevitably raise the question of legal protection through an exclusive right. This Article begins by exploring AI technology's various accomplishments (Introduction). Then, in Part I, it outlines the legal status quo with respect to those developments. And Part II discusses potential copyright protection, mainly from the perspective of creativity. Finally, Part III, IV, and V address other arguments regarding copyright protection for AI products, such as the economic aspects of incentive and market failure. This Article contemplates the issue from an international perspective and concludes that neither copyright nor other similar protection rights, i.e. sui generis rights (which already exist for different subject matters, for example, in Europe), should be implemented. This finding holds true regardless of the legal jurisdiction, may it be common law or civil law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over a century, common law judges, academics, and practitioners have struggled with the complexities of negligence law. All agree that negligence liability is imposed on a defendant whose unreasonable conduct caused foreseeable harm to the plaintiff, and who owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. But views differ considerably as to the meaning and role of each element (unreasonable conduct, harm causation, duty), the test and the relevant considerations that should be applied to each, the interrelation between these elements, and the meaning and role of the foreseeability requirement in each element. Against this background, the author has argued for years that the above complexities can be easily solved by a simplified model of negligence. Recently the author's model has been embraced by Israeli justices and judges. The article presents the proposed model, explains how it solves the described complexities, and fends off criticism. It then demonstrates the model's operation by applying it to the 2018 SCC's decision in the Rankin case. A glimpse at the Third Restatement on Torts shows that it steers in the same direction, as evidenced by an analysis of the Palsgraf case and the unforeseeable plaintiff question. Following a short overview of leading British cases from Donoghue to the 2018 decision in Robinson, it is argued that a shift to the proposed model would be a natural evolution that can be easily achieved. In contrast, it is argued that Canadian law has moved in another direction, for incorrect reasons. The model is then compared with another reform recently suggested in the literature. Finally, fault-based liability in continental Europe is viewed from the perspective of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author analyzes in the first part of his article the influence of the Byzantine legal tradition on the development of private law in Georgia. Special emphasis is given to the code (compilation) of king or emperor Wachtang VI in the first half of the 18th century. The comprehensive code of Wachtang VI is based mainly on Byzantine law. In the second part of the study the structure, the main institutions as well as the sources of the Georgian Civil Code promulgated and put into effect in 1997 are analyzed. The author outlines that the redactors of this code availed themselves of the scholarly achievements of the German pandectist legal science based substantially on Roman law tradition. The redactors of the Civil Code of 1997 took into consideration the French Civil Code, the German Civil Code, the Italian Civil Code of 1942 as well as the New Dutch Civil Code. The redactors of the Georgian Civil Code did not adopt the concept moniste whereby the Civil Code of Georgia is no code unique - unlike the Italian Civil Code of 1942 and the New Dutch Civil Code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Medieval period, Roman law and canon law formed ius commune or the common European law. The similarity between Roman and canon law was that they used the same methods and the difference was that they relied on different authoritative texts. In their works canonists and civilists combined the ancient Greek achievements in philosophy with the Roman achievements in the field of law. Canonists were the first who carried out research on the distinctions between various legal sources and systematized them according to a hierarchical order. The Medieval civilists sought solutions in canon law for a large number of problems that Justinian's Codification did not hinge on or did it only superficially. Solutions offered by canon law were accepted not only in the civil law of Continental Europe, but also in the English law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following analysis of Legal Orders, and of Legalism in particular, derive from my study of jurisprudence and history, and from the three fields in which I worked as a lawyer – barrister; government lawyer and adviser, and as Head of the Papua New Guinea Office in the movement of Papua New Guinea to self-government and Independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influential theories of law have celebrated judicial reason- giving as furthering a host of democratic values, including judges' accountability, citizens' participation in adjudication, and a more accurate and transparent decision-making process. This Article has two main purposes. First, it argues that although reason-giving is important, it is often in tension with other values of the judicial process, such as guidance, sincerity, and efficiency. Reason-giving must, therefore, be balanced against these competing values. In other words, judges sometimes have reasons not to give reasons. Second, contrary to common intuition, common law and civil law systems deal with this tension between reasons for and against reason-giving in increasingly similar ways. By combining theories of democratic legitimacy with empirical, doctrinal, and historical evidence of judges' concrete reason-giving practices in the United States and Europe, the Article argues that rather than being in opposition, these two legal cultures are converging toward a common methodology. No longer can it be assumed that civil law judges and common law judges are on opposite ends of the spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines who does what in the process for drafting EU legislation in the European Commission. It shows that drafting in the Commission involves collaboration between numerous participants and outlines the legal framework for that collaboration. The approach to legislative drafting in most common-law countries aims at a separation between policy formation and drafting, with a specialised drafter working on the basis of policy instructions from the technical departments. In the Commission on the other hand there is no such separation. Rather than the final text being the responsibility of a single drafter, the Commission's proposal is the work of many hands, and minds. This article considers the quality safeguards built into the present process and suggest some possible improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the history, development and significance of the freedom of contract in context to the Chinese law. It informs that freedom of contract is a fundamental principle of Western civil law protecting the right to enter contracts freely in various jurisdictional laws including the Roman law, the English common law and other European legal systems. It discusses the efforts of the Adam Smith in supporting the concept of freedom of contract.

The article discusses the gap-filling and judicial activism in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Topics discussed include surveying the methods and principles of interpretation developed by the European Court, infringement of human right through gaps in the national laws, and tendency of promoting the convergence of civil law and common law jurisdictions.

This essay, after determining the characteristics constituting a codification, sets out the historical conditions for the creation of national codifications in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It then deals with a number of myths and misconceptions associated with codifications. The Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law has now firmly placed the issue of codification on the European legal agenda. The essay therefore attempts to assess its chances of success against the background of the historical experiences; thus, it considers the arguments that have, in the past, been advanced in favour of codifications of private law and also looks at other factors that have contributed to their success. All in all, the auspices for a European Code of Contract Law, let alone a Civil Code, are far from ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothesis is that, at least in Europe, there is a noted convergence between common and civil law legislative drafting extending from conceptual approaches to actual drafting conventions. The comparative analysis of [statutory] interpretation, modern doctrine of precedent, and drafting rules and conventions in the common and civil laws of Europe paint a clear picture approximation and convergence, to the point where the sacred civil versus common law dividing wall is now critically shaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international private law requires that states must have a tribunal system with the disposition to apply the rules of international law when a party in litigation is not a national of the country. One component of the international private law is the proof of the foreign law, which is analyzed from a comparative perspective between the state of the art in Colombia with countries that have a Common Law legal system and nations of the continental Europe. The critical review is made under three topics: the proof of foreign law as a matter of fact or law, the burden of proof and methods of proof. The prospects for Colombia in these areas will be confronted with the most recent developments in other jurisdictions. The conclusion is that the question of the proof of foreign law in Colombia does not keeps correspondence with the civil law system international standard, suggesting that is necessary to incept comprehensive legislation on private international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a new interpretation - the 'constitutional constraint' model - of the duty the Human Rights Act imposes on the courts to give horizontal effect to European Convention rights through the common law. The model requires courts to develop the common law compatibly with the Convention, but only where compatibility can be achieved by incremental development. We argue that models requiring more than incremental development are unsustainable; that deep constitutional norms compel the constraint of incrementalism, which is preserved under the HRA; and that by virtue of section 2 of the HRA, Convention rights function as principles rather than hard-edged rights in this context. This further undermines the idea that the courts must strictly apply Convention rights and cannot allow them to be overridden by non- Convention factors. The final section explores the nature of incrementalism in this context and the impact of the model on the doctrine of judicial precedent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the trust book or Book X of the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR). It states that the leading preparation of Book X is the discussion regarding the evident difficulties of drafting the European provisions in the area of law which is dominated by the Common Law. It mentions that the model rules of the DCFR were drafted with different purposes in mind, which indicates that Book X should not be considered as a draft European Trusts Law.

The book analyzes the «margin of appreciation doctrine» in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights from the viewpoint of the formation of a European common law of fundamental rights oriented towards the integration of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the legal integration's prominence, particularly for the American continent. It states that the American continent's legal integration is regarded as one of the most fertile, suggestive, and significant issues for the legal scholars in the continent. It explores the European common law system, and suggests considerations and concepts which could be used in developing an American community law.

The article discusses harmonization of non-economic rights of Copyright law known as moral rights of by the European Union (EU) for its member states. Due to the differences in the civil law and common law copyright law differed in EU's members. It mentions that EU's unification of its economic rights and less emphasis on moral rights is creating contrast among the member states over moral rights. The passing of the White Paper on Completing the Internal Market in 1985 and publish of Green Paper on Copyright and the Challenge of Technology in 1988 depicted the ultimate goal of the EU. It details the Article 3 of the EC Treaty and analyzes the judgement by European Court of Justice (ECJ). It concluded by stating the need for unification of moral rights and protection of authors.

The purpose of this Article is to give a brief history of the origin and development of the doctrine of sovereign immunity both in the common law and the civil law. After treating the doctrine's European origins, the Article will then cross the Atlantic and likewise sketch the development of the doctrine in the United States and Louisiana. After establishing this background, the doctrine and its myriad permutations can be examined as it applies to one of the greatest disasters in our country's history-Hurricane Katrina. At that point, the viability of the doctrine can be examined against the backdrop of the stark reality of the devastation and suffering wreaked upon Louisiana, caused in part by the errors and omissions of our federal government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent judgment in the Efstathiou case, the Assize Court of Nicosia, Cyprus, acquitted ten Policemen charged with criminal of fences related to alleged beating in 2005 of two Cypriot students. That verdict led to spontaneous reactions across the country, with people publicly protesting against and criticizing the judiciary. Among those that made scathing public comments were the Attorney-General of Cyprus and senior Cypriot lawyers. In its judgment, the court had suggested that media comments about the case unduly interfered with the fair trial of the case and amounted to contempt of court. On the whole, this case raises the issues of independence of the judiciary, trial by media and fair trial. There are two opposing views on the propriety or otherwise of the media coverage of the case as well as on whether, and if so, to what extent, the judiciary can be properly criticized. Essentially, this article seeks to consider the issues of judicial independence, trial by media and fair trial as well as the closely associated issue of contempt of court arising from the Efstathiou case and in relation to the common-law rooted Cypriot legal system. It argues that the right to fair trial is an inseparable part of a democratic society and that while the right to freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and undoubtedly the bulwark of a democratic society, it is not realizable without an independent judiciary which is equally indispensable in a democratic society. Hence, there is a great need to recognize the limits of the right to freedom of expression in order to sustain the independence of the judiciary and ensure the right to a fair trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last several decades, building a common European tort law has become a primary goal for many European institutions and research groups. On the one hand, EU institutions frequently highlight the need to simplify the current diversity in European tort law, and try to achieve this goal by injecting-so far quite incoherent-pieces of legislation into the European legal framework. On the other hand, many research groups aim to enhance the Europanization process through means that are much differentiated one to the other. Some of these groups (e.g., the European Group on Tort Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code) adopt a top-down approach, and seek to draft a "soft" European tort law. Others (e.g., the Ius Commune Casebook for a Common Law of Europe project and the Common Core of European Private Law project) follow a bottom-up path, committed to developing a better knowledge on tort law across European law-users. Despite the number and the quality of such enterprises, there is no agreement on what should be done or on who should do it. It is from this debate that this paper takes off, aiming to offer an overview of the endeavors currently under way, of the different techniques and methodologies they adopt, and of the possible outcomes that they are likely to produce in both the short run and the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a legal philosophical overview of the operation of European law, the paper aims at describing the mentality working in it by also answering the query whether the European law itself is to be regarded as the extension of some domestic laws or it offers quite a new and sui generis structure built upon all member states' laws. In either option, the connection between the European law and the composing national laws recalls the embodiment of post modern clichés, as the former's actual working (both purposefully and through its by-effects) exerts a destructive impact upon the bounds once erected by the latter's anchorage in the traditions of legal positivism. In addition, the excellence in efficacious operation of the European law is achieved by transposing the control on its central enactments to autonomous implementation and jurisdiction by its member nations. According to the conclusions of the paper, (1) the (post) positivism as the traditional domestic juristic outlook is inappropriate to any adequate investigation of the reality of European law. As part of the global post modernism itself, the European law stems from a kind of artificial reality construction (as the attempted mnaterialisation of its own virtuality), which is from the outset freed from the captivity of both historical particularities and htuuan experience, i.e., of anything concretely given hic et nunc. At the same time, (2) by its operation the European law dynamises large structures, through which it makes to move that what is chaos itself. For it is the reconstructive human intent solely that may try to arrange its outcome according to some ideal of order posteriorly-without, however, the operation itself (forming its construct and assuring its daily management) striving for anything of order (or ordered state and systemicity). This is the way in which the European law can be an adequate reflection upon the (macro) economic basis to which it fonims the superstructure. Accordingly, (3) the whole construct is frameworked (i.e., integrated into one working unit and also mnobilised) by an artificially animated dynamism. Concludingly, no national interest can be asserted in it without successful national self-positioning ready to launch it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the freedom of expression in Great Britain under the Human Rights Act 1998. It offers a comparison between the European Convention right and the common law freedom relative to freedom of expression. Also noted are legislation restricting the freedom, one of which is the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005. The general freedom of expression questions addressed by English courts since the incorporation of the right protected by the European Convention are discussed.

In this paper we examine the relation between ownership structure and operating performance for European maritime firms. Using a sample of 266 firm-year observations, during the period 2002-2004, we provide evidence that operating performance is positively related with foreign held shares and investment corporation held shares, indicating better investor protection from managerial opportunism. We also find no relation between operating performance and employee held shares, suggesting no relation between employee commitment and firms' economic performance. Furthermore, we find no relation between operating performance and government held shares, indicating that government may not adequately protect shareholders' interests from managerial opportunism. Finally, we do find a positive relation between operating performance and portfolio held shares for code law maritime firms but not for common law maritime firms. Results are robust after adjusting for various firm and country risk characteristics. Overall, our results on the importance of the ownership structure are new to this setting and add to a large body of evidence linking ownership characteristics to corporate performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The juridical systems are an expression of the culture in force. As an example, we talk of a "western culture' or of a "european culture which implies a specific dimension, the taking of roots of a law that joins the essential values of a society In this manner, if we analyze the existing relationship among the European common law and the American common law, we could assess two levels, the one corresponding to the sectors and institutions of a system, and the one of the observed edicts as a whole or among did rent institutions or sectors which form part of diverse systems. In like manner, we enhance the importance of the compared law as a fundamental tool in this work, where the purpose is to analyze the sense of the scientific comparison of juridical systems, of the causes which have produced them and of the effects that have been converted into the socio-cultural media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to a lack of sources, the makers of customary law in the middle ages are largely unknown to us. However, a unique source, the Lois des pers du castel de Lille, makes it possible to identify the spokesmen of customary law courts, who were the intellectual authors of these courts' judgements and, thus, the main creators of customary law. An analysis of their careers shows that they were legal advisers, lords and/or bailiffs and members or spokesmen of other courts. In short, they were their community's legal experts. They had learned their trade by doing and can be considered to have been semi-professionals. Certain spokesmen were more successful than others and served as a court's main spokesman, but it is hard to determine why someone became the main spokesman or spokesman at all, though knights had more 'natural' authority for acting as spokesman than others. In fact, although the spokesmen formed a community of legal experts in their area, two subgroups (the knights and the others) can be distinguished. The case studied in this article concerns the spokesmen of a Flemish castellany court around 1300, but spokesmen can be found in Flanders already in 1122 and they were common in North-western Europe. Therefore, this article concludes with a call for further research about these key figures of medieval customary law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes that the increasing stakes in judicial selection and the animosity surrounding judicial review is not unique in the American system, but it is inextricably linked to the notion of a constitutional democracy. It suggests that European countries should take note that the American experience has served as a preview of the future, showing that no liberal democracy can avoid the counter-majoritarian problem if the courts balance majority rule with minority rights. It also examines the civil law and common law legal traditions and the distinctions on the judiciary's role to provide a basic framework through which to view historical trends.

In response to the growing incoherence of European contract law, the Commission is planning to adopt a ‘common frame of reference’ (CFR) in 2009. That CFR will effectively constitute a codification in a substantive sense. As a result, in codified systems such as The Netherlands, there will be a shift from the familiar tension between impressionistic harmonisation and systematic codification to a new tension between the system of the national civil code and the system of the substantive European code. Therefore, once the CFR is adopted by the Commission as a tool for revising the acquis and for drafting new directives, national legislators inspired by the codification ideal will have to reconsider their strategies towards the implementation of directives in the area of private law. Three such strategies are considered here: resistance, segregation and surrender. Each of them has advantages, but also disadvantages. None of them solve the tension between national codification and Europeanisation. It seems unlikely that private law will ever (again) be contained exclusively in one comprehensive code, either on the national or on the European level. The CFR will make a comprehensive national codification increasingly difficult to achieve, whereas a comprehensive European Civil Code that replaces national private law both lacks a legal basis and political support. Therefore, we will have to live with a two- (or multi-) level system of private law. As a result, the Dutch and other national legislators will have to revise their codification ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the special relationship concept in the law of torts. He assesses its impact on the common law doctrine that there is no duty to aid others in the absence of an explicit agreement to do so. He notes the application of the concept in the U.S. and Europe. He cites the 1976 decision in the case Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, which relates that by virtue of the special relationship that a therapist has with a patient, the therapist also has a duty of care to third parties who might be injured by the patient.

Presents an introduction to the European Code of Contract, focusing on its origins, development and purposes. Importance of the formulation of principles of contract law within Europe; Discussion of some of the provisions; Differences between the Common Law and the Civil Law in the way they present themselves on the legal landscape.

The law and economics movement is the principal interdisciplinary field of legal studies. This paper traces the history of the movement and explains its basic principles, contrasts the version of the movement that predominates in the United States with the version that prevails in Europe, noting the greater emphasis of the former on substantive doctrine and of the latter on rule of law considerations, and emphasizes the importance of the movement for legal and economic reform in developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relevance of medieval law to the contemporary legal system in Europe as of 2000. In 1284 judgment was given by the Court of Common Pleas, the main royal court in the land, on a case that, remarkably touched on some of the present-day concerns. It dealt with building regulations and the authority of the courts to order the demolition of illegal constructions. One of the basic characteristics of the English common law was its ignorance of Roman law. In this respect the English situation was straightforward: judges trained in English law applied English law in the courts of the English king. In the early Middle Ages, until the twelfth century, the whole western Europe was dominated by unwritten customary law and had turned its back on the Roman empire and its law. One of the achievements in the medieval period that are relevant or even fundamental to modern society is that the highest courts in the land busied themselves with even the minor complaints of ordinary people and that this happened in independent law courts manned by trained professionals. Another is the creation of the jury. The jury was introduced by the French Revolution and was one of the victories of German liberals in the nineteenth century. Moreover, medieval governments, particularly in free cities, while believing that certain forms of violence could only be dealt with by a brutal repression thought that the best way to deal with breaches of peace among the citizens was through compensation and reconciliation.

Criticizes the adoption of a European Civil Code. Fundamental differentiation between the civil law and common law; Administrative convenience; Opposition against pluralism, a desire to suppress antimony and the diminution of particularity.

Discusses the law of capacity in international marriages. Conflict of laws of the validity of international marriages; Fundamental difference between the common law and the civil law of Europe in their conception of personal capacity; Tendency to hold that capacity depends upon the law of domicil; Role of nationality in governing capacity in Europe; Role of lex lei in governing capacity in the United States.

The article presents a list of European legislation mentioned in Volume 35 of the "Common Law World Review." They include Protocol 1, Article 1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) and Article 85 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community 1957 (Treaty of Rome).