Leading Principles of private law

Matthias E. STORME

buitengewoon hoogleraar KU Leuven

Centre for Advanced Legal Studies

(this course is no longer taught)

C859 Leading Principles of Private Law

Teachers: Matthias Edward Storme (Co-ordinator), Patrick Senaeve, Alain Verbeke

Teaching materials:

A. M.E. STORME, PROPERTY LAW IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

 see http://www.storme.be/comprop.html

You can download the syllabus by clicking on the Parts.

B. P. SENAEVE, FAMILY LAW

C. A. VERBEKE, FAMILY PROPERTY LAW

D. M.E. STORME, LAW OF OBLIGATIONS IN A EUROPEAN AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

I. GENERAL PART (1999): http://www.storme.be/verb2001deelIAC.doc

II. CONTRACT LAW

Backgound materials : Principles of European Contract Law (download in MS Word) :

- part I & II (1999)

- part III (2003)

 Full text of PECL and Comments: only for academic purposes - not to be distributed further !: See http://www.storme.be/PECL2enfull.html

Content: The course mainly provides an overview and discussion of the general principles and most important concepts of private law. It is only open to foreign students (Erasmus and LL.M. students) and is taught in a comparative perspective. Starting from Belgian law, a comparison is made with the law of other European countries in order to analyse the basic similarities and differences. In the law of obligations, the principles of European contract law (recent attempt to restate a European contract law) are taken as a starting point. The topics are (subject to modification depending on the interest and origin of the students):
I.-V. Property law;
VI.-VII. Family law;
VIII.-IX. Family property;
X-XIII Law of obligations.

Prerequisites: students are supposed to have a basic knowledge of the general concepts of private law in their own country

Teaching method: lectures and class discussions

Exam: written

Examples of exam questions

- Explain and discuss the "numerus clausus" principle in property law; which types of rights have property effects ?

- In how far are the rules of property law, as developed for material things, applicable to creditors' rights as an object of property?

- Discuss the role of publicity in transfer of immovable property in the French & Belgian system of law, compared to other legal systems, where publicity is "constitutive" for transfer.

- Explain the basic rules governing the conflict between an acquirer of movables and persons having an older property (or similar) right on them

- Explain the rules on mistake in the PECL compared to some national law.

- Explain the main remedies for non-performance of (contractual) obligations and their conditions under the PECL compared to some national law.