030564 VO+UE Historical Aspects of European Private Law (2012S)

This course is adressing students of Legal theory and all those interested in the History of Private Law in Europe. The course mainly deals with the historical foundations of the Civilian Tradition in Europe and the institutional factors that helped to shape it. Besides a certain amount of lecturing, teaching will include in-class discussions of texts and cases and the presentation of topics by the students.

Venue: Seminarraum des Instituts für Römisches Recht, 3. Stock, Stg. 1
(Seminar room, Institute of Roman Law and Ancient Legal History)
24. April 2012 (16.00 18. 30):
Jurist´s Law - Law Making in Ancient Rome

8. Mai 2012 (16.00 18. 30):
The Rediscovery of Roman Law in the Middle Age

15. Mai 2012 (16.00 18. 30):
Natural Law and the Age of Enlightenment

22. Mai 2012 (16.00 18. 30):
Codified Law, Scholarship and Judicial Law Making

29. Mai 2012 (16.00 18. 30):
Student presentations

Basic Reading: Hausmaninger, The Civil Law Tradition, in Hausmaninger, The Austrian Legal system, 4th edition 2011, p. 269 294.

Registration: by email to magret.altrichter@univie.ac.at or in the first unit

Biographical data about the teacher:
Franz-Stefan Meissel, born 1966 in Graz (Styria), studied law at the Universities of Vienna and Paris 2; Law Diploma (Mag iur. )1988; Research Doctorate (Dr. iur.) 1993; Habilitation (Venia docendi for Roman Law and History of European Private Law) 2000; 2000-2002 Director of a research team for the Austrian 'Historians Commission', investigating the restitution of assets to Nazi victims in postwar Austria; since 2005 Full Professor of Law (Roman Law and History of Private Law in a Comparative Perspective) at the University of Vienna; since 2005 regularly Visiting Professor at the University René Descartes of Paris (Paris 5); Academic Director of the University of Vienna Summer School on European Studies. Prof. Meissel has published a number of books in the fields of Roman Law, the History of European Private Law and current Private Law; he was awarded the Figdor Price for Law and Social Sciences by the Austrian Academy of Science in 1994 and the Prix Boulvert by the Boulvert Committee and the University of Naples in 2004.