This volume contains 14 national reports and the General Report on the use of comparative law by courts, which were presented at the XIVth International Congress of Comparative Law in Athens. It provides a general survey of the frequency and methods of a comparative recourse to foreign law by courts, describing both the methods of such recourse and the typical fields in which it is undertaken. The reports offer a cross-section of contemporary court practice from a wide variety of countries around the world - large and small, unitary and federal, and with differing historical backgrounds. All these varied elements have an impact on the needs of national courts to look to foreign law for inspiration or as a model for dealing with new, unsettled issues of national law, and the reports illustrate well the impact of divergent traditions, attitudes and surrounding circumstances. Of special interest are both the role of comparative law and the comparative method employed in the practice of a supranational court, such as the European Court of Justice. In addition to the General Report, this volume contains national reports from the following countries: Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States of America.

This casebook presents a deep comparative analysis of property law systems in Europe (i.e. the law of immovables, movables, and claims), offering signposts and stepping stones for the reader wishing to explore this fascinating area. The subject matter is explained with careful attention given to its history, foundations, thought-patterns, underlying principles, and basic concepts. The casebook focuses on uncovering differences and similarities between Europe's major legal systems - French, German, Dutch, and English law are examined, while Austrian and Belgian law are also touched upon. The book combines excerpts from primary source materials (case law and legislation) and from doctrine and soft law. In doing so, it presents a faithful picture of the systems concerned. Separate chapters deal with the various types of property rights, their creation, transfer, and destruction, along with security rights (such as mortgages, pledges, retention of title), as well as with harmonizing and unifying efforts at the EU and global level. Through the functional approach taken by the Ius Commune Casebooks series, this volume clearly demonstrates that traditional comparative insights no longer hold. The law of property used to be regarded as a product of historical developments and political ideology, which were considered to be almost set in stone and assumed to render any substantial form of harmonization or approximation very unlikely. Even experienced comparative lawyers considered the divide between common law and civil law to be so deep that no common ground (so it was thought) could be found. However, economic integration - in particular, integration of financial markets and freedom of establishment - has led to the integration of particular areas of property law, such as mortgage law and enforceable security instruments (e.g. retention of title). This pressure towards integration has led comparative lawyers to refocus their interest from contract, tort, and unjustified enrichment to property law and to delve beneath its surface. This book reveals that today's property law systems are closer to one another than previously assumed, that common ground can be found, and that differences can be analyzed in a new light to enable comparison and further the development of property law in Europe. (Series: Ius Commune Casebooks for the Common Law of Europe)