Research

Sustainability is the fundamental theme of our time, but is it also a theme for private law? The research project examines this question from the perspective of private law theory and shows how sustainability aspects can be integrated into the core concepts of contract, tort and property.

 

Funding

The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft),  project number 458303786.

 

Important Publications

• Sustainable Private Law, Tübingen 2023

• Sustainability in European Private Law, ZEuP 2021, 35-63

Climate litigation against companies raise complex legal questions: Is there a provable causal link and what duty has been breached? How should directors and supervisory board react? The research project takes an open-minded approach to climate litigation and develops innovative solutions.

 

Important publications

• Duty of the supervisory board to monitor the climate, ZIP 2024, 105-110

• Climate Liability and Compliance, ZIP 2023, 234-240

• Liability for future climate damages, NJW 2023, 113-118

• Climate liability and causality - and yet it works!, JZ 2021, 1099-1106

How should private law deal with autonomous systems? Are they highly developed objects or should they be treated as legal subjects? Who is liable if damage occurs when artificial intelligence is used? The research project is developing new answers at the interface of legal theory and legal dogmatics.

 

Important publications

• Of Mice, Men and Machines - Autonomous Systems in the Architecture of Legal Capacity, JZ 2019, 711-718

• Robotics and traffic - What remains of the owner's liability?, RW 9 (2018), 453-476

• Rechtsfähige Roboter?, JZ 2016, 660–666