Institutional competition of optional codes in European contract law

The Common European Sales Law (CESL) is the European Commission’s most recent policy initiative for European contract law. It aims to address the problem that differences between the national contract laws of the Member States may constitute an obstacle for the European Internal Market. This paper develops a model of the institutional competition in European contract law and uses it to addresses the question as to whether an optional European contract code and the CESL are economically desirable for European contract law. To do so I examine the transaction costs involved in the process of choosing an applicable law that European businesses face when they conduct cross-border transactions in the European Internal Market. I then describe how these transaction costs shape the competitive environment, i.e. what I refer to as the “European market for contract laws” in which the contracting parties choose a law to govern their cross-border contracts. Having identified this environment and the competitive forces operating within it, I propose a model, the “Cycle of European Contract Law”. I use this model to analyze the competitive processes that take place in the European market for contract laws. Based on my results I make recommendations for the optimal implementation of an optional European contract code and the CESL in European contract law.     

公司本质论纲——公司法理论体系逻辑起点解读

对公司本质的承诺直接决定着公司法理论的走向。本文从超越“唯一本质观”出发 ,全面评述了法人拟制说、法人否认说和法人实在说的理论优势和局限及其对立法实践的影响。在此基础上 ,介绍了“公司的合同理论”的基本主张 ,系统分析了该种公司本质观的理论优势 ,认为对公司本质的这种承诺必将引发公司法研究的整体转向 ,为公司法研究提供一个极具潜力的理论生长点。     

European criminal law and European identity

This contribution aims to explain how European Criminal Law can be understood as constitutive of European identity. Instead of starting from European identity as a given, it provides a philosophical analysis of the construction of self-identity in relation to criminal law and legal tradition. The argument will be that the self-identity of those that share jurisdiction depends on and nourishes the legal tradition they adhere to and develop, while criminal jurisdiction is of crucial importance in this process of mutual constitution. This analysis will be complemented with a discussion of the integration of the first and the third pillar as aimed for by the Constitutional Treaty (TE), which would bring criminal law under majority rule and European democratic control. Attention will be paid to two ground breaking judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that seem to boil down to the fact that the Court actually manages to achieve some of the objectives of the CT even if this is not in force. This gives rise to a discussion of how the CT (and related judgements of the ECJ) may transform European criminal law in the Union to EU criminal law of the Union, thus producing an identity of the Union next to the identities prevalent in the Union. The contribution concludes with some normative questions about the kind of European identity we should aim to establish, given the fact that such identity will arise with further integration of criminal law into the first pillar.

Commercial and company law and sustainable development

This paper reviews key areas of commercial and company law that are relevant to sustainable development. It includes an overview of international and regional frameworks, and examines good practice in national laws in the specific areas of company law, securities law and corporate insolvency. It does so with a view to providing conclusions and recommendations that represent a starting point for Commonwealth member countries when engaging with law reform and strengthening in the area of commercial law. The recommendations aim, in particular, at supporting law reform that enables commercial law frameworks to make a clear contribution to attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.     

论公司相互持股的法律规制

公司相互持股已经成为我国必须认真面对的一个问题,但相应的立法却十分薄弱,难以发挥实质的规制作用。因此在修订公司法过程中,应当借鉴发达国家的有益经验,引进相应制度,强化相互持股的公司的程序性义务、限制相互持股的股东表决权、完善相关的配套制度,实现对公司相互持股的有效规制。     

European associations in law and economics foreword

European Journal of Law and Economics -     

Reorganization in US and European Bankruptcy law

European countries have amended their bankruptcy statutes in the past decades to increase the likelihood of a company’s continuation in bankruptcy. Liquidation procedures are ill suited to realize the full value of the company as a going concern. An infusion of new finance raises company valuation and makes continuation through reorganization more likely. Reorganization preserves value, if general creditors as the main beneficiaries of reorganization play a crucial role in reorganization proceedings. Legal origins of national bankruptcy legislations are less important in explaining the incidence of reorganization than national attitudes towards failure and the prevalence of equity over debt finance. JEL Classification K12     

论公司利益的刑法保护

公司是市场经济的主要主体。我国缺乏公司法律制度传统 ,公司利益的法律保障机制尤其是刑法保障机制十分薄弱。本文通过分析我国刑法中针对公司利益保护的立法与司法实践 ,借鉴国外公司刑法的立法经验 ,提出了改革我国刑法中有关公司利益保护的立法和司法建议。     

论竞争法的基本原则

我国经济体制改革的目标是建立社会主义市场经济体制.要实现这一目标,其根本措施是要建立与完善符合社会主义市场经济要求的市场经济法律制度.因此,在国家的经济立法过程中,根据市场经济运行规律与实现国家经济职能要求完善已有的和创制新型的经济法律制度,便成了历史的必然.