European Legal Studies Institute

On 16.05.2025, Professor Dr. Oksana Desyatnyuk, Rector, and Professor Dr. Uliana Koruts, Vice-Rector for Research and Academic Affairs, awarded Professor Dr. Hans Schulte-Nölke an honorary doctorate from the West Ukrainian National University of Ternopil.

The ceremony was preceded by a "Spring School" and a conference by and with academics from Ternopoil and the ELSI under the overarching theme "Why does the EU matter?". In the Spring School "Introduction to Ukranian law: general overview and specific issues" from May 13-15, 2025, the guests from Ternopil offered an introduction to Ukrainian law. Over three afternoons, they explained the legal system, the state organization and the private law system. In the morning, the conference "Perspectives from member states and accession candidates" on 16.05.2025 highlighted in a workshop the legal requirements for Ukraine's accession to the European Union, the post-war elections in Ukraine, the decade of cyber warfare in Ukraine, the safeguarding of the rights of stakeholders in the new Ukrainian administrative procedural law as well as the independence of the judiciary and the organization of the legal profession in chambers. In the afternoon, the ceremony was followed by greetings from the Managing Director of the ELSI, the Rector of the University of Ternopil, the Dean of the local School of Law and the President of Osnabrück University, as well as presentations on the revision of Ukrainian contract law (Professor Dr. Hanna Poperechna) and the protection of democracy, freedom and the rule of law by the EU (Professor Dr. Fryderyk Zoll). At the end of the event, Professor Dr. Schulte-Nölke spoke about the responsibility of research and teaching in the fields of European legal history, European private law and comparative law.

The stay of the Ukrainian guest researchers was part of the "Erasmus+" lecturer mobility program and the conference was sponsored by the University Society Osnabrück e.V.. Many thanks for the support of the events.

The next ELSI Lecture will take place on 21st of May 2025 with the title "Interpretation as a Tool of Integration - the CJEU and the Brussels I Regulation". Professor Nielsen will address interpretation as a tool of integration in EU Law by focusing on the Brussels I Regulation on International Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters. The integrating Role of the CJEU in shaping EU Law is not new. However, the policies often pursued by the Court call for attention, because the Court is manouvering in areas of politicial and legal significance having a substantial impact on international commercial practice.
Peter Arnt Nielsen is professor at CBS and external professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. He conducts research in and teaches Danish and international litigation, arbitration, and mediation, and Danish and international contract law.
The lecture will take place at 6 p.m. in lecture hall 44/E03.

On Wednesday, 26 March 2025, Friederike Schäfer will give a lecture on "Advantages & differences of arbitration proceedings compared to court proceedings - using the example of FRAND": Arbitration proceedings have many advantages over court proceedings, especially in international legal relations. Arbitration proceedings offer more flexibility in the conduct of proceedings, can be organised confidentially and arbitral awards are usually easier to enforce abroad than court judgments. These and other differences will be examined in more detail in the presentation. Using the example of FRAND disputes, the lecture will focus in particular on the question of whether and to what extent arbitration tribunals are also more flexible than state courts and therefore predestined to decide certain disputes.
The lecture will be held at 6:00 p.m. in lecture hall 44/E03.

On Wednesday 22 January, the European Legal Studies Institute (ELSI) welcomed friends and members of the Institute to the presentation of the Christian von Bar Prize to Berdien B. E. van der Donk for her dissertation ‘Digital Bouncers’. In her welcoming speech, Mary-Rose McGuire, Executive Director of the European Legal Studies Institute, pointed out why the new prize was established for an outstanding legal dissertation on European private or public law: We would like to thank Christian von Bar, who not only gave the prize its name, but also founded this institute. Prizes are an important part of academic culture. The prize conveys the important message that research is worthwhile and that good books are still being read. In his laudatory speech, Christoph Busch pointed out the third and perhaps most obvious reason, namely to honour the outstanding dissertation for which Berdien received the prize: ‘Digital Bouncers - A European Roadmap to navigate access rights and moderation issues on social media platforms’ deals with the complex issue of removing questionable content and blocking accounts on social media platforms in the EU.

Congratulations!

The European Legal Studies Institute (ELSI) is pleased to announce a conference on Enforcement of Rights in the Digital Space at Osnabrück University on November 7th and 8th, 2024. Legal Acts regulating the digital space in the European Union, such as the GDPR, the Data Act and the Digital Services Act, establish manyfold new rights and obligations, such as a duty to inform about data use and storage, rights of access to data or requests for interoperability. Yet, with regard to many of these rights and obligations it remains unclear whether and how private actors can enforce them. Speakers from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK address the commonalities, gaps and inconsistencies within the present system of enforcement of rights in the digital space and explore the different approaches academics throughout Europe take on these issues.