European Legal Studies Institute: Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaften

Welcome

to the website of the European Legal Studies Institute (ELSI)! The professors working at the Institute, Prof. Dr Christoph Busch, Prof. Dr Oliver Dörr, Prof. Dr Thomas Groß, Prof. Dr Mary-Rose McGuire, Prof. Dr Hans Schulte-Nölke, Prof. Dr Sören Segger-Piening and Prof. Dr Fryderyk Zoll, are delighted that you are interested in their work. On this website you will find more about the Institute's publications, events, its research library and its co-operation partners. You can get also information about the professors' teaching, particularly in the specialisation areas, SPB 1, SPA 3, SPB 4 and SPB 5. International guests can find out about the institute and receive tips for a research stay at the ELSI.

News

Lecture Series on "Law & Technology"

The European Legal Studies Institute will host a lecture series on “Law & Technology” in cooperation with the Osnabrück branch of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. Professors & Practitioners working in the field of AI, Autonomous Robots, AR, Big Data, Digital Twins and the Internet of Things will share their knowledge and insights with us and are happy to take your questions.
The next lecture will be on the topic "Privacy-enhancing technologies as an enabler of multi-source analytics under tight regulatory regimes: the example of official statistics" given by Triin Siil, Cybernetica Tallinn.
Thursday, 30 April 2026, 6-8 p.m., room 44/E04

Programme (PDF, 162 kB)

IJVO Lecture with Dr. Benedikt Schmitz

The next IJVO Lecture will be held on 6 May 2026 at 18:00 (s.t.) by Dr. Benedikt Schmitz, LL.M. on the topic: "Other countries, other customs? On the autonomous interpretation of the choice of law barrier in Article 6 Rome I Regulation". He is Assistant Professor of Private International Law and Comparative Contract Law at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. In his lecture, he will highlight the autonomous interpretation of European private international and civil procedural law as an essential element in ensuring uniformity of decisions. This is particularly relevant when the content of a conflict rule has not yet been the subject of a referral to the ECJ. He will deal with the choice of law rule of Article 6(2) of the Rome I Regulation, focusing in particular on the so-called "Dutch method" of separate connection.
The event will take place at the European Legal Studies Institute in room 44/E03.

New opening hours!

At the request of the students, the opening hours of the research library in the ELSI will be extended: the library will now open at 8:00 am and close at 6:00 pm. The opening hours will apply from Monday to Friday from 24.11.2025.

Christian von Bar Price-2025

The winner of the Christian von Bar Prize 2025 is Nine Riis, University of Copenhagen. She receives the prize for her dissertation entitled "Defective Data? A comparative analysis of quality and usability obligations in B2B data contracts". The award ceremony will take place on 12.11.2025 at 17:30 in the European Legal Studies Institute in lecture hall E03. Afterwards, as part of the ELSI Lectures series, Professor Bea Verschraegen will give a lecture at 18:30 on the topic "AI & Copyright. An International Perspective". We look forward to welcoming many guests!

Program (PDF, 1.95 MB)

Two Lectures held by Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Christian von Bar

In two lectures designed primarily for foreign students (3.12.2025 and 14.1.2026, each from 16h s.t. to 17.30h in the European Legal Studies Institute, lecture hall 44/E04), basic questions of non-contractual liability law (3.12.) and property law (14.1.) of the Member States of the European Union will be discussed from a comparative law perspective. In these two lectures, Professor von Bar will draw on two of his research projects on European Tort Law and European Property Law.

Osnabrück delegation at the GJZ conference

The annual conference of the Gesellschaft junge Zivilrechtswissenschaft (GJZ) took place at EBS Law School this year under the overarching theme of "Blind Spots in Civil Law".

A large number of young academics from our schools were also present and covered a wide range of topics in six brilliant lightning talks by Patricia Kainka, Leo Kohz, Colin Partington, Philip Steitz, Tabea Stolte and Geelke Wemjes, among others: from pandect science to rainbow families and digital law.

After the GJZ is before the GJZ: we are now looking forward to the next annual conference, which will be held at Osnabrück University from September 23-26, 2026 for the first time since 2009. Save the date!