Maastricht Law Talk

We are back with the second part of our property law episode. This time, my guest of the first part - Bram Akkermans - joined me to interview a true expert of property law. Dr. Jill Robbie is a Lecturer in Private Law at Glasgow University. She did her PhD on Water Rights and was at the moment of recording in Louisiana, helping to research a better property rights system. Did you know that water is seen as a "public thing" over there? Find out what this means in this month's episode. Long story short: Enjoy this episode!

This is part 1 of this episode. Part 2 will be released on 17th May 2018. After months of absence from the area of private law, we finally managed to record another episode on it. In this episode, Bram Akkermans and I talk about property law. We pick up from where we left off in #1 What is Law?: Are animals really objects of property and if so, why? From land to movables: we cover it (almost) all. Bram Akkermans is Associate Professor of European Private Law at Maastricht University and also holds a Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht Visiting Chair at the KU Leuven. He is also Associate Director of the Maastricht European Private Law Institute.

Many supranational organisations exist, be it the African Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, or the Association of Caribbean States. In this episode we will focus on just one of them: the European Union. Political parties all over its territory preach euroscepticism, which even resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave: the infamous Brexit. But what is the European Union, its law, and how did it develop in the first place? In this tenth episode of Maastricht Law Talk, Andrea Ott introduces us to the world of European Union Law. Andrea is professor of European Union External Relations Law at Maastricht University and member of CLEER. Before starting her current position, she held both assistant and associate professorships of EU Institutional Law. She also taught several courses on External Relations Law and European Union Law in general, both on a Master's and Bachelor's level. Before you start listening, check out our episodes on What is Law?, Constitutions, Brexit, (EU) Citizenship, and International Law. If you have listened to them already, even better!

The United Nations comprises of 193 states, all of which have legal relations with each other. But how are these relationships governed? International law is there to help: It organises, furthers, and reforms these relationships. Who defines what a state is and why is Palestine, among others, not always recognised as one? This 9th episode of Maastricht Law Talk features Marcel Brus. He is a professor of Public International Law at the University of Groningen. He not only coordinates several study programmes (two LLMs and one LLB), but also chairs the Department of Transboundary Legal Studies in Groningen. Additionally, he holds the position of Director of Studies at the prestigious International Law Association. As always: If you haven't listened to our first episode yet, you should consider doing so first: What is Law. It definitely helps understanding certain terms and concepts.

We don't think much about it, but most of us have one: A citizenship. We are being born as Indian, Dutch, Bulgarian, Chinese, or some other nationality. But why do we have citizenships and what rights do they bring with them?  Our first guest in 2018 is Dimitry Kochenov. Dimitry holds a professorship in EU Constitutional Law at the University of Groningen and recently published his new book "EU Citizenship and Federalism: The Role of Rights" (Cambridge, 2017). He also consults national governments and acts as an expert for leading law firms. His biggest project, made possible through support by Henley & Partners, is the Quality of Nationality Index. This episode is mostly standing on its own. If you haven't listened to our other episodes yet, consider listening to our first: What is Law. We might refer to certain concepts of European Union law which we haven't yet covered in this podcast. But don't worry: You will understand the content anyways.

It might seem so obvious: If someone misbehaves, e.g. by damaging your property, you may start proceedings or seek any other remedy available. All legal systems allow such recourse. But why? Listen to this 7th episode of Maastricht Law Talk to find out! This month's guest is Maurits Barendrecht. He is research director at HiiL and a Professor of Private Law at Tilburg University. After finishing his law degree at Leiden University he started working at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, one of the biggest law firms in the Netherlands. Some years later, he even became partner. But: This wasn't his. After finishing his PhD he started teaching at Tilburg and joined HiiL later on. To fight for justice!

There are 7.35 billion people on this planet. We all have to live together and arrange our lives in a way that others can live theirs. But what if something goes wrong? Your friend borrows your phone and it happens: It falls to the ground. Who must compensate your damage? In our sixth episode we dig deeper into the private law. Tort law jumps in where contract law can not help: When you suffer a wrong but the wrongdoer is someone you do not have any legal relationship with. Gijs van Dijck is Full Professor of Private Law at Maastricht University and joined its faculty of Law in September 2016. His work evolves around empirical legal research in fields such as tort law and insolvency law. He was a visiting scholar at Standford Law School and KU Leuven. Next to his professorship Gijs is co-director of the Maastricht European Private Law Institute.

European lawyers tend to have a hard time with United States Law at first. Too different are "both" systems, it seems. But is the Anglo-American legal order really that different? The fifth main episode of Maastricht Law Talk leaves the European continent for a while: It covers the United States legal system. From a federal judge being able to block the president's executive orders to the harmonisation process of law. Larry Catá Backer is Professor of Law and International Affairs at Penn State University. He is an expert on corporate, enterprise, and constitutional law and is currently working on his new book on an "Introduction to U.S. Law". You can find his work and latest research on his website Backer in Law or on his blog Law at the End of the Day. If you haven't yet listened to our episode on constitutions, you might want to do that first.

Did you get a coffee this morning or maybe a sandwich for lunch? Whether or not you were aware of it: You have concluded a contract. Thus: Let's talk about contract law! Unfortunately, the audio recording didn't work out as planned. Thus, the first few minutes might not offer the usual quality. Please accept my apologies for this! This fourth main episode of Maastricht Law Talk covers the law of contract. Contracts are everywhere: We rent apartments, subscribe to Netflix, and pay the electricity supplier. We also buy coffees, sausage rolls, and drinks. My guest today is Jan Smits, Full Professor of European Private Law at Maastricht University (UM). He is also the head of the department for private law at UM and director of the Maastricht European Private Law Institute. Jan obtained his PhD on "the reliance principle and contractual liability" from Leiden University.

This week's episode is all about the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. With me for a second time is Aalt Willem Heringa - an expert in his field. If you haven't listened to our episode on constitutions yet, you might want to do that first. Aalt Willem is Full Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at Maastricht University and recently started a research blog platform called Law Blogs Maastricht. We talk about: the court rulings on Brexit, the concept of sovereignty, a Scottish independence, Gorden Brown's federalism idea, the upcoming negotiations, and much more.