Tradition, Codification and Unification: Comparative-Historical Essays on Developments in Civil Law.

200 years ago many civil law jurisdictions adhered to exclusive national codifications of private law, and abandoned the old Ius Commune. Other jurisdictions in the civilian tradition did not engage in codifying private law, and continued along lines of authoritative opinions, case law and fragmented legislation. In our contemporary days the shades of national law slowly melt away, and we imagine a future where new common laws will continue to take shape. This book deals with this mirror image and explores the law in its everlasting tension between tradition and change. Historic and comparative analyses from European, Latin-American and South-African jurisdictions provide us with perspectives on the role of substance, methodology, institutions as well as individuals in developments of law towards the future.

Jan Smits holds the Chair of European Private Law at Maastricht University and is the academic director of the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (MEPLI). After his study of law at the universities of Leiden and Poitiers (1986-1991), he defended his PhD at the University of Leiden (1995), developing a theory of how contractual liability can be best explained. In 1995 and 1996 he taught at the universities of Stellenbosch and Tilburg. He then was appointed at Maastricht University, first (1996-1999) as an associate professor and then (1999) to the newly created Chair of European Private Law (the first chair for this field worldwide). At Maastricht, Jan led the private law research group of the Ius Commune Research School. From 2008 to 2010, he was distinguished professor of European Private Law and Comparative Law at Tilburg University, a post he gave up in late 2010 to return to Maastricht and found the Maastricht European Private Law Institute. He held visiting positions at a number of foreign institutions, including Tulane Law School, Leuven University, the University of Liège, Louisiana State University, the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and the University of Helsinki. From 2010-2012, he held the HiiL Visiting Chair on the Internationalisation of Law and in 2013-2014 the TPR Visiting Chair at the University of Ghent.
Jan Smits is an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

Dr. J.M. (Michael) Milo read law at the University of Groningen. He obtained his PhD at the Maastricht University (1997). He headed the student law clinic (rechtswinkel). He engaged in research on public interest law at the Center for Public Representation, Madison, Wisconsin (1991). He taught law at the University of Maastricht where he obtained his doctorate in 1997. Since 1995 he is senior associate professor at the Molengraaff Institute for Private Law, Utrecht University.

Jan Lokin is emeritus professor in Legal History, specializing in Roman Law at the University of Groningen.
He studied at the University of Groningen and obtained his Master of Laws degree in 1967. In 1973 he graduated with Prof. H.J. Scheltema, whom he succeeded as a professor in Roman Law at the University of Groningen in 1977.
He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
He is highly published in history of law.