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The Ius Commune Casebook Project was set up by Professor Walter van Gerven and Mrs Adriana Alvarez in 1994. It was initially funded by the European Commission and later on by Maastricht University where all activities were coordinated at the METRO Institute for Transnational Legal Research. German, French, English and Benelux scholars were involved in the preparation of a first wave of casebooks on the Scope of Protection offererd by tort law, Tort Law, Contract Law and Unjustified Enrichment. The preliminary volume on the Scope of Protection offered by tort law saw daylight in 1998. It was launched at Gray's Inn, London on April 1, 1998 in the presence of distinguished members of the academia, the judiciary and the Bar. Free copies have been distributed across Europe. In 2000, the expanded first full edition on Tort Law appeared. The volumes on Tort Law have already been cited by the House of Lords (inter alia in McFarlane v Tayside Health Board and in Fairchild v Glenhaven). The Casebook on Contract Law was published in March 2002. Having seen these first volumes, on Tort Law and Contract Law professors Beatson and Schrage proposed to publish the fruits of their ongoing research on the law of unjustified enrichment in the Ius Commune Casebook series which resulted in the Casebook on Unjustified Enrichment in June 2003.
In 2001 the University of Leuven joined Maastricht University to become the second host institution of the Casebook Project. Both universities already cooperated closely in the framework of the Ius Commune Research School since 1995. Each faculty now supports the development of several new casebooks. In Maastricht, METRO remained at the centre of activities. In Leuven, the Centre for a Common Law of Europe (CCLE) started acting as its counterpart. Between 2003-2006 various task forces embarked upon the development of new casebooks on Civil Procedure, Law and Art, Property Law (all coordinated at METRO) and on Consumer Law and Labour Law (both coordinated in Leuven). In addition, the task forces on Contract Law and Tort Law reconvened in a new setting to revise the first editions of their casebooks. New casebooks will see daylight as from 2010 when the volumes on Consumer Law, Contract Law and Property Law are expected to appear.
In 2004 a team set out upon the development of a Casebook on Non-Discrimination Law as part of a larger EU-funded project (Stimulating Public Interest Litigation at a Pan-European Level – Raising Knowledge and Imparting Skills, Community Action Programme to Combat Discrimination 2001-2006). Their casebook appeared in summer 2007. It took the Casebook series beyond the confines of private law and was also the first volume to build on source material derived from all 27 EU Member States. In 2008 Lord Bingham cited the first chapter in the House of Lords' judgment in Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm.
In 2009 two new task forces convened. A first one will develop a Casebook on Judicial Review of Administrative Action, the second one a Casebook on Constitutional Law. Their activities are coordinated at Maastricht University and Tilburg University respectively. Early in 2010 a team whose efforts are being sponsored by by the Univeristy of Luxembourg embarked upon a Casebook on Conflict of Laws. A team which will focus on Legal History will convene its first meeting in Valencia.
The Ius Commune Project is obviously an ongoing effort. It is hoped that some users will volunteer for co-operation. Do not hesitate to contact the research coordinator if you show interest to participate in the project.
