Institutional Competition between Common Law and Civil Law in Developing and Transforming Countries

Colloque
Salle Jean Dabin (Faculté de Droit)
Place Montesquieu, 2
March 9-10, 2009

March 9, 2009

18.00 - 20.00 h : Registration of participants at the Hotel Leonardo in Wavre-Louvain-la-Neuve

March 10, 2009

8.45 h : Departure by bus from the hotel to Bâtiment Thomas More

9.00 h : Beginning of Workshop

9.15 h : Introduction :

              Michèle Schmiegelow, Common Law and Civil Law as Sources of Advice for Development and Transformation Policy

9.30 - 10.35 h : The Law - Development Nexus

9.30       Kenneth Dam : The Law-Growth Nexus and LLSV Anomalies

9.45       Seigo Hirowatari : Legal Transformation as a Subject of Comparative Sociology and
              Policy Science (presented by Henrik Schmiegelow)

10.00     Henrik Schmiegelow : Courts and Codes for Open Societies and Free Markets

10.15     Discussion

10.30 Coffee break

10.45 - 12.15 h : Entry Costs and Transaction Costs of Laws or of their Absence

10.45     Victoria Elliott : Evaluating the World Bank IFC “Doing Business” Reports

11.00     Bertrand du Marais : Rating Agencies in Need of Reform

11.15     Raouf Boucekkine : Defining New Indicators, Broadening the Data Bases and
              Refining Time Series for Comparing the Economic Qualities of Legal Systems
             (With Fabien Ngendakuriyo, Ph.D.)

11.30     Discussion

12.15 – 13.45 h Lunch at “Il Doge”

14.00 - 17.00 h Comparing Legal Areas Crucial for Economic Development

14.00 - 15.00 h Contract Law

14.00     Marcel Fontaine : Concluding Contracts Made Easy and Safe : Default Rules and General Clauses in Civil Codes and Statutes

14.15     Denis Philippe : Common Law and Civil Law Influences in the Common Frame of Reference of European Private Law

14.30     Pierre-Paul Vangehuchten : Changing Labor Laws in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK

14.45     Discussion

15.00 - 16.00 h Property Law

15.00     Helmut Fessler : Would An Equivalent of the Civil Law Notary in the US Have Prevented the Subprime Crisis?

15.15     Stéphane Zecevic : "The duties of the French Notaire"

15.30      Otmar Stöcker : Quantifying Quality in Mortgage Law : Banks’, Owners’ and Legislators’ Perspectives

15.45     Discussion

16.00 Coffee break

16.15 – 17.00 h Corporate Law and Finance

16.15      Yves De Cordt and Sofie Cools : Measuring Shareholder Rights in Delaware, France and Belgium

16.30      Harald Baum : Different Interests Reflected in Reforms of Takeover Rules in the US, UK, Japan and Germany

16.45      Discussion

17.00 - 18.15 h Inspirations and Institutions of International Legal Cooperation

17.00      Masayoshi Kanda : Japan’s Network of Governmental, Nongovernmental, Academic and Professional
              Organizations Involved in International Legal Cooperation,

17.15      Claus Vreden: The “Deutsche Stiftung für internationale rechtliche Zusammenarbeit” (IRZ),

17.30      Dr. Albrecht Stockmayer, The “Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)”

17.45      Discussion

18.00      End of Workshop and transfer by bus to the Hotel Leonardo

19.15      Transfer by bus to the restaurant "La table des templiers", Wavre

19.30      Dinner
               With concluding remarks by Michèle Schmiegelow : The UCL Project’s Interdisciplinary Research Agenda

22.00      Transfer by bus to the Hotel Leonardo