Institute for Civil Law

Welcome

Thank you for visiting our website. The Institute for Civil Law (Zivilistisches Seminar) is part of the Department of Private Law. It is the University of Bern's competence center for Swiss and European Private Law as well as for international laws and principles in the field of Private Law (e.g. UN Sales Convention or Incoterms). Faculty and staff focus on research and teaching in the field of Civil Law (Code of Obligations, Civil Code and ancillary statutes). The tenured professors of the Institute also head the Institute of Banking Law (Professor Susan Emmenegger), the Institute for Liability and Insurance Law (Professor Frédéric Krauskopf) and the Institute for Notary Law and Notarial practice (Professor Stephan Wolf). Furthermore, the Institute coaches students who take part in national and international moot court competitions such as the prestigious Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot .

For more information see below.

NEWS

Solution outlines & Grade statistics

Here you can find information, in German, regarding exams.

Bernese Notary Association / Institute of Notary Law and Practice Conference INR/VbN 2019, 23-24 October 2019

23 October

Commentary on the partial revision of the Notary's Act (NG; BSG 169.11)

Great Success for the Bernese Vis Moot Teams!

For the 13th time, a team from the University of Bern participated in the prestigious "Willem C. Vis Moot Court in International Commercial Arbitration" in Vienna. Already at the Fox Williams Pre-Moot in London, the team was able to defeat the team from Moscow's Lomonosov University in the finale. In Vienna, the team managed to compete with 372 participating universities and reach the finals of the top 64 teams. With a victory over the Australian Catholic University team from Sydney, the Bernese even made it to the round of the best 32 teams, where they lost to the Lomonosov University team. Making it to the round of 32 is a huge success in this global competition! The team also won an Honorable Mention for their statement of claim. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement!

Bernese succeed at Swiss Moot Court

On 16 February 2019, the Bernese law students Sara D’Antoni and Jan Heller defeated the St. Gallen team in the finale of the Swiss Moot Court and won the most significant competition for law students in Switzerland. At the Federal Surpreme Court in Lucerne, where the competition was held, the team defeated another 46 teams from all over Switzerland. The teams had to plead against each other in a complex inheritance dispute in various rounds. The two Bernese students convinced the jury of 12, consisting of experts in legal research and practice, with a strong performance and great expertise, for example with correct and precise responses to interposed questions from the jury. The Institute for Civil Law and the University of Bern proudly acknowledge their great success and congratulate the winning team.

Skilex in Mürren with Lord Jonathan Mance and Lady Mary Arden from the UK Supreme Court

From 10-13 January the Skilex took place in Mürren. The participants discussed with Lord Justice Baron Jonathan Mance and Lady Justice Mary Arden questions regarding the validity of No-Oral-Modification Clauses on the basis of a recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court.

Career paths at the University of Bern

The Department for Gender Equality, in its portrait series, addresses the question 'What is excellence, really?'. Among the more than 50 portrayed women and men is Prof. Dr. med. Susan Emmenegger, in a double portrait with Prof. Dr. med. Axel Tschentscher. The two of them discuss their own career paths, the hurdles and good fortune and advise: 'Stick with it - it's worth it!'