The direct descendant of the last German emperor has proven to be a legal tyrant by intimidating historians, journalists, and others through numerous Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP). The prospect of long and expensive legal disputes has pressured the German state into an agreement that grants the royal heir significant control over [...]
On 13th October, thousands of renters and allies marched through the streets of Madrid calling for a rent strike. PM Pedro Sánchez said in response to the protests: “I don’t want to live in a country of rich landlords and poor tenants”. And yet, despite multiple legal and policy reforms since 2012-13, salaries simply are [...]
What should we do with abandoned spaces and facilities in the outskirts of our cities? How can we recover such spaces, while at the same time strengthening social cohesion in our neighbourhoods and citizens’ participation in local administrations? In Italy, in the last ten years, a remarkable number of municipalities (around 200 – [...]
When it comes to living within our planetary boundaries, land use is incredibly important. Not only do industry and agriculture significantly contribute to climate change, also construction of homes and the way in which these homes are used have negative effects on our climate. Our legal system plays an important role in our transition [...]
What do you think about when someone mentions the US State of Louisiana? Mardi gras, hurricanes, jazz and a Sazerac cocktail? Ask a comparative lawyer and they may respond that Louisiana is a Mixed Legal System, meaning that it is a mixture of Common law and Civil law elements. Mixed Legal Systems form a [...]
‘Property', Alexis de Tocqueville wrote on the eve of the uprisings that shook Europe in 1848, ‘will be the great battlefield’. As the long shadow of the French Revolution sealed the demise of the aristocratic order and cemented the shift from feudal to capitalist property constructs, Tocqueville expected political contestation to increasingly play [...]
Property’s transformative nature: Space mining, Airbnb, and Apartheid For the last few years, a new, innovative business model has been on the rise. It is called ‘space mining’ – digging for valuable resources in asteroids and other minor planets in outer space. Big companies with exotic names, like Space X by Elon Musk, or [...]