Jörg Fedtke
A.N. Yiannopoulos Professor in Comparative Law
Education & Affiliations
Biography
Professor Fedtke joined the Tulane University Law School faculty in time for the start of the Spring 2009 semester. Professor Fedtke's main interests are public law (both constitutional and administrative), tort law, and comparative methodology. He was educated at schools in Zambia, the Philippines, and Germany, where he went on to study law and political science. Following research both at the Institute for International Affairs in Hamburg and the Institute for Foreign and Comparative Law at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, Professor Fedtke was awarded a PhD, summa cum laude, by the University of Hamburg for an extensive analysis of legal transplants in South Africa's Constitutions of 1993 and 1996. Professor Fedtke joined University College London in 2001 as DAAD/Clifford Chance Lecturer in German Law. He received a Lectureship in 2002, a Readership in 2004, and was promoted to Professor of Comparative Law in 2007. Professor Fedtke has also served since 2003 as Visiting Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Fellow of the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (ECTIL) in Vienna, Austria. Before joining University College London, Professor Fedtke was a full-time researcher at the University of Hamburg/Germany. Within the framework of the 'Democratisation Assistance Programme' of the German Foreign Office, Professor Fedtke has provided expert advice on questions of constitutionalism to members of the Iraqi National Assembly and, in the context of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for the Office of Constitutional Support (OCS) of the United Nations Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). He has also been involved in research projects for the European Commission (liability for genetically modified crops) and the French Cour de cassation (on the reform of the Code civil). He is General Editor (with Sir Basil Markesinis) of The University of Texas Studies in Foreign and Transnational Law. Jointly with Sir Basil, he was awarded the 2005 John Minor Wisdom Award for Academic Excellence in Legal Scholarship for a contribution to Volume 80 of the Tulane Law Review, "The Judge as Comparatist."
Professor Fedtke’s main research interests are. He has provided advice on federalism, judicial review and human rights protection to members of the Iraqi National Assembly, and has on a number of occasions served as a foreign expert for UN- and EU-funded projects on various aspects of constitutionalism in the Arab region. He was key advisor to the initiative ‘Kirkuk and Beyond – Strengthening Multi-Level Governance and Service Provision in a Challenging Environment’ funded by the German Foreign Office in Kirkuk/Iraq and assisted the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) on missions to support the constitution drafting process in Tunisia and Egypt (reporting on human rights protection and regionalism/federalism). Professor Fedtke has also been involved in collaborative research for the European Commission and the French Cour de cassation, and has given expert evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution in the United Kingdom. He is currently consulting The Carter Center’s field office in Egypt and the European Parliament on constitutional developments in the Arab region. Professor Fedtke regularly advises corporate and private clients on tort claims. Current research projects include the use of comparative methodology in international commercial practice; human rights protection in Germany, the United Kingdom, and on the European level; constitutionalism in post-conflict societies; data protection and access to information; and questions of law reform. He has published extensively on constitutional law, tort law, and comparative methodology.
Research
Constitutional law, election law, comparative methodology, and torts
Contributions
Selected Publications
The Culture of German Tort Law, 3 J. of European Tort L. 183-209 (2012)
Damages for the Negligence of Statutory Bodies. The Empirical and Comparative Dimension to an Unending Debate (with Sir Basil Markesinis), 52 Public Law 299-330 (2007)
Authority or Reason? The Economic Consequences for Liability for Breach of Statutory Duty in a Comparative Perspective (with Sir Basil Markesinis), 18 European Business Law Review, 5-75 (2007)
‘The Judge as Comparatist’ (with Sir Basil Markesinis) in: [2005/2006] Tulane Law Review 11-167 (2005/2006)
‘Concerns and Ideas About the Developing English Law of Privacy (And How Knowledge of Foreign Law Might Be of Help)’ (with Basil Markesinis, Colm O’Cinneide and Myriam Hunter-Henin), [2004] 52 American Journal of Comparative Law 133-208
Books and Book Chapters
Engaging in Foreign Law (with Sir Basil Markesinis), Hart Publishing (Oxford 2009) [reviews: Carsten Gerner-Beuerle, King’s Law Journal Vol. 20 No. 3 (2009), 527-534; Sebastian Martens, Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht 75 (2011), 160-165; P. Marchal, Revue de droit international et comparé, 2009, n° 4, 667- 672]
Human Rights and the Private Sphere – A Comparative Analysis (co-edited with Dawn Oliver), Routledge-Cavendish (London 2007) [reviews: (121) 2008 Harvard Law Review 2271, online at: http://harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/recent_pubs0608.pdf; Ruchira Goswami, 1 National University of Juridical Sciences L. Rev. (2008) 185-188, online at http://www.law.tulane.edu/uploadedFiles/Institutes_and_Centers/Eason_Weinmann/hrpsnujs.pdf]
Judicial Recourse to Foreign Law (with Sir Basil Markesinis and contributions by Laurie Ackermann, Aharon Barak, Brun-Otto Bryde, Guy Canivet, Sir Sydney Kentridge, Christof Rozakis, and Konrad Schiemann), Routledge-Cavendish (London 2006) [Italian edition: Giudici e Diritto Straniero, Società editrice il Mulino (Bologna 2009)]
Patterns of Regionalism and Federalism (co-edited with Sir Basil Markesinis), Hart Publishing (Oxford 2005)
Die Rezeption von Verfassungsrecht. Südafrika 1993-1996, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft (Baden-Baden 2000) [reviews: Hanri Mostert, (2004) German Law Journal Vol. 04 No. 2, pp. 187-197, online at http://www.germanlawjournal.com/article.php?id=236; Edzard Schmidt-Jorzig, (2002) Verfassung und Recht in Übersee 35, pp. 327-330, online at http://www.vrue.nomos.de/fileadmin/vrue/doc/VRUE2002_Heft2.pdf; Silke Becker, Portal für Politikwissenschaft (01/2006), online at http://www.pwportal.de/rezension/12567-die-rezeption-von-verfassungsrecht]
‘The Changing Nature of U.S. (Common?) Tort Law’ in: Festschrift Ulrich Magnus (Sellier, Munich 2013), pp. 3-19
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2012’ (with Florian Wagner-von Papp) in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2012, Springer (Vienna/New York, 2013), pp. 261-300
‘Legal Transplants’ in: Jan Smits (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (2d edn, Cheltenham 2012), pp. 550-554
‘Privacy’ (with Colm O’Cinneide and Myriam Hunter-Henin) in: Jan Smits (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (2d edn, Cheltenham 2012), pp. 687-700
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2011’ (with Florian Wagner-von Papp) in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2011, Springer (Vienna/New York, 2012), pp. 250-286
‘Electoral Reform in Egypt’ in: Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (ed), Electoral Systems (Cairo, 2011), pp. 85-117
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2010’ (with Florian Wagner-von Papp) in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2010, Springer (Vienna/New York, 2011), pp. 200-246
‘The Protective Purpose of the Rule’ in: Attila Fenyves, Ernst Karner, Helmut Koziol and Elisabeth Steines (eds), Tort Law in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (2011), pp. 539-566
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2009’ (with Florian Wagner-von Papp) in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2009, Springer (Vienna/New York, 2010), pp. 217-263
‘Damage Caused by GMOs under German Law’ in: B.A. Koch (ed.), Damage Caused by Genetically Modified Organisms, De Gruyter (Berlin/New York 2010), pp. 212-246
‘Economic Loss Caused by GMOs in Germany’ in: B.A. Koch (ed.), Economic Loss Caused by Genetically Modified Organisms, Springer (Vienna/New York 2010), pp. 213- 232
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2008’ (with Florian Wagner-von Papp) in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2008, Springer (Vienna/New York 2009), pp. 285-323
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2007’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2007, Springer (Vienna/New York 2008), pp. 288-308
‘Constitutional Transplants – Returning to the Garden’ in: Jane Holder/Colm O’Cinneide (eds), Current Legal Problems (Volume 61), OUP (Oxford 2009), pp. 49-94
‘Economic Loss Caused by GMOs in Germany’ in: Bernhard A. Koch (ed): Economic Loss Caused by Genetically Modified Crops. Liability and Redress for the Adventitious Presence of GMOs in Non-GM Crops, Springer (Vienna/New York 2008), pp. 213-232
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2006’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2006, Springer (Vienna/New York 2007), pp. 213-236
‘From Indirect to Direct Effect in South Africa: A System in Transition’ in: Dawn Oliver/Jörg Fedtke (eds), Human Rights and the Private Sphere – A Comparative Analysis, Routledge Cavendish (London 2007), pp. 351-377
‘Drittwirkung in Germany’ in: Dawn Oliver/Jörg Fedtke (eds), Human Rights and the Private Sphere – A Comparative Analysis, Routledge Cavendish (London 2007), pp. 125- 156
‘Identity Cards and Data Protection: Security Interests and Personal Freedom in Times of Crisis in: Jane Holder/Colm O’Cinneide (eds), Current Legal Problems (Volume 59), OUP (Oxford 2006), pp. 242-276
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2005’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2005, Springer (Vienna/New York 2006), pp. 281-305
‘State Liability in Times of Budgetary Crisis’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2005, Springer (Vienna/New York 2006), pp. 42-54
‘Legal Transplants’ in: Jan Smits (ed), Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (2006), pp. 434-437 ‘Privacy’ (with Colm O’Cinneide and Myriam Hunter-Henin) in: Jan Smits (ed), Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (2006), pp. 554-565
‘Human Rights in a Federal System’ in Jörg Fedtke/Sir Basil Markesinis (eds), Patterns of Regionalism and Federalism, Hart Publishing (Oxford 2005), pp. 91-107
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2004’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2004, Springer (Vienna/New York 2005), pp. 300-326
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2003’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2003, Springer (Vienna/New York 2004), pp. 180-211
‘Strict Liability for Car Drivers in Accidents Involving “Bicycle Guerrillas”? Some Comments on the Proposed Fifth Motor Directive of the European Commission’ in: [2003] American Journal of Comparative Law 941-957
‘Contributory Negligence under German Law’ (with Ulrich Magnus) in: Ulrich Magnus/Miquel Martín Casals (eds), Unification of Tort Law: Contributory Negligence, Kluwer International (The Hague 2003), pp. 75-98
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2002’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2002, Springer (Vienna/New York 2003), pp. 206-230 ‘The Reform of German Tort Law’ in: European Review of Private Law 4/2003, pp. 485- 508
‘Liability for Damage Caused by Others under German Law’ (with Ulrich Magnus) in: Bernhard A. Koch (ed), Liability for Damage Caused by Others, Kluwer International (The Hague 2003), pp. 105-131
‘The Impact of Social Security Law on Tort Law in Germany’ (with Ulrich Magnus) in: Ulrich Magnus (ed), The Impact of Social Security Law on Tort Law, Springer (Vienna/New York 2003), pp. 86-115
‘Spreading the Gospel (and the name of the Evangelist)’ (with Sir Basil Markesinis and Jonathan Pratter) in: Sir Basil Markesinis, Foreign Law and Comparative Methodology in the Courtroom and the Classroom. The Story of the Last Thirty-Five Years, Hart Publishing (Oxford 2003)
‘Country Report German Tort Law 2001’ in: Helmut Koziol/Barbara Steiniger (eds), European Tort Law 2001, Springer (Vienna/New York 2002), pp. 229-268
‘Strict Liability under German Law’ (with Ulrich Magnus) in: Koziol (ed), Strict Liability, Kluwer International (The Hague 2002), pp. 147-176
‘Non-Pecuniary Loss under German Law’ (with Ulrich Magnus) in: Horton Rogers (ed), Damages for Non-Pecuniary Loss in a Comparative Perspective, Springer (Vienna/New York 2001), pp. 109-128
‘Das Recht auf Leben und Gesundheit, Patentschutz und das Verfahren des High Court of South Africa zur Verfassungsmässigkeit des südafrikanischen Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act’ in: Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America 4/2001, pp. 489-519
‘Friedhofszwang in Schleswig-Holstein’ in: Zeitschrift für öffentliches Recht in Norddeutschland 12/2000, pp. 493-494
