The Courts and the Development of Commercial Law.

Legal scholars from every nation are usually guided by the formations of their own legal system and, if they do dare to cross boundaries, by the two big legal »families«: the continental European and the Anglo-American legal system. These two legal systems are usually treated as systems that isolated themselves and have separate historical developments. The goal of the CSC is to correct this skewed view. On the one hand, each of the two legal systems never formed a monolithic unit: one only has to bear in mind the differences between the German and the French legal system or the fact that US Law is drifting away from English Common Law. On the other hand, the model of two isolated legal systems has proven to be fragile and antiquated: the mutual influence and common features are forces that have shaped the legal development substantially on both sides. It is also due to the research results published so far in the CSC, that these notions have been corrected. It is the intent of the CSC, which is kindly sponsored by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, to further bridge the gap between the two legal systems.