MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

To the Members,

National Committees and

Group Presidents

                                                                                                          December 2011

Dear Colleagues,

As we are approaching the end of the year 2011, I would like to inform you of the present status of the Academy and of some events planned for the future.

1.      Elections 2011 of associate members and titular members

At the elections of
2011, 63 new associate members from 25 countries have been elected. The same elections have led to the promotion of 10 associate members to the status of titular member. Currently the Academy has a total of 626 members.

            2. “ Codification” – Thematic congress of
Taiwan 2012

As you know, the Academy will hold a thematic congress on the general subject of codification at Taiwan in 2012. This congress will take place at the National University of Taiwan from 

24 to 26 May 2012.

The academic program of this congress is attached to this circular letter, and I hope that many members will actually come to Taiwan. On the website of the Academy (www.iuscomparatum.org), you will find a link to the special congress website containing the information about hotels and a registration form.

            3. 19th International Congress of Comparative Law, Vienna 2014

As announced earlier, the 19th International Congress of Comparative Law will be held at Vienna in summer 2014, the precise dates will be

                                                           20 to 27 July 2014.

Preparations for this congress have already started. As you know, the Secretariat has asked members and national committees to propose subjects for the congress as well as persons who could act as general reporters. These propositions should be made by

15 February 2012 at the latest.

An assembly of the Academy has been convened for 19 March 2012 at Paris (28, rue St Guillaume). On that day, we shall choose most of the subjects to be treated at Vienna and the general reporters. Your proposals and contributions to this choice will be welcome.

            4. Publications related to the Washington Congress

The Academy pursues the objective of a wide dissemination of the results of its work. In this perspective it encourages the publication of books containing national reports and of thematic volumes which collect the general report and the national reports of a specific section. At present, 11 collections of national reports presented to the Washington Congress and 12 thematic volumes have been published, see the details on the website of the Academy : → publications→WashingtonDC2010. A survey of the list of books reveals new forms of publication, whether in the electronic form or whether in the context of a thematic yearbook where the reports of a section figure as the central subject. I know that other thematic volumes of collected papers are forthcoming, and I would like to encourage the general reporters to terminate the work of the Washington Congress by rendering the reports accessible to the entire academic world.

            5. Thematic Congress 2016

The Executive Committee has started to think about the 3rd Thematic Congress which should be held in 2016. For rendering the Academy more visible on that continent,  the Executive Committee favours a venue of the congress in Latinamerica.

I grasp this opportunity to convey my wishes for a Merry Christmas as well as for health and success for the New Year to all of you.

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Basedow