Name: Jan M. Smits

Gender: Male

Age: 42

Status: Married

Place of residence: Liège

Nationality: Netherlands

Tilburg University:

Professor of European Private Law and Comparative Law, Tilburg Institute of Comparative and Transnational Law (TICOM)

University of Helsinki:

Research Professor of Comparative Legal Studies

Smits at SSRN

Smits at Bepress

Smits at Tilburg University

TICOM

Smits at the University of Helsinki

Postal address:

Prof. dr. Jan M. Smits

TICOM

Faculty of Law

Tilburg University

P.O. Box 90153

NL-5000 LE  Tilburg

The Netherlands

jan.smits @ uvt.nl

(remove spaces)

Address for visitors:

Montesquieu building

Warandelaan 2

NL-5037 AB  Tilburg

Tel.: +31.13.4668960/8033

Jan Smits is professor of European Private Law and Comparative Law in the University of Tilburg and director of the Tilburg Institute of Comparative and Transnational Law (TICOM). He is also research professor of Comparative Legal Studies in the University of Helsinki. After his study of law at the universities of Leiden and Poitiers (1986-1991), Jan Smits did his PhD at the University of Leiden (1991-1995), developing a theory of how contractual liability can best be explained. In 1995 and 1996 he taught at the universities of Stellenbosch and Tilburg. He then was appointed at Maastricht University, first as an associate professor (1996-1999) and then to the Chair of European Private Law (the first chair for this field worldwide). At Maastricht, Jan Smits led the private law research group of the Ius Commune Research School. In 2008, he moved to the newly created Chair of European Private Law and Comparative Law in the University of Tilburg under a special scheme of the Tilburg University board. He held visiting positions at a number of foreign institutions, including Tulane Law School, Leuven University, the University of Liège, Louisiana State University and the Dickinson School of Law. Jan Smits is a member of several editorial and advisory boards and a deputy judge in the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.

Research Interests: European Private Law, Comparative Law, Legal Theory, ‘Law and...’ approaches.

For more details, check out the List of Publications (often with a link to the full-text) and the list of Invited Lectures. A full curriculum vitae is available at the site of Bepress.

Jan Smits is a fierce believer in legal science as an international discipline. Besides teaching students and working with a research group of highly committed PhD-researchers and other colleagues,  he views the writing of academic papers as the most challenging and rewarding activity in his scholarly life. His view on the importance of academic legal debate can be found in an interview with Maastricht University’s weekly. Smits is known for his critical view of the European harmonisation process. With the new Tilburg Institute of Comparative and Transnational Law (TICOM), he intends to create an international and inspiring academic environment and an instrument to cross borders among the classical areas of law.