Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. In this Advanced Introduction, one of the world’s leading private law scholars takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the different facets and dimensions of the field, from the family home to Kuta Beach and from Thomas Piketty to Nina Hagen. This concise book provides an accessible and fresh introduction to private law, presenting the topic as a unified whole of which the main branches – on contract, tort, property, family and inheritance – are governed by conflicts between individual autonomy and countervailing principles. The book stands out as a unique account of how private law allows individuals to optimally flourish in matters of economy, work, leisure, family and life in general.

In this thoroughly revised and updated second edition, Mariana Mota Prado and Michael J. Trebilcock offer a succinct and readable introduction to the main concepts and debates in the field of law and development. They examine the role of legal systems and institutions, investigate perceptions around what laws and legal arrangements encourage and facilitate development, and probe the issues arising in both private law and public law as well as in international economic relations. Written with the insight of two top experts in the field, this Advanced Introduction covers the most recent trends in law and development research and highlights areas that remain underexplored.

Litigating disputes in international civil and commercial cases presents a number of special challenges. Which country’s courts have jurisdiction, and where is it advantageous to sue? Given the international elements of the case, which country’s law will the court apply? Finally, if a successful plaintiff cannot find enough local assets, what does it take to have the judgement recognized and enforced in a country with assets? This extensively updated second edition Advanced Introduction addresses these questions, providing a concise overview of the field.

Written by leading scholar Paul Todd, this Advanced Introduction draws on the author’s decades of experience researching and teaching maritime law, offering a clear and concise introduction to the core areas of the field. In addition to providing a primer on the substance, it explains the worldwide applications of English law, and surveys the sources of law and how to locate them. It also highlights some of the difficulties in interpreting the law and pinpoints which individuals have been instrumental in doing so, and in making and developing the law.

Presenting a concise, yet wide-ranging and contemporary overview of the field, this Advanced Introduction to Privacy Law focuses on how we arrived at our privacy laws, and how the law can deal with new and emerging challenges from digital technologies, social networks and public health crises. This illuminating and interdisciplinary book demonstrates how the history of privacy law has been one of constant adaptation to emerging challenges, illustrating the primacy of the right to privacy amidst a changing social and cultural landscape.

August Reinisch gives a broad overview of the entire field of international investment law that has emerged as an important subfield of international economic law over the last decades. As a result of the boom of investment arbitration since the late 1990s, core questions of the substantive treatment of foreign investors are analysed. Combining an academic and a practical perspective, this book has been written to provide an introduction to investment law for lawyers, political scientists, economists as well as those interested in international relations.

Frans von der Dunk, a leading authority on space law, presents a nuanced introduction to the topic, explaining the legal rules, rights and obligations applicable to activities in outer space and activities that precede operations in space. He analyzes the interaction of these elements as well as how international organizations relate to the core tenets of space legislation.