Prof. Birke Häcker, M.A. D.Phil. (Oxford), Dr. jur. h.c. (Stockholm)

Birke Häcker
© Barbara Frommann

Academic Profile

  • German, English and European Private Law (esp. Contract, Tort, Unjust(ified) Enrichment, Property Law and Succession)
  • Comparative Law (esp. "Civil Law – Common Law" and "Comparative Common Law")
  • Legal History (esp. European Legal History as well as Common Law History and Evolution)

2011
Second German State Examination in Law, Munich

2007
D.Phil. in Law, University of Oxford

2004
First German State Examination in Law, Cologne

2001
Final Honours School in Jurisprudence, University of Oxford

since 2023         
Schlegel Chair in Civil Law, Common Law and Comparative Law and Director of the Institute of International and Comparative Private Law, University of Bonn

2018–2022
Director of the Institute of European and Comparative Law, University of Oxford

2016–2022
Statutory Chair in Comparative Law, University of Oxford, and Professorial Fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford

2011–2016
Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich

2023
Awarded Honorary Doctorate, University of Stockholm

2021
Elected Member of the Academia Europaea

2019
Honorary Bencher, Honorary Society of Lincoln's Inn, London

2016
Therese von Bayern Prize 2015, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

2001–2008
Fellowship by Examination ('Prize Fellowship'), All Souls College, Oxford

  • 2026. "The Balance Within a 'Just' Contract." In What is the Value of Balance?, edited by C.M. Flick, approx. 25 pages. Convoco! Editions.          
  • 2026. "Explaining the Right to Rescind." In Issues in the Law of Rescission, edited by J. English and J. Atmaz Al-Sibaie, approx. 25 pages. Oxford University Press. 
  • 2025. "To Compare, or Not to Compare, That is the Question: On the Role of Comparative Law in Domestic Legal Scholarship." In Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law – 25 Years at the Forefront of Commercial Law, edited by H. Larsson and A. Andersson, 29–50. Jura AB.
  • 2025. "Regulation for a Free, Just, and Sustainable Digital Future." In How Can We Create a Free, Just, and Sustainable World?, edited by C.M. Flick, 181–203. Convoco! Editions.
  • 2025. "Causa, Consideration, and Unjust(ified) Enrichment." In Cause and Consideration: Exploring the Foundations of Contract Law, edited by B. Rodríguez-Rosado, R. Caro Gándara, and A. Legerén-Molina, 243–270. Bloomsbury / Hart Publishing.
  • 2024. "What Accounts for a Democratic State's Ability to Defend its Core Values?" In Is the Open Society Sustainable in Case of Emergency?, edited by C.M. Flick, 113–134. Convoco! Editions.
  • 2022. "Privatrechtliche Freiheit und Gleichheit im Zeitalter der Kodifikation: Entwicklungen im englischen Common Law und auf dem europäischen Kontinent." In Freiheit und Gleichheit im Privatrecht, edited by M. Gebauer and S. Huber, 29–61. Mohr Siebeck. 
  • 2022. "Individual and Social Dimensions of Freedom and Liberty." In How Much Freedom Must We Forgo To Be Free?, edited by C. M. Flick, 159–187. Convoco! Editions. 
  • 2022. "Causa und Consideration: Ein historischer Dialog." In Causa contractus. Auf der Suche nach den Bedingungen der Wirksamkeit des vertraglichen Willens / Alla ricerca delle condizioni dell'efficacia della volontà contrattuale / À la recherche des conditions de l'éfficacité de la volonté contractuelle, edited by G. Albers, F. P. Patti, and D. Perrouin-Verbe, 323–369. Mohr Siebeck. 
  • 2019. "'All Souls College v Codrington' (1720): Money, Books, and the Interpretation of Wills – A Testamentary Drama in Three Acts." In Landmark Cases in Succession Law, edited by B. Sloan, 11–32. Hart Publishing. 
  • 2019. "'Substance Over Form': Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far?" In Form and Substance in the Law of Obligations, edited by A. Robertson and J. Goudkamp, 35–69. Hart Publishing. 
  • 2018. "The Impact of Illegality and Immorality on Contract and Restitution from a Civilian Angle." In Illegality after 'Patel v Mirza,' edited by S. Green and A. Bogg, 331–370. Hart Publishing. 
  • 2015. "Divergence and Convergence in the Common Law – Lessons from the Ius Commune." In Law Quarterly Review (LQR) 131: 424–453.
  • 2013. "Public Law Restitutionary Claims: The German Perspective." In Restitution of Overpaid Tax, edited by S. Elliott, B. Häcker, and C. Mitchell, 239–271. Hart Publishing. 
  • 2009. Consequences of Impaired Consent Transfers: A Structural Comparison of English and German Law.  Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen. Republished by Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2013.