Dear reader

• Author: Paul Varul
• Pages: 1-1

This issue of Juridica International is based on the presentations made at the international conference titled ‘European Initiatives (CFR) and Reform of Civil Law in New Member States’, held in Tartu on 15-16 November 2007. However, this issue of the journal not only serves to publish the materials of the conference but also offers several other articles that, while they were not presented at the conference, are closely related to the topic of the conference.

The conference served two main objectives: first, to address the significant issues of the Common Frame of Reference (CFR) project and, second, to analyse the development of civil legislation in the new member states of the European Union and what the effect of the so-called model laws (PECL, UNIDROIT Principles, and CFR) has been here. The conference was attended by many who participated in the preparation of the Draft Common Frame of Reference, such as the Study Group on a European Civil Code’s Chairman Professor Christian von Bar and members Professor Hugh Beale, Professor Anna Veneziano, Professor Jerzy Rajski, Dr. Stephen Swann, Professor Luboš Tichý, Professor Christian Takoff, and Professor Valentinas Mikelenas, as well as, from the Research Group on EC Private Law (the Acquis Group), Chairman Professor Hans Schulte-Nölke and members Professor Thomas Wilhelmsson and Professor Fryderyk Zoll. Presentations on the development of civil law in new Member States were made by Professor Jerzy Rajski (covering Poland), Professor András Kisfaludi (Hungary), Professor Valentinas Mikelenas (Lithuania), Professor Luboš Tichý (the Czech Republic), Dr. Damjan Možina (Slovenia), Professor Kalvis Torgans (Latvia), Professor Irene Kull (Estonia), Dr. Monika Jurcová (Slovakia), and Professor Christian Takoff (Bulgaria). In addition to the above, well-known experts in the field also made presentations, among them Professor Norbert Reich and Professor Walter van Gerven. As a direct relation to the topic of the conference, the current issue of the journal also offers the reader the articles of Study Group members Professor Eric Clive, Professor Matthias E. Storme, and Professor Kåre Lilleholt, in addition to Dr. Mónika Józon’s article on the development of civil law in...