Max Planck Lawcast

Guest: Randall Stephenson (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law) For decades, the standard method for comparing legal systems around the world has been under fire. But what if the problem isn’t the method itself, but how we’ve been using it? On this episode of the Lawcast, Randall Stephenson argues that instead of abandoning our old tools, we need to completely rethink the...

Guest: Malcolm Jorgensen (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) Imagine you’re on a yacht in the South China Sea. Suddenly, a US destroyer and a Chinese patrol vessel approach. Both claim rights to the same stretch of water; both believe they are following international law. How can two superpowers look at the same body of water and see two different sets of rules?...

Guests: Johanna Fink & Marc Bovermann (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law) How can a democracy protect and safeguard its core values without inadvertently harming them and becoming an authoritarian state? This crucial legal and political question forms the starting point for this episode of the Lawcast. Join Christopher Murphy as his guests—Marc Bovermann and Johanna...

Guest: Tatjana Hörnle (Director of the Department of Criminal Law, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law) Beyond a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, consent to sexual activity is a nuanced concept deeply intertwined with respect, personal boundaries, and human dignity. As European nations grapple with reforming their sexual assault laws to reflect these complexities, we explore the cha...

Guest: Valérie Rosoux (University of Louvain (Belgium) and Max Planck Law Fellow) Today's episode explores the complexities of mediation in some of the world's most intractable conflicts. Valérie Rosoux joins Christopher Murphy to discuss how deep-rooted animosity and intergenerational mistrust make third-party brokered mediation particularly difficult in such situations. Given these complexities,...

Guest: Erik Tuchtfeld (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) The Internet connects people from across the globe: it facilitates communication and has single-handedly transformed education, commerce, and entertainment. But who controls what we can say and find on the Internet? Or better put, who are the Internet’s Global Gatekeepers? In this episode, Erik Tuchtfeld...

Guest: René Urueña (Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá (Colombia) and Max Planck Law Fellow) Is Latin America on the verge of a clash between human rights and the growing influence of Christian Evangelicals? This episode of the Max Planck Lawcast delves into the rise of Evangelical Christianity in Latin America. Join Christopher Murphy and renowned Colombian scholar René Urueña as they explore how...

Guest: Janne Mende (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) This episode delves into the US Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, a ruling that sparked intense national protest and division. Janne Mende and Christopher Murphy analyse the decision, connecting it to the concept of norm decoupling, which describes the increasing...

Guest: Lara Bucholski (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law) During the years that it was in power, the Nazi regime made far-reaching changes to German civil law, especially family law. Marriage was understood as a societal 'service', children were deemed to be the nation's 'most precious asset', and mothers were idolized as the backbone of society. In today's Lawcast...

Guest: Raphael Schäfer (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) One of international law’s greatest concerns is ensuring peace. However, sometimes this simply isn't possible. In such instances, the goal of international law then swings towards guaranteeing ‘humane’ warfare and resolving conflicts as quickly as possible. In today's Lawcast episode, Raphael Schäfer ela...

Guest: Antoine Vauchez (University of Paris 1-Sorbonne and Max Planck Law Fellow) On today’s episode Christopher Murphy is joined by Antoine Vauchez to focus on the re-invention of a central concept of contemporary European democracy, namely that of ‘independence’. Antoine—who heads the Max Planck Law Working Group on ‘Independence and Democracy in the European Union’—traces how the notion of inde...

Guest: Kadir Eryilmaz (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) In this episode, Christopher Murphy talks with Kadir Eryilmaz about his ethnographic field research on the Syriacs, a small and often overlooked community from Turkey. They explore how marginalized groups, like the Syriacs, form their understanding of the law and how their experiences shape their views on human rights. Through re...

Guest: Ruth Mason (University of Virginia School of Law and Max Planck Law Fellow) In a dramatic upset in September 2024, Apple and Ireland lost their state aid case before the European Union’s highest court. This decision—which is set to cost Apple over €13 billion—represents the most expensive state aid recovery ever. Today's guest, Ruth Mason, offers a play-by-play of the case. The episode take...

Guest: Sergio Mittlaender (FGV Law School in São Paulo and Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy) In this podcast, we explore a fascinating study by Lisa Lenz and Sergio Mittlaender on the effects of intergroup contact on discrimination. Through economic experiments, the researchers investigate how structured interactions between individuals from opposing political groups—Democrats...

Guest: Mahdi Khesali (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods) Normative ambiguity, which stems from conflicting norms, can lead to inefficiency and self-serving behaviour. In this episode, Mahdi Khesali introduces a study that he and his colleague Yoan Hermstrüwer have conducted. Based on a 'stealing game', Mahdi discusses how voting on a given moral norm affects our moral compass....

Guest: Rick Sallaba (Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy) It has been over a year now since the German government introduced Bürgergeld. The reforms present a major reworking of Germany’s  unemployment benefits system. While Bürgergeld has done away with a number of sanctions that were deemed unfair and counterproductive, not everyone is impressed by this new approach to une...

Guest: Ragini Surana (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory) Suppose you pay someone more than you intended to by mistake. What rule of law can be used to rectify the situation? It is not the law of contract because neither of you anticipated this possibility. Nor is it a tort because neither of you have committed a wrong. In this episode Christopher Murphy talks with Ragini Sura...

Guest: Alice Margaria (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) Defining what makes someone a father has become a complex task in contemporary Europe. What roles are attributed to genetics, marriage, gender, and active involvement in a child's life? Courts are increasingly grappling with these questions, prompted by a combination of societal shifts and scientific advancements, including assis...

Guest: Nina Cozzi (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory) After the liberation of Italian territory from the Nazi-Fascist regime, the government begun work on the drafting of a new constitution. One of the most novel aspects of the 1948 constitution was Article 37, which entitled working women the right to equal pay with their male counterparts. In this episode, Nina Cozzi recons...

Guest: Jan Peter Schmidt (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law) In this episode Jan Peter Schmidt discusses the long-standing tradition that the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law (MPI) has of providing expert opinions on foreign law for German courts. To this end, the MPI supports judges in resolving cross-border cases which according...

Guest: Philipp Sauter (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) In this episode Christopher Murphy talks with Philipp Sauter about nuclear fusion. As opposed to nuclear fission, i.e., splitting a heavy atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei, nuclear fusion uses the opposite approach to combine - or fuse - light atomic nuclei into heavier ones. Through recent scientific br...

Guest: Nadjma Yassari (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law) In this episode Christopher Murphy learns from Nadjma Yassari, head of the Research Group 'Changes in God’s Law' at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, how societal beliefs and assumptions on the role of mothers and fathers have led legislatures in Germany and I...

Guest: Erica Ollikainen-Read (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory) In this episode of the Lawcast, Erica Ollikainen-Read explains to Christopher Murphy that the British Empire was not just shipping, merchants, soldiers, cannon, and conquest. Rather, some of the most long-lasting parts of the British Empire are the ideas, laws, and symbols which Britain transplanted to their col...

Modern policing increasingly relies on the extensive use of personal data collected in large-scale databases which are rendered interoperable and automatically searchable through modern AI technologies. With this strategy, security authorities seek to become more effective and efficient, to the point that potential offenders may be automatically detected before a crime occurs. However, AI-powered...

The impact of AI on law enforcement and the administration of justice is a contentious issue, offering both promise and peril. While it holds the potential to reshape these domains, there are inherent dangers to navigate. Chief among these concerns is the potential for AI to amplify state powers, risking coercion, intrusion, and excessive surveillance, all of which raise significant human rights i...