Liber Amicorum Guido Alpa: Private Law Beyond the National Systems

Abstract

'A festschrift for Guido Alpa, what could be better or indeed more fun', Guido Calabresi writes in the Foreword to this book. He adds, 'the guests come from all over the world and represent the most interesting, the best, each country has to offer. Truly a fête, truly amicorum! . . . Guido Alpa knows the place of theory in law, and knows how to apply it to the forensic arts. He does this, however, without ever confusing the role of the scholar and that of the advocate. In Guido Alpa both parts are played elegantly, each learns from the other, but the two are never conflated . . . We have come because Guido is truly international in outlook and in feeling . . . Guido stands out because he has always, and almost instinctively, known what it means to have a worldwide view of law. In this he is at one with more than a few of the guests here today, which, in turn, explains their presence.' Guido Alpa is Professor of Civil Law at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza'. He has held numerous visiting chairs at universities around the world, honorary degrees, and appointments and honours too many to mention. He is a leading scholar of private and commercial law, but also covers many constitutional and regulatory topics, moving freely across the boundaries that divide the law. He is recognized internationally as a leading comparativist but also as one of the parents of European private law.