The history of the book
This publication is an early example of the treatment of the general topic of the “Anthology of Swiss Legal Culture” under the guiding metaphor “The World in Swiss Law – Swiss Law in the World? It also serves to extend the scope of the legalanthology.ch website in 2020 as a repository or database of texts and documents on Swiss law and Swiss legal culture. The book is the first and only complete bibliography of texts and materials on Swiss law and Swiss legal culture in English. It follows the categorizations of the Law Library of Harvard Law School, where Prof. em. Dr. iur. Jens Drolshammer worked as a Visiting Researcher and Visiting Research Professor at the European Center of Law Research from 1999/2002–2008.
The results of the complex fund set collection have not yet been scientifically evaluated. The IT structure of the book was designed by Urs Watter, the then IT manager of the international law firm Bär & Karrer. Important work has been carried out by the General Editor Nedim Peter Vogt and the editors Anne M. Wildhaber, Urs Watter and Michele Bernasconi as former employees of Bär und Karrer. The book is published on www.legalanthology.ch with the consent of the General Editors, the international law firm Bär und Karrer and the publishing house Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel.
The book reflects the state of knowledge in 2005.
Unfortunately, no partner could be found to continue this “work in progress project” until now. The General Editors Board of the Anthology of Swiss Legal Culture will provide information in due course if it becomes possible to update the knowledge base from 2005 onwards.
On the structure, method, style and content of the book
The following is a citation from the Preface of the book:
«The origins of this undertaking – the first attempt to publish a bibliography of English language materials on Swiss law – lie in our own efforts to efficiently locate and gather a steadily increasing amount of publications and information on Swiss law in English. The principal aim of this Swiss Law Bibliography ist to make Swiss laws and the Swiss legal system more readily accessible to the large English speaking legal community.
Swiss law has always had an impact on foreign legislation and has been a preferred choice of law in international contractual agreements and cross-border transactions. There are clear indications that the choice of Swiss law or of Swiss jurisdiction occurs with a high degree of frequency in areas varying from sales contracts, service agreements, construction (turn-key) contracts, telecom service agreements, sporting event broadcasting agreements, sponsoring agreements, personal service contracts regarding artists and athletes, joint ventures and shareholders’ agreements to matrimonial property, inheritance law and estate planning.
Not only have a large number of multinationals chosen Switzerland as the jurisdiction to incorporate their headquarters for their worldwide or regional operations, but many of the big international professional firms have chosen Swiss private law vehicles to structure their international organizations. Nowadays, a large number of international sports organizations are incorporated in Swiss vehicles. In addition, the international deregulation of telecommunications has led to a multiplicity of private telecom organizations being incorporated under Swiss law or entering into agreements that are governed by Swiss law.
Switzerland holds a worldwide reputation as one of the leading jurisdictions for international arbitration and great efforts have been made to foster and further this position by organizations like the Association Suisse pour l’Arbitrage (ASA).
Over the last several decades, English has become the lingua franca not only of international trade and international relations in general, but also of almost all cross-border legal transactions and international legal issues relating to dispute resolution.
Given this situation, this first bibliography of English language materials on Swiss law will not only provide for a better access to Swiss law in general, but will also make it easier to access English language materials in cases where Swiss law has been chosen as the governing law or where Switzerland has been selected as the jurisdiction for litigation or as a venue for arbitration.
This Swiss Law Bibliograhy lists: (i) Swiss laws, statutes and ordinances translated into English, (ii) English language materials on Swiss law (books, commentaries, treatises, law journal articles, reports, conference papers etc.), and (iii) internet links relating to English sources on Swiss law on the web. It is a compilation of information from various sources, such as library catalogues in the U.S. and in Europe, lecturers, faculty members, deans, directors of law institutes and institutes for comparative law from various countries and in various legal systems, members oft he Swiss Bar Association (SAV) and Swiss members of the International Bar Association (IBA), the Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (AIJA), the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), the Association Suisse pour l’Arbitrage (ASA), members of the Swiss Association of Corporate Counsels, the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX), members of Swiss auditing firms, trust companies and fiduciaries, legal departments of Swiss banks and Swiss insurance companies, the Australian-Swiss, the UK-Swiss and the US-Swiss Chambers of Commerce, the Swiss Institute of Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants and other organizations and individuals.
First, in 1999, and then for a second time in 2001, a questionnaire was sent out to the above-mentioned organizations and individuals requesting that they forward onto us any articles, books, treatises etc. in English they may have written, published or catalogued which pertain to Swiss law. The very positive response to our request for assistance generated a considerable amount of additional bibliographical infomation. We would like to thank all of those who helped us in our endeavors towards a first Swiss Law Bibliography.