Die International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (Abkürzung IECL) ist eine weltweit rechtsvergleichende, englischsprachige Enzyklopädie in 17 Bänden mit besonderem Schwerpunkt im Bereich des Privatrechts. Sie erscheint unter der Schirmherrschaft der International Association of Legal Science, einer Untergliederung der UNESCO.
Die Idee für das Projekt entstand in den frühen 1960er Jahren unter der Federführung von Konrad Zweigert, der später gemeinsam mit Ulrich Drobnig als Gesamtherausgeber und Leiter des Projekts fungierte. Jeder Band ist in sechs bis zwanzig Kapitel unterteilt, die zunächst als Broschurausgabe erscheinen. Jedem der Bände ist ein Herausgeber zugeordnet, dem die Gestaltung des einzelnen Bandes in Absprache mit den über 400 Autoren obliegt; ferner wird so die Koordination mit der Projektleitung gewährleistet.
“When the history of the International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (IECL) is written, it will be hard to avoid using superlatives. Monumental in scope, unique in conception, unprecedented in its worldwide cooperation of comparative law specialists, and based on tremendous amounts of research, expertise and technical effort, this unique scholarly enterprise, when completed, might well be known as the ‘work of the century’ among comparative law scholars.”
– Adolf Sprudzs
- I. National Reports (Viktor Knapp, Prag)
- II. The Legal Systems of the World/Their Comparison and Unification (René David, Paris)
- Chapter 1: The Different Conceptions of Law (David, Tholonet/Sawer, Canberra/Afchar, Teheran/Derrett, London/Iyer, London/Noda, Tokio/M'Baye, Dakar)
- Chapter 2: Structure and the Divisions of the Law (David, Tholonet/Szladits, New York/Weir, Cambridge (GB)/Tschchikvadze, Moskau/Zivs, Moskau/Chehata, Paris/Derrett, London/Iyer, London/Cotran, London)
- Chapter 3: Sources of Law (David, Tholonet)
- Chapter 4: Comparative law (Zweigert, Hamburg)
- Chapter 5: The International Unification of Private Law (David, Tholonet)
- III. Private International Law (Kurt Lipstein, Cambridge, England)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Sources
- Chapter 3: Structure
- Chapter 4: Connecting Factors
- Chapter 5: Characterization
- Chapter 6: Renvoi
- Chapter 7: Preliminary Questions
- Chapter 8: Intertemporal Conflict of Laws
- Chapter 9: Interregional Conflict of Laws
- Chapter 10: Interpersonal Conflict of Laws
- Chapter 11: Ordre Public
- Chapter 12: Operation of Foreign Public Law
- Chapter 13: Effect of Constitutional Law Upon Conflict of Laws
- Chapter 14: Application of Foreign Law
- Chapter 15: Persons
- Chapter 16: Marriage etc.
- Chapter 17: Personal Effects of Marriage
- Chapter 18: Effects of Marriage
- Chapter 19: Children
- Chapter 20: Succession
- Chapter 21: Property
- Chapter 22: Industrial Property
- Chapter 23: Trusts
- Chapter 24: Contracts
- Chapter 25: Transport by Rail and Highway
- Chapter 26: Transport by Sea
- Chapter 27: Transport by Air
- Chapter 28: Contracts of Employment
- Chapter 29: Agency
- Chapter 30: Quasi-Contracts
- Chapter 31: Torts – Introduction
- Chapter 32: Torts – Enterprise Liability
- Chapter 33: Torts – Intentional Torts
- Chapter 34: Unfair Competition
- Chapter 35: Anti-Trust
- Chapter 36: Currency
- Chapter 37: Companies
- Chapter 38: Jurisdiction
- Chapter 39: Recognition and Enforcement
- Chapter 40: Non-Litigious Proceedings, General Problems
- Chapter 41: Insolvency
- Chapter 42: Arbitration
- Chapter 43: Judicial Assistance
- Chapter 44: Procedure
- IV. Persons and Family (Aleck Chloros, London)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Persons
- Chapter 3: Conclusion of Marriage
- Chapter 4: Interspousal Relations
- Chapter 5: Divorce
- Chapter 5A: Informal Marriages
- Chapter 6: Creation of Relationships of Kinship (Legitimacy, Illegitimacy, Adoption)
- Chapter 7: Children, Parents and Guardianship
- Chapter 8: Family Support
- Chapter 9: Torts Against and Within the Family
- Chapter 10: The Family in the Socialist Countries
- Chapter 11: The Family in Religious and Customary Laws
- V. Succession (Karl Heinz Neumayer, Würzburg)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Decedent, Heir and other Beneficiaries
- Chapter 3: Intestate Succession
- Chapter 4: Testate Succession
- Chapter 5: Limits and Restrictions of the Freedom of Testation
- Chapter 6: Acts inter vivos Concerning the Estate of a Future de cuius
- Chapter 7: Transactions Concerning the Rights of an Heir on Legatee After the Death of the de cuius
- Chapter 8: Acquisition and Administration of the Estate
- Chapter 9: Relationship Between Heirs and Other Beneficiaries inter se
- Chapter 10: Liability for Obligations of a Decedent
- Chapter 11: Procedure in Matters of Succession
- Chapter 12: Rural Succession
- Chapter 13: Religious Systems of Law
- VI. Property and Trust (Bernard A. Rudden, Oxford)
- Chapter 1: General
- Chapter 2: Structural Variations in Property Law
- Chapter 3: Movables
- Chapter 4: Immovables: General
- Chapter 5: Immovables: Limited Interest
- Chapter 6: Immovables: Leases
- Chapter 7: Immovables: Apartment Ownership
- Chapter 8: Immovables: Neighbourhood and Urban Problems
- Chapter 9: Immovables: Agrarian Problems
- Chapter 10: Intangibles and Funds
- Chapter 11: Trust
- Chapter 12: Security in Movables and Intangibles
- Chapter 13: Security in Immovables
- Chapter 14: Registration of Immovables
- Chapter 15: Natural Resources
- VII. Contracts in General (Arthur von Mehren, Cambridge, Mass.)
- Chapter 1: A General View of Contract
- Chapter 2: Contract The Legal Institution
- Chapter 3: Impact of Large Scale Business Enterprise Upon Contract
- Chapter 4: Public Contracts
- Chapter 5: Conctracts in the Socialist Economy
- Chapter 6: Contract in Japan and China
- Chapter 7: The Role of Contracts in Islamic Law
- Chapter 8: Contract in Developing Societies
- Chapter 9: The Formation of Contract
- Chapter 10: Formal Requirements
- Chapter 11: Defects in the Contracting Process
- Chapter 12: Contracting under General Conditions
- Chapter 13: Parties to Contractual Obligations
- Chapter 14: Contracting Through Others: Agency
- Chapter 15: When ist a Party Aggrieved by Deficiencies in the Other Party's Performance
- Chapter 16: Remedies for Breach of Contract
- Chapter 17: Comparative Observations
- VIII. Specific Contracts (Konrad Zweigert, Hamburg)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Civil Law and Commercial Law
- Chapter 3: Sale of Goods, Sale of Intangibles; Special Forms of Sales
- Chapter 4: Installment Sales
- Chapter 5: Overseas and Export Sales
- Chapter 6: Sale of Land
- Chapter 7: Use of Movables
- Chapter 8: Contracts for Work on Goods and Building Contracts
- Chapter 9: Commercial Services
- Chapter 10: Professional and Other Independent Services
- IX. Commercial Transactions and Institutions (Jacob Ziegel, Toronto)
- Chapter 1: Credit Transactions
- Chapter 2: Banks and Banking
- Chapter 3: Public Law of Banking
- Chapter 4: Negotiable Instruments
- Chapter 5: Letters of Credit
- Chapter 6: Documents of Title
- Chapter 7: Insurance Contracts
- Chapter 8: Public Law of Insurance
- Chapter 9: Stock Exchanges
- Chapter 10: Contracts of Guarantee and Indemnity
- Chapter 11: Commodity Exchanges
- X. Restitution-Unjust Enrichment and Negotiorum Gestio (Ernst von Caemmerer, Freiburg i.Br. und Detlef König, Mannheim)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Historical Development in Continental European Law
- Chapter 3: Historical Development in the Common Law
- Chapter 4: Socialist Legal Systems
- Chapter 5:
- Chapter 6: Restitution of Benefits Conferred Without Obligation
- Chapter 7:
- Chapter 8: Restitution of Benefits Conferred Under Illegal Contracts
- Chapter 9: Restitution of Benefits Acquired Trough Interference with Another's Property
- Chapter 10: Restitution of Benefits Acquired Through Breach of Fiduciary Relationship
- Chapter 11: Reimbursement for Discharge of Another's Obligation
- Chapter 12:
- Chapter 13:
- Chapter 14: Other Types of Unjust Enrichment
- Chapter 15: Indirect Enrichment
- Chapter 16:
- Chapter 17: Negotiorum Gestio
- XI. Torts (André Tunc, Paris)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Liability for One's Own Act
- Chapter 3: Liability for Acts of Persons Unter Supervision
- Chapter 4: Private and Governmental Liability for the Torts of Employees and Organds
- Chapter 5: Liability for Damage Caused by Things
- Chapter 6: Professional Liability
- Chapter 7: Causation and Remoteness of Damage
- Chapter 8: Consequences of Liability
- Chapter 9: Personal Injury and Death
- Chapter 10: Various Damages
- Chapter 11: Collateral Benefits
- Chapter 12: Complex Liabilities
- Chapter 13: Procedural Questions
- Chapter 14: Traffic Accident Compensation: Law and Proposals
- XII. Law of Transport (René Rodiere, Paris)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Railways
- Chapter 3: Highways
- Chapter 4: Maritime Transportation
- Chapter 5: Inland Navigation
- Chapter 6: Air Transportation
- Chapter 7: Pipelines
- Chapter 8: Transport Insurance
- a Land Transport
- b Inland Navigation
- c Maritime Transports
- d Air Transportation
- XIII. Business and Private Organizations (Alfred Conrad, Ann Arbor)
- Chapter 0: Scope and Terminology
- Chapter 1: Partnership and Other Personal Associations for Profit
- Chapter 2: Limited Liability Companies and private Companies
- Chapter 3: Marketable Share Companies: Formation
- Chapter 4: Marketable Share Companies: Administration and Control, Supervision
- Chapter 5: Marketable Share Companies: Capital and Securities
- Chapter 6: Fundamental Changes in Marketable Share Companies
- Chapter 7: Company Systems and Affiliation
- Chapter 8: Cooperative Organizations
- Chapter 9: Non-profit Organizations
- Chapter 9A: Foundations
- Chapter 10: Securities Regulations
- Chapter 11: Taxation of Business Organizations
- Chapter 12A: Law and Accounting in Business Associations
- Chapter 12B: Financial Disclosure in State Enterprises of Socialist Countries
- Chapter 13: Governmental (Public) Enterprises
- XIV. Copyright and Industrial Property (Eugen Ulmer, München)
- Chapter 1: General Questions. The International Conventions (Ulmer, Kreuth)
- Chapter 2: Copyright: National Systems and International Developments (Bogsch, Genf)
- Chapter 3: Copyright: Comparison of law (Ringer, Washington)
- Chapter 4: Protection of Inventions: National Systems and International Development (Beier, München/Pretnar, Ljubljana/Wallace, London)
- Chapter 5: Patents and Utility Models (Beier, München/Godenhielm, Helsinki/Pretnar, Ljubljana/Tookey, Bromley/Wallace, London)
- Chapter 6: Inventors Certificates, Rationalization Proposals and Discoveries (Pretnar/Ljubljana)
- Chapter 7: Employee Inventions (Godenhielm, Helsinki)
- Chapter 8: Exploitation of Inventions and Know-how (Godenhielm, Helsinki)
- Chapter 9: Industrial Designs (Pérot-Morel, Grenoble)
- Chapter 10: Trademarks: National Systems and International Developments (Krasser, München/Ladas, New York)
- Chapter 11: Trademarks: Comparatison of law (Krasser, München/Ladas, New York)
- Chapter 12: Unfair Competition: National Systems and International Developments (Grimes, Washington/Schricker, München/Verona, Zagreb)
- Chapter 13: Unfair Competition: Comparison of Law (Grimes, Washington/Schricker, München/Verona, Zagreb)
- XV. Labour Law (Bob A. Hepple, Canterbury)
- Chapter 1: International Sources of Labour Law
- Chapter 2: National Sources of Labour Law
- Chapter 3: Scope of Labour Law as Regards Persons and Subject-Matter
- Chapter 4: Making, Modification and Termination of Employment Relationships and the Obligations Resulting from Such Relationships in General
- Chapter 5: Wages and Remuneration in General
- Chapter 6: Hours of Work, Weekly Rest; The Employment of Protected Persons
- Chapter 7: Health, Safety and Welfare
- Chapter 8: Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases: Social Insurance
- Chapter 9: Tort Liability for Work Injury
- Chapter 10: Labour Market Regulations
- Chapter 11: Trade Unions and Employers' Associations
- Chapter 12: Collective Bargaining and Collective Agreements
- Chapter 13: Representation of the Employees at Plant and Enterprise Level
- Chapter 14: Prevention and Settlement of Labour Disputes, Other than Conflicts of Right
- Chapter 15: Strikes, Lockouts and Other Hostile Actions
- Chapter 16: Labour Court and Organs of Arbitration
- XVI. Civil Procedure (Mauro Cappelletti, Florenz)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: History of European Civil Procedure
- Chapter 3: Organization and Roles of the Legal Profession
- Chapter 4: Types of Relief Available (Judicial Remedies)
- Chapter 5: Parties
- Chapter 6: Ordinary Proceedings in First Instance:
- Chapter 7: Evidence
- Chapter 8: Attacks on Judicial Decisions
- Chapter 9: Effects of Judicial Decisions
- Chapter 10: Enforcement Proceedings
- Chapter 11: Special Proceedings and Provisional Remedies
- Chapter 12: Arbitration
- Chapter 13: State Arbitration in the Socialist Countries
- Chapter 14: Insolvency Procedures
- Chapter 15: Civil Procedure in Developing Countries
- XVII. State and Economy (Borislav T. Blagojevic, Belgrad und Kenneth W. Dam, Chicago)
- Chapter 1: General Introduction
- Chapter 2: The General Theory of the State and the Economy
- Chapter 3: State Intervention: Introduction
- Chapter 4: Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy
- Chapter 5: Law Against Monopoly and Cartels
- Chapter 6: Direct State Intervention
- Chapter 7: Mandatory Contracts and Controls on Forms of Contract
- Chapter 8: Planning
- Chapter 9: Instruments and Consequences of State Regulation: Introduction
- Chapter 10: Instruments of State Regulation
- Chapter 11: Legal Consequences of Comprehensive Planning
- Chapter 12: Particular Consequences of Comprehensive Planning
- Chapter 13: Legal Protection of Firms Against State Regulation and State Inaction
- Chapter 14: History and Theory of Property in Market Economy Countries
- Chapter 15: History and Theory of Property in Socialist Countries
- Chapter 16: Socialist Enterprises
- Chapter 17: State Enterprises in Market Economy Countries
- Chapter 18: Expropriation of Particular Property
- Chapter 19: Regulation of Ownership and Use of Private Property
- Chapter 20: Money and Foreign Exchange
- Chapter 21: Introduction to Foreign Commerce and Investment
- Chapter 22: Special Rules on Foreign Commerce and Investment in Market Economy Countries
- Chapter 23: Special Rules on Foreign Commerce and Investment in Socialist Countries
- Chapter 24: Regional Economic Organizations
- Ernst A. Kramer: Weltweite Rechtsvergleichung – Ein Zwischenbericht zur International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law. In: Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht. Band 13, Nr. 1, 1984, ISSN 0340-2479, S. 134–145, doi:10.1515/zgre.1984.13.1.134.
- Adolf Sprudzs: The International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law: A Bibliographical Status Report. In: The American Journal of Comparative Law. Vol. 28, Nr. 1, 1980, S. 93–104.