Book Review: European Land Law
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0801500406 |
| Date | 01 December 2008 |
| Author | Bram Akkermans |
| Published date | 01 December 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
15 MJ 4 (2008) 553
BOOK REVIEW
Peter Sparkes, European Land Law, Hart Publishing 2007, i-lxxxv, 547 pp., hardback,
58, ISBN 978–1-84113–758–2
§1. A GENUINELY EUROPEAN WORK ON PROPERTY LAW
In 2007 Professor Peter Sparkes of the University of Southampton published a remarkable
book on Eu ropean land law. e b ook deals, in terms for lawyers not originating f rom
England, with property law in respect to land from a European Perspective. It is a
stunning work of European importance that should be read by any student of property
law. Moreover, it is particula rly noteworthy that this works comes not from a civil lawyer
who has been involved in the actua l making of private law at a European Union level,
but from an English land law lawyer known for his comprehensive guide to English land
law.1 In the area of property law, where the dierences between common law a nd civil
law are considered to be much wider than in, for example, contract law, this gesture from
an English lawyer should not be underest imated. However, at the same time, the book is
written for a n English readership. First a nd foremost, Sparkes seems to wa nt to explain
the development of what he names ‘a Eu ropean land law’ to his fellow countr ymen. e
paradox between being a pro-European lawyer and being a, contra-European, national
lawyer makes the book i nto an even more interesting read.
e book is divided into two parts: describi ng the development of European law, and
applying this development to general and specic aspec ts of European property law. e
rst part , devoted to the development of a Europea n land law in general, de als with the
rise of the Eu ropean Union, the development of the free movement of capita l, as well as
the free movement of persons as i mportant factors of Eu ropean integration in the area
of property law. He shows how the developments in the area of free movement of capital
and free movement of persons, of workers in particular, have led to the development of a
framework for a European property law.2 is section includes the acquisit ion of land in
other Member States, but al so covers the nancing of these acqu isitions. By making use
of a series of case law examples, he shows how the Eu ropean Community and the Cour t
systematical ly broke down restrictions Member States imposed on the acquisition of land
1 P. Sparkes, A New Land Law (Ha rt Publishing , 2nd ed. 2003).
2 Sparkes, Europe an Land Law, 5, 22–28, 35–38, 49–56.
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