The debate on the future of comparative law today often focuses on the scope and role of the comparative method in the dynamic relationship between the coexistence of national legal systems, on the one hand, and the emergence of transnational law, on the other. In a moment of crisis of some of the traditional methods of multilateral governance, which also has a certain impact on the traditional methods and tools of harmonization of national laws, it is time to reconsider past debates, and in particular the often-alleged dichotomy between standardization of rules as a result of transnational law, and comparative law as a recovery of the differences and specificities of domestic legal systems and cultures. The aim of this book is to consider how old and new theories could cope with the evolving landscape and offer new solutions to combine the applicable law, with its specificities, with the best practices and international standards that impose themselves as transnational law. New areas spurred by technology, such as legal qualification and regulation of digital assets, artificial intelligence and platforms offer a test bench for these matters, since they might require the elaboration of legal concepts not directly borrowed from domestic systems and thus relaying on general principles of law. Equally, the emergence of a need for regulation of (global) common goods, relating mainly to climate change and the use of natural resources, poses a challenge to known categories and the understanding of relevant sources of law and coexistence of legal systems.
Maria Chiara Malaguti â L.L.M., Ph.D., Full Professor of International law â has been President of UNIDROIT, first woman to cover such position, and is now President Emeritus. An arbitrator and a counsel, she holds degrees in law and in economics.