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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Justice Of Private Law, Hanoch Dagan Dagan, Avihay Dorfman Jan 2014

The Justice Of Private Law, Hanoch Dagan Dagan, Avihay Dorfman

Avihay Dorfman

Private law is traditionally conceptualized around a commitment to formal freedom and equality, whereas critics of the public/private distinction (including lawyer-economists) construe it as merely one form of regulation. We criticize the traditional position as conceptually misguided and normatively disappointing. But we also reject the conventional criticism, which confuses a justified rejection of private law libertarianism with a wholesale dismissal of the idea of a private law, thus threatening to deny private law’s inherent value. This Article seeks to break the impasse between these two positions by offering an innovative account of the justice that should, and to some extent …


On Trust And Transubstantiation: Mitigating The Excesses Of Ownership, Avihay Dorfman Jan 2014

On Trust And Transubstantiation: Mitigating The Excesses Of Ownership, Avihay Dorfman

Avihay Dorfman

The legal institution of trust gives rise to two basic sets of question. The first set concerns the respective rights held by the trustee and the beneficiary with respect to the trust property — do these rights feature a structure characteristic of property, contract, or something in between. The second concerns the normative relationship between the trustee and the beneficiary themselves — what explains the existence and content of the obligations owed by the trustee to the beneficiary, especially the fiduciary duty of loyalty, according to which the trustee is expected to act in the sole, rather than merely the …


Private Ownership And The Standing To Say So, Avihay Dorfman Jan 2014

Private Ownership And The Standing To Say So, Avihay Dorfman

Avihay Dorfman

Property theory is an ongoing discourse attempting to articulate a compelling answer (or answers) to the following question: what is the single most significant or otherwise interesting thing about the concept of private ownership? In this article, I seek to advance three general claims in response to this question. First, I criticize certain leading attempts to answer this question. Second, the centerpiece of my article defends the claim that an adequate theory of the concept of private ownership must begin with the special standing that an owner possesses, which is to say the standing to demand that others will take …