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People - 31.07.2020 - 00:00 

Appointment: Martin Eggel

Dr. Martin Eggel has been a full professor of private law, with a specialization in civil law, at the University of St.Gallen since 1 August 2020.
Source: HSG Newsroom

1 August 2020. Dr. Martin Eggel, born on 24 June 1985, is a Swiss citizen.

Martin Eggel studied law from 2005 until he graduated from his degree course in 2010. This was followed by a lengthy period working as a research assistant at the Institute for Civil Law, University of Bern, under Prof. Dr. Stephan Wolf. During this time he also wrote a thesis, “Studie zur Surrogation im schweizerischen Zivilrecht” (“A Study on Surrogation in Swiss Civil Law”), with which he graduated as a Doctor iuris in 2013. After holding positions in law and at the bar, qualifying as a lawyer in the canton of Bern followed. Dr. Eggel subsequently returned to the Institute for Civil Law at his alma mater, as a principal research assistant. During this period, he published various scientific articles, gave lectures at continuing education events, taught in his subject area, and held various lectureships. This period also gave rise to his postdoctoral thesis “Begründung der Unterscheidung von Sachen- und Schuldrecht” (“Justification for the distinction between property law and the law of obligations”). He was able to round off his scientific profile during this time, with various postings abroad: In the 2016/17 academic year, he completed an LL.M degree funded by the Professor Heinrich Kronstein Foundation and the Janggen-Poehn Foundation at the Georgetown University Law Center (Washington, DC), and from April to June 2019 he undertook a research fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Comparitive and International Private Law in Hamburg. Since his call to the bar, Dr. Eggel has always worked as an advisor to law firms, with an emphasis on inheritance law.

Research in the key areas of the Swiss Civil Code

In his doctoral thesis, Dr. Eggel dealt with a cross-curricular topic in private law, surrogation, which has particular importance in family property law and inheritance law. This work won two renowned academic prizes, the Professor Walther Hug Prize and the Eduard Adolf Stein Prize. After completing his doctoral thesis, Dr. Eggel focused on the central themes of the Civil Code, particularly property law, inheritance law and family property law. For example, along with Prof. Dr. Stephan Wolf, he wrote the commentary on the division of inheritance in the Bern Commentary (Art. 606, 612-619 SCC), another section of which is currently underway (Art. 537-601 SCC). A look at the other literature and lectures shows that fundamental questions are dealt with, alongside very practice-oriented research. This is evidenced, for example, in the post-doctoral thesis in particular, which deals with the distinction between property law and the law of obligations, a topic that is particularly important for understanding the basics of civil law and also applies to the methodology of civil law.

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