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Publications in which various aspects of Kurt Lipstein's life and career are discussed

Festschrift

Feuerstein, P & Parry, C. (eds). 1980. Multum Non Multa. Festschrift für Kurt Lipstein aus Anlass Seines 70. Geburtstages. Müller Juristischer Verlag, Heidelberg & Karlsruhe, 383pp.

This festschrift, to celebrate Kurt Lipstein’s 70th birthday, contains contributions by:
Blanc-Jouvan, X., Université de Paris
Collier, J. G. University of Cambridge
Ginther, K. Universität Graz
Gutteridge, J. A. C. Previously at Foreign Office, London
Jayme, E. Universität München
Jolowicz, J. A. University of Cambridge
Kahn-Freund, O. University of Oxford
Kegel, G., Universität Köln
Lalive, P. Université de Geneve
Lorenz, W. Universität München
Morris, J. H. C. University of Oxford
North, P. M. Law Commissioner for England and Wales
Parry, C. University of Cambridge
Philip, A. University of Copenhagen
Stein, P. G. University of Cambridge
Stoll, H. Universität Freiburg
Strömholm, S. Universität Uppsala
Sturm, H. C. F. Universität Lausanne
Sundström, G. O. Z. Universities of Helsinki & Stockholm
Tunc, A. Université de Paris
Webb, P. R. H. University of Auckland

Articles on German-speaking émigré lawyers in twentieth-century Britain

Beatson, J. & Zimmermann, R. (eds). 2004. Jurists Uprooted, Oxford University Press, 850pp.

The contributions of eighteen émigré legal scholars from Germany and Austria to the development of the law in Britain are reviewed. Nearly all were Jewish or of Jewish descent, and with the exception of two (Oppenheim and Lauterpacht), they came to Britain because of the political situation in pre-WWII Germany. Even at the time the book was published, only Kurt Lipstein was still alive.
There are two contributions on Kurt Lipstein:.
Forsyth, C. Kurt Lipstein (1909- ), 463-481.
Von Bar, C. Kurt Lipstein - the scholar and the man, 749-760.

There is also one written by himself (see Kurt Lipstein’s Bibliography).

90th Birthday Greetings

Zimmermann, R. 1999. Happy Birthday, Kurt Lipstein. Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts, 4 296 - 297.

A short article (in German) to celebrate Kurt’s 90th birthday. Zimmermann surveys Kurt’s life, and provides the only published reference to Kurt’s famous car. This is the grand Armstrong Siddeley, which Kurt calls “Nottebohm” after the case which provided the wherewithal that allowed him to buy it. This car is still running and we photographed it in Kurt’s garage recently (October 2006, see the photo gallery).

Kurt Lipstein's ground breaking text-book

Lipstein, K. 1974. The Law of the European Economic Community, Butterworths, London, 368pp.

The UK joined the European Economic Community on 1st January 1973, and in 1974 Kurt Lipstein brought out his text-book. This was a timeous achievement and showed Kurt’s realisation of the legal implications for future teaching of law in this country. During our interviews with Kurt we asked him about its significance and he replied that while there had been many texts on the constitutional, judicial and procedural implications of EEC Treaty by which the Community was established, his intention had been to address specifically the effect of the treaty, and subordinate legislation from Brussels, on the private law of the various member states. His sense of urgency in understanding the fundamental legal forces that had been set in train soon translated into his offering the first taught courses in EU law in the UK, at Cambridge. The situation is now self evident, but over thirty years ago Kurt commented (p. 45) on the “peculiar phenomenon represented by the EEC Treaty, which does not fit into any regular pattern of international law or federal law.” Did it take the perspicacity of a lawyer originally trained on the continent to see the situation so clearly, one is tempted to ask?

The production of this book was an ambitious task, and one that Kurt admitted in the Preface was hampered, even before its completion, by the “quantity and speed of....production” of “implementing measures of the Community organs and decisions of the Community Court”. The torrent continues, and he admitted (Lipstein 2004 p. 770) that it would be an unrealistic aim to revise his book, given the “enormous expansion of Community law”. This book is a testament to his far-sightedness.

Important legal cases over which Kurt Lipstein exerted some influence

Liechtenstein v. Guatemala (The Nottebohm case) [1955] ICJ reports 1

Hesperides Hotels v. Aegean Holidays [1979] AC 508 (HL);[1978] QB 205 (CA)