Previous Law Clinics
WT 2021/2022 - LawClinic Commons Public Partnerships (CPP)
„What support do municipalities and the people who live and work in them need in order to
unleash their power to shape and change - in cities large and small, in neighbourhoods
or in an entire city region?"”
The New Leipzig Charter – The transformative Power of the cities for the common good
In the winter term of 2021/2022, we examined the role of law in the shaping of commons public partnerships (CPP). The focus was on urban commons, which are social processes of collective self-organisation (commoning) for the joint use, care and management of a city's resources. If, for example, urban space is used for and by community projects, this also has an effect on the neighbourhoods. This makes it necessary to coordinate the various interests. At the same time, the feasibility or long-term existence of self-organised, community-oriented projects also depends on the financial possibilities of a group of users (commons institution) and on how the ownership and rights of use of the space or building in question are legally regulated. CPPs should enable cooperation between commons institutions and state institutions on an equal footing. As a basis for partnership, responsibilities, legal issues and financing can be regulated in written agreements. In contrast to private-public partnerships, where private companies are contractually entrusted with the fulfilment of public tasks, CPPs focus on promoting the common good by contributing to the socio-ecological transformation instead of being profit-oriented.
The first questions for the Law Clinic arose on 26 August 2021 during the CPP Day initiated by Commons researcher and activist Silke Helfrich at the Haus der Statistik in Berlin. Helfrich was co-founder of theCommons-Institutes, which accompanied the work of the Law Clinic through Johann Steudle. The Law Clinic took place in cooperation with Ernährungsrat Berlin, Transformation Haus und Feld and the Hansaforum-Münster. The small groups worked in particular on legal issues that arise in the context of the Hansaforum's Urban Commoning projects. The Hansaforum-Münster is an initiative to shape the Hansa district in Münster and sees itself as a platform for civic engagement and neighbourhood and urban development oriented towards the common good.
You can find the full final report here.
Further Literature on CPP:
ST 2021 - Law Clinic Legal design and implementation of a climate currency
In the summer term of 2021, the Law Clinic "Climate Currency Design" took place. Practical partners and "real lab" were the Regional Currency Chiemgauer and the project Klimabonus. The non-profit association Chiemgauer e. V. is currently developing a "climate currency" called Klimabonus, which is intended to reward and promote climate-friendly behaviour. The design and implementation of this climate currency raises a variety of questions that touch on different areas of law, including monetary, municipal, data protection and climate protection law.
In the Law Clinic, the questions relevant to the design and implementation of the climate currency, the legal scope and restrictions were worked out in discussion with practice partner organisations. Together with experts, relevant questions were concretised and approaches to solutions were discussed.
A more detailed description is provided by this Blogpost.
WT 2017/2018 The compatibility of the amendments to the Polizeiaufgabengesetz with fundamental and human rights - preparation of a collective action
Together with Prof. Krajewski, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Dr. Heidebach, University of Munich, Prof. Feichtner organized a Law Clinic "The compatibility of the amendments to the Polizeiaufgabengesetz with fundamental and human rights - preparation of a collective action" during the winter term 2017/2018.
The (german) text of the collective action can be found here.
