Announcement – Symposium:

Exploring the Future of Comparative Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Friday May 22, 2026, 12:45 – 17:15 hrs

Go directly to the registration form: https://forms.uu.nl/universiteitutrecht-rebo/nvvrsymposium-future-comparative-law

Theme

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the ways in which legal scholars collect, analyze, and structure information. This shift presents both opportunities and challenges in the field of comparative legal research, a field that relies on close engagement with studying a variety of legal sources and a contextual understanding of foreign legal systems. The question is no longer whether AI will influence comparative legal research, but how researchers can guide that development through responsible, transparent, and skillful use of AI tools.

This symposium brings together established and emerging researchers from law and related disciplines to explore the emerging methodological relationship between AI and comparative law.  It seeks to reflect critically on how AI may reshape the practice, methods, epistemology, and teaching of comparative law: can AI reveal structural differences between legal systems that human researchers might overlook? Does relying on automated tools affect the researcher’s responsibility for nuance and cultural understanding in comparative work? How can comparative analysis remain reliable when grounded in AI-generated translations of foreign legal sources? By engaging with these questions, the symposium aims to foster a forward-looking conversation that equips researchers to harness AI’s potential in ways that strengthen and expand the comparative legal tradition.

Details

Day & Time:   May 22nd 12:45-17.15 (start symposium 13.30 sharp). Reception: 17.15-18.15

Location:         Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam

Registration:    https://forms.uu.nl/universiteitutrecht-rebo/nvvrsymposium-future-comparative-law

Information:    Marieke Oderkerk via a.e.oderkerk@vu.nl

Costs:              Members free; EUR 25 (non-members), EUR 35 (admission plus year membership)

Program

Marieke Oderkerk

Professor of Private International Law and Comparative Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Introductory remarks

Bertram Lomfeld

Professor of Private law, Intellectual Property Law, Comparative Law and Foundations of Law, Free University Berlin

Comparative Law & AI: A Reflexive Approach

Catalina Goanta

Associate Professor in Private Law and Technology, Utrecht University

Comparative Law in Cyberspace: A Place for Computational Studies

Thibault Schrepel

Associate Professor of Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Comparative Law Without Comparativists? AI and the Future of Legal Method

Maaike Huijzer          

PhD researcher, Family Law and Property Law, Utrecht University

Experiences with AI in Comparative Legal PhD Research

Details
Day & Time: May 22, 12:45-17:15 (start symposium, 13.30 sharp). Reception: 17:15-18:15
Location: VU, Free University of Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam
Registration:

https://forms.uu.nl/universiteitutrecht-rebo/nvvrsymposium-future-comparative-law

Information: Marieke Oderkerk (a.e.oderkerk@vu.nl)
Costs: EUR 25 (non-members), EUR 35 (admission plus year membership); free (members)