Dr Flora Vern
- Senior Lecturer in Property Law (School of Law)
email:
Flora.Vern@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 229, 5–9 The Square, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3141-3129Biography
Flora Vern joined the School of Law in 2022. Following her BA in political science from Tallinn Technical University (Estonia, 2009, first in her class), she was educated in law at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (SciencesPo), from which she holds an MA by Research in Law (2014, cum laude) and a PhD entitled Juristic Objects: A Study in the Law of Things (2018), subsequently published as a monograph. She taught seminars at the same institution while writing her dissertation (2014–2017), before moving to Lyon 3 University, where she tutored for two years (2017–2019). Her first permanent lectureship was at Lyon Catholic University (2019–2022).
Research interests
Property law
The core hypothesis in my dissertation was that the characteristics and intended purposes of things often have a determining influence on the aspect taken by real rights, and specifically on the prerogatives they seem to confer. Aside from my doctrinal research, I developed an interest in very practical questions such as the burdens which property may impose on its owner, the superposition of real rights in large real estate projects, or the study of archaic forms of collective ownership.
Comparative Property Law
As a result of my international background, having studied and taught in various legal systems, I am naturally interested in comparative property law. Mixed legal cultures and property law reforms are a topic of choice in this field, as they enable us to look for historical and doctrinal influences from other legal systems, thus giving a practical purpose to comparison. I have for instance studied the property chapters of the Chinese Civil Code.
Legal and intellectual histories of property
I am interested in the succession of property doctrines through the ages, and the ways in which they often deform or occult other schools of thought. I am most familiar with French legal history and doctrines, both before and after the Revolution. Aside from classics and post-1804 lawyers, I have a particular interest in the thought of Simon Linguet who stood at the crossroads between philosophy, law and politics.
Private law theory
Beyond property law, I do research in other branches of civil law, usually by trying to uncover the historical origins, legal purpose and underlying mechanisms at work behind legal techniques.
Supervision
Enquiries from prospective research students in all areas of (comparative or national) property law and legal theory are very welcome. I would also be delighted to hear from those interested in pursuing research, more broadly, in French private law.
Teaching
Law 2011 – Property Law
Law 4125 – Property Law Honours (Course Convenor)
Additional information
Affiliations
Centre de recherche en droit Antoine Favre (Savoy Mont-Blanc University)
Groupe de réflexion en droit privé (University of Quebec in Montreal, UQÀM)
