Honorary Doctorate for Professor Dr. Stefan Leible

Professor Dr. Stefan Leible, President of the University of Bayreuth and Chair of Civil Law IV: Private Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law, received the honorary doctorate from the UPO in June. In his acceptance speech, he highlighted the close cooperation between the two institutions, both in research and in student education. “I regard this award not only as a personal honour but as the crowning achievement of what we have accomplished together over the past years – and as an encouragement to continue along this shared path in the future,” Leible said.

Earlier, César Hornero, Dean of the Faculty of Law at UPO, explained in his laudatory speech the reasons why he had nominated Leible for the honorary degree. He emphasised Leible’s close ties to UPO, his academic career in civil law, private international law and comparative law, and his internationally oriented understanding of what a university should be. All of this, Hornero noted, had helped to bring one of Leible’s ideas to life – the German-Spanish double degree in Law, jointly offered by Universidad Pablo de Olavide and the University of Bayreuth, now celebrating its tenth anniversary.

“This double degree produces truly European lawyers,” the newly named Honorary Doctor of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide emphasised – and at a time “when academic freedom at universities around the world is under threat, when more and more parties rise to power rejecting the idea of Europe, and when new threats of war loom on the horizon. In such times, we as societies and as universities must stand together – for there is no alternative to peaceful cooperation within a united Europe,” Leible urged.

In his speech, Stefan Leible outlined the development of European private law over the past 25 years – a process he has helped shape from a scholarly perspective, especially through the influence of EU directives. “Nonetheless, there remains a tension between national sovereignty and harmonisation – particularly in a context where digitalisation is both a driving force and a challenge for the Europeanisation of private law,” Leible remarked.

Francisco Oliva, Rector of UPO, also praised Stefan Leible as “an exemplary scholar, a sophisticated and internationally minded legal expert, and a dedicated university leader.” Oliva particularly highlighted Leible’s international academic outlook and his strong commitment to the European ideal. As a professor of civil law, he also noted Leible’s “ongoing concern for integrating social justice into all areas of civil law.” In addition, Oliva emphasised Leible’s successful leadership of the University of Bayreuth, referring in particular to its high quality of teaching, research excellence, and international orientation.