Amsterdam Center for Transformative Private Law
Bram Akkermans is Professor of Property Law and Director of Studies of Dutch language bachelor programmes. Bram specialises in sustainability and property law and combines property theory with property docrine to explore how property law can accommodate sustainable thinking.
As director of studies Bram is responsible for the Dutch language bachelor programmes in Dutch law and tax law. He oversees the reform of the bachelor program that started in 2020.
Property law has a reputation for being static and obstructive when it comes to many aspects of social change. Examples of this are housing, both the ownership of houses and the regulation of the rental market, the emission of nitrogen to combat climate change, and the extraction of natural resources such as fossil fuels. The recent report of the Dutch Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into Natural Gas Extraction in Groningen does not mention ownership of land at all. Instead, the focus is on reparations though public law and tort law. The recent proposal on the regulation of the free rental market for homes by maximizing the rent to be paid and the annual increase of rent is a great example of the former. The Urgenda case if of course a great example of the latter. The role of property law remains often neglected. However, though insights in constitutional property law (for example positive state obligations under article 1 First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights), but also the doctrines of abuse of ownership and private nuisance, offer pathways that can be further explored.
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