On 29 September 2026, Professor Alberto Monti (IUSS Pavia) will speak at the 22nd General Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL), which will bring together the international comparative law community at Humboldt University of Berlin.
The Congress offers five days devoted to comparative law, featuring an exceptional variety of topics and perspectives. In addition to specialist issues in public, private and criminal law, as well as methodological questions, the programme addresses some of the major challenges currently facing law and society, including democracy, the rule of law, digitalisation, legal pluralism, and the changing role of law in an interconnected world.
Professor Alberto Monti will participate as the Italian National Rapporteur on the topic “Contractual Justice: The Revival of an Idea”. Professor Monti’s report examines the evolution and contemporary application of the concept of “contractual justice” within the framework of Italian contract law. Contractual justice can be understood as a dynamic balance that reconciles the principle of private autonomy with the constitutional requirements of social solidarity, good faith and fairness. The report traces the historical development from classical liberal paradigms, which prioritised formal equality, towards a modern framework shaped by the Italian Constitution and European law.
The report concludes that, although Italian courts do not have a general power to rewrite economically unbalanced contracts, the legal system effectively relies on a multifaceted framework of targeted remedies to ensure substantive fairness.