After his study of law at the universities of Leiden and Poitiers (1986-1991), Jan Smits defended his PhD at the University of Leiden (1995), developing a theory of how contractual liability is best explained. In 1995 and 1996 he taught at the universities of Stellenbosch and Tilburg. He then was appointed at Maastricht University, first (1996-1999) as an associate professor and then (1999) to the newly created Chair of European Private Law (the first chair for this field worldwide). At Maastricht, Jan Smits led the private law research group of the Ius Commune Research School. From 2008 to 2010, he was distinguished professor of European Private Law and Comparative Law at Tilburg University; he returned to Maastricht in late 2010.

Jan Smits held visiting positions at Tulane Law School, Leuven University, the University of Liège, Louisiana State University, the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and the University of Helsinki. From 2010-2012, he held the HiiL Visiting Chair on the Internationalisation of Law and in 2013-2014 the TPR Visiting Chair at the University of Ghent. He is a deputy judge in the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. At the Maastricht Faculty of Law, Jan Smits served as vice-dean, as chair of the Science Committee and as head of the Department of private law. He was appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Law in 2017. He also regularly participates in assessment panels and juries at the KNAW, NWO and NVAO and for funding agencies abroad.

Memberships (selection)

Elected member Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)

Elected titular member International Academy of Comparative Law (AIDC)                                      

Elected member International Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law  (IACCL)

Member Ius Commune Research School                                        

Editorial and Advisory Boards

(in reverse chronological order of accession)

Lid Redactieraad Kluwer Collegebundel

Member board of scientific reporters Studii Si Cercetari Juridice (Romanian Academy)

Member editorial board Teise (Vilnius University)

Guest editor special issues of European Business Law Review, European Journal of Law and Economics

Corresponding editor Zeitschrift für europäisches Privatrecht    

Member scientific council Comparative Law Review Copernicus University

Member advisory board Center of Civil Law Studies, Louisiana State University

Honorary member Romanian Association of Law and European Affairs (ARDAE)

Member external committee Centre d’Estudis Juridics Europeus I Mediacio, University of Lleida

Fellow South African Research Chair in Property Law

Member advisory board LitNet Akademies (Regte)

Member advisory board Acta Juridica Hungarica

Member redactieraad Recht en Methode in Onderzoek en Onderwijs

Member advisory board Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht (TPR)

Member advisory board SSRN Journal European Private Law

Honorary editor Chonnam University Law Review

Member advisory board Alan Watson Foundation

Member editorial board Journal of Civil Law Studies

Member editorial board Studies in the History of Private Law

Member advisory board Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy (R&R)

Member editorial board European Studies in Private Law book series

Chair editorial board Ius Commune Europaeum book series (2005-2017)

Co-chair editorial board Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (MJ) (2006-2017)

Member editorial board Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (MJ) (2000-2006)

Member management committee Ius Commune Casebooks for the Common Law of Europe (2000-2017)

Co-editor Electronic Journal of Comparative Law (EJCL) (2009-2013)

Co-editor Ius Commune Lectures on European Private Law 1999-2010

Collaborator Weekblad voor Privaatrecht, Notariaat en Registratie (WPNR) 2000-2015

Collaborator Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Burgerlijk Recht (NTBR) 1999-2012

Co-editor Ars Aequi book series, Private law 1999-2007

Co-editor BW-krant Jaarboek 1992-1995

Co-editor Ius Civile 1993-1997

PhD Family Tree

PhD Family tree Smits.pdf describes my doctoral thesis genealogy (‘who supervised who?’) back to 1796. It is inspired by The Mathematics Genealogy Project. See for more information: What is a PhD family tree?