The University of Sheffield
School of Law

Dr Séverine Saintier

Senior Lecturer

Email: S.Saintier@sheffield.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 6864
Room No: EF04

Academic Profile

Séverine was educated in France until 1993 when she obtained her Maîtrise in international business law. Séverine then came to the UK to further her studies: she was awarded an LLM in English law in 1995 and a PhD in 2001 (Sheffield University). Séverine’s PhD thesis was in the field of commercial agency law, the area she has been specialising in ever since. Séverine has published in this field extensively (2 monographs and numerous articles as well as chapter contributions). Séverine’s other areas of research include comparative law and the more general area of the law of agency. After working in Liverpool University (1997-2003), Séverine joined the School of Law as a lecturer in 2003 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2008.

Member of Institute for Commercial Law studies research cluster.

Qualifications

Research Interests

Key Publications

S. Saintier “Commercial agency in European Private Law” ch 20 in C Twigg-Flesner (ed) The Cambridge Companion to European Union Private law, 2010.

S. Saintier, “Unauthorised agency in French law” , ch 2 in Busch and McGregor (eds) “the Unauthorised agent: perspectives from European and Comparative Law”, CUP, 2009

Gregoraci and Saintier, “Indirect representation and undisclosed agency in English, French and Spanish Law: a comparative analysis” (2009) ERPL 25-54.

S. Saintier, (2008) 121 LQR 34.

S Saintier and J. Scholes, “Commercial agents and the law” LLP, (2005).

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

Saintier “Directive 86/653, twenty four years on; a comparative assessment of the extent of the national divergences in interpretation” at the Europeanisation of Private law: theory and practice, December 2010.

Saintier, 'The diverse interpretation and enforcement" of Directive 86/653 on self-employed commercial agents: a help or hindrance to achieving an ever closer harmonisation, SLS Southampton, comparative law session, September 2010

Key Projects/Grants

Key Project

I am part of the Study Group on a European Civil Code, in which 17 European Universities are participating. The work of this Study Group, which is EU-funded, is of utmost importance, since it seeks to advance the process of Europeanisation of private law by drafting a Common Frame of Reference. This is likely, in the near future, to be used as the basis for a European Code for Contract Law.

Professional Activities and Recognition

Séverine’s PhD thesis published in 2002 (S Saintier, “Commercial agency law: a comparative analysis”, Ashgate, Hampshire, (2002),): was the first comparative analysis of this area of commercial law. Professor Michael Martinek, from the University of Saarbrücken, a European expert on agency said “this is a notable bilateral comparative law study"providing an "in-depth and profound analysis” in Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationals privatrecht (2006) at 441 and 443.

Séverine’s second monograph in the field, (S. Saintier and J. Scholes, “Commercial agents and the law” LLP, London, (2005)) was cited by the House of Lords in Lonsdale (t/a Lonsdale Agencies) v Howard & Hallam Ltd as well as the Court of Session in the case of Jacobs & Turner Ltd v Celsius SARL. In his review, Professor Francis Reynolds, Professor of Law at Oxford University said ‘this book should now be the major resource’ for scholars working in this area [2006] LMCLQ 442, at p 443.

Teaching

Undergraduate

Postgraduate and MA

Areas of Research Supervision