Bettina Rentsch is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Freie Universität Berlin, where she teaches Private International Law, Comparative Law, and German Civil Law and selected issues of Law and social theory.

Her research in Private International Law focuses on the interplay between International Family Law and European Law, the intersections between Public and Private International Law, the theoretical foundations of Private International Law and its potential for social theory. She has authored a book on the concept of habitual residence in European Private International Law and several articles on conceptual challenges to harmonising Private International Law on the European Union Level.

Bettina holds a First State Exam in Law from the State of Baden-Württemberg ('13), a doctoral degree in Law from the University of Heidelberg ('16), a Master of Laws from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (LL.M. '16) and a bar exam equivalent from the Higher Regional Court of Berlin ('19). She practised law at the German law firm Hengeler Mueller with a focus on Dispute Resolution and Corporate Law and was an Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford's Harris Manchester College in 2023.

Publications

Independent publications

Habitual residence in the European conflict of laws system, Studies in foreign and international private law, Volume 382, Mohr Siebeck 2017, 465 + XXXII pages

Reviews:

1. RabelsZ 83 (2019), 880 – 886 (Dietmar Baetge)
2. IPRax 2/2018
3. Conflict of Laws (November 2017) (Giesela Rühl)

Political statements, studies (published)

• Study to support the preparation of a report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels Ia Regulation), together with Maren Vogel
• Draft law on the introduction of a leading decision procedure at the Federal Court of Justice, BT-Drucksache 20/8762, statement on the hearing before the Legal Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag on 13 December 2023

Publications

• Self-Determination Act, commentary, 2025, together with Dana-Sophia Valentiner
• The Good Corporation, 2024, together with Marc-Philippe Weller
• Deference to the Foreign, 2024, in collaboration with Florian Heindler, Martina Melcher, et al.

Contributions to journals and anthologies

• La révision des conflits des lois du nom en Allemagne, to be published in Revue Critique du Droit International Privé, Issue 4/2025, together with Alessa Karlinski
• Habitual residence of diplomats and the Rome III Regulation, to be published in IPRax 2025, issue 6
• "Private Enforcement" as a Legal Standard for Cross-Border Collective Legal Protection?, in: Tabea Bauermeister/Sebastian Schwamberger (eds.), Private Enforcement in the Digital Single Market, 2025, 217 – 239, together with Frederik Jaeger 
• The new Self-Determination Act – an assessment, NJW 2024, 3407–3411, together with Dana-Sophia Valentiner
• Secularity as a structural principle of EU divorce conflict law, in: Christine Budzikiewicz/Bettina Heiderhoff/Frank Klinkhammer/Kerstin Niethammer/Jürgens (eds.), Boundaries and boundary shifts in international family law, 2024, 81–108 
• Self-determination of gender within the limits of civil law, RW 14 (2023), 467–508, together with Dana-Sophia Valentiner
• Politics of memory as a boundary of civil law property protection, ZUM 2024, 9–18
• Secularity as a Closed System. Islamic Divorce Law in the Private International and Procedural Law Practice of the Federal Republic of Germany, in: Rike Edith Sinder (ed.), The Reassessment of Secularism. On the Self-Image of the State in the Face of Islamic Law, 2023, 121–147, together with Alessa Karlinski and Maren Vogel
• Traditional and critical legal theory, in: Kristina Peters/Nina Schrott (eds.), In Search of a Theory of Legal Science, 2023, 59–84
• Collective legal knowledge or "light" revision? – Leading decision-making procedures at the Federal Court of Justice,  ZRP 2023, 135 – 138
• The "good" corporation, in Christian Deckenbrock et al. (eds.), Work – Economy – Law, Festschrift for Martin Henssler, 2023, 1189–1200, together with Marc-Philippe Weller
• Gender equality in the society of singularities, in Elisabeth Dux et al. (eds.), Frau.Macht.Recht, 2023, 221–238
• Board Diversity as a Future Task of Corporate Governance, ZGR 2022, 107–143
• Prima facie evidence, actual presumption and effet utile in antitrust follow-on actions: Apparent imperatives under EU law, GVRZ 2022, 4 (1–47)
• Intersectional and intertemporal justice using the example of reinstatement of citizenship after Nazi injustice, JZ 2021, 872 – 880, together with Vanessa Grifo
• Surrogacy as compensation – Babies beyond the Law, ZEuP 2021, 712 – 730, together with Lisa-Sophie Wollschläger
• Cross-border collective redress in the European Union – No New Deal for Consumers, RabelsZ 85 (2021), 544 – 578
• Collective redress under the EU Directive on representative actions – forum shopping under Brussels Ia?, EuZW 2021, 524 – 533
• Forum shopping against digital unfairness – upsides and downsides of the Representative Action Directive, in Reinhard Singer et al. (eds.), Consumer Protection in a Digital Economy, 2021, 134–150, together with Jonas Müter
• Speciality, immunity and radiating effect of the EuInsVO – Comment on ECJ, C-716/17 – A and C-47/18 – Riel, GPR 2020, 294 – 300, together with Marc Manow
• The cross-border enforcement of provisional measures – in case of doubt, the lex fori applies, comment on ECJ, judgment of 4 October 2018, Societá Immobiliare al Bosco – Case C-379/17 IPRax 2020, 337–342
• The United Kingdom as a "third country" within the meaning of the Rome I Regulation – On the future of choice of law and the dangers of the "internal market clause" after Brexit, EuZW 2017, 981 – 988
• The centre of main interests in personal insolvency – Determination of residence and circumvention of jurisdiction in the EuInsVO, GPR 2017, 147 – 153
• Precedent versus retention of power – a critical reconstruction of ECJ case law on habitual residence, in: Caspar Behme/Matthias Fervers/Franz Hofmann/Lena Maute et al. (eds.), Perspectives on European civil law – Annual Conference of the Society of Young Civil Law Scholars 2016, 2017, 273 – 302
• Recognition of judgments in international custody cases: regulatory levels of the EuEheVO versus assessment levels of ordre public  – Comment on ECJ, judgment of 19 November 2015, P./.Q – Case C-455/15 PPU, IPRax 2017, 262 – 267, together with Marc-Philippe Weller
• Same-sex is not the same as gender equality (‚gleichgeschlechtlich ist nicht gleich geschlechtergleich‘) – Follow-up on BGH XII ZB 15/15, Myops18/2016, 41 – 49
• Hans Kelsen’s Psychoanalytic Heritage – an Ehrenzweigian Reconstruction, in: Jeremy Telman (ed.): Hans Kelsen in America: Selective Affinities and the Mysteries of Academic Influence, Springer 2016, Chapter 11
• Habitual Residence in a Rome 0 Regulation – A Plea for Settled Intention, in: Stefan Leible et al (eds.), General Principles of European Private International Law, 2016, 171–188, together with Marc-Philippe Weller
• The US Constitution and Zeitgeist – Comment on the US Supreme Court ruling in the case of Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio, Department of Health et al. of 26 June 2015, NZFam 2015, 995–998
• Connection to the place of the offence and place of residence in international tort law – Art. 4(3) Rome II Regulation in the event of a subsequent change of residence by the injured party. Commentary on the judgment of the High Court of Justice [2014] EWHC 3164 (QB) of 6 October 2014, Winrow/Hemphill and Ageas Insurance Ltd., GPR 2015, 191–198
• Compensation for pain and suffering after aircraft accidents, NJW 2015, 1909–1914, together with Marc-Philippe Weller and Chris Thomale
• The international scope of application of gender quotas for large companies, ZGR 2015, 361–395, together with Charlotte Harms, Chris Thomale, and Marc-Philippe Weller
• The future of the European Staff Regulations in habitual residence, ZEuP 2015, 288–311
• Crisis management through conflict of laws – Intervention rules as an integral part of European private international law, in: Jonathan Bauerschmidt/Bardo Fassbender et al. (eds.), Constitutionalisation in times of global crises, Nomos, 2015, 255–300
• The doctrine of combination in cross-border changes of legal form – new impetus from European law, IPRax 2013, 530–536, together with Marc-Philippe Weller
• Constitutionalisation through general principles of international law?, in: Bardo Fassbender/Angelika Siehr (eds.): Supranational Constitutionalisation – Perspectives on the Legitimacy, Coherence and Effectiveness of International Law, Nomos, 2012, 101–136

Blog posts and editorials

• Fanfictioning Critical Theory: Law and Political Economy’s Theory of Science, VerfBlog, 9 October 2024
• Deregulating Legal Gender in the Shadow of Social Ascription, VerfBlog, 22 November 2023
• Board Diversity: Business Case or Public Policy?, Oxford Business Law Blog, 13 June 2023, together with Stefan Trautmann
• #nodoption – Berlin or Karlsruhe?, NJW aktuell, issue 16/2021, 15 April 2021
• Social Policy via Company Law, Research Magazine of the University of Heidelberg, issue "Spalten und Verbinden" (Dividing and Connecting), July 2021, together with Marc-Philippe Weller

Commentaries

• [in preparation] Articles 1-13, 89-101 CISG, in: Stefan Grundmann (ed.), Staub's Commentary on the German Commercial Code, Volume 10
• Articles 4, 21 EuErbVO, in: Thomas Raff (ed.), J. von Staudinger's Commentary on the Civil Code with Introductory Act and Ancillary Laws
• Rome III Regulation, Art. 17 (with appendix), 17a, 46e EGBGB and Art. 229 § 28 EGBGB, in: Franz-Jürgen Säcker, Hartmut Oetker, Bettina Limpberg (eds.), Munich Commentary on the Civil Code, Volumes 12 and 13 (from the 9th edition 2023/2024)
• Art. 13 EGBGB, in: Christine Budzikiewicz/Marc-Philippe Weller/Wolfgang Wurmnest (eds.), Beck's Online Commentary on Private International Law, Munich 2015, 14th edition dated 1 October 2024

Educational literature

• The controllability of general terms and conditions in case processing, StudZR 2023, 245–267, together with Frederik Jaeger, Alessa Karlinski and Maren Vogel
• Civil law exam, "Tschick", JURA 2023, 1442–1450, together with Frederik Jaeger
• Civil law exam paper, "Marriage and Espresso", ZJS 2023, 524–541, together with Frederik Jaeger
• Civil law exam, "Zu früh gefreut" (Rejoicing too soon), JuS 2018, 791–798, together with Constantin Hartmann
• Civil law exam paper, "The house by the lake", JURA 2014, 833 – 841

Reviews

• Commemorative publication: 40 Years of IPRG. Edited by Florian Heindler, RabelsZ 86 (2022), 687–693
• Maximilian Lotz, „Cross-Border Influence within Corporations.“ Corporate management, control, and liability. Based on German, French and US law, RabelsZ 86 (2022) 545–549
• Michael Kränzle, Homeland as a legal concept?, 2014, JZ 2016, 253

Smaller contributions

• Commentary on ECJ, judgment of 28 April 2022 – C-319/20 – Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, formerly Facebook Ireland Limited v Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände – Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband eV, EuZW 2022, 522 (together with Maren Vogel)
• Commentary on ECJ, judgment of 18 July 2020, C-80/19 – E./ E, LMK 2021, 437104
• Jurisdiction for actions for damages in connection with the sinking of the ferry Al Salam Boccaccio'98, EuZW 2020, 898 (together with Lisa-Sophie Wollschläger)
• Federal Court of Justice, IV ZB 20+21/18, LMK 2019, 417109 
• Hamburg Higher Regional Court: Lack of language skills as a reason for joint guardianship, NZFam 2017, 1161
• ECJ, Case C-111/17 PPU – OL v. PQ, FamRZ 2017, 1506–1511
• Munich Higher Regional Court, 22 March 2017: Local jurisdiction and negative conflict of competence in probate proceedings, ZEV 2017, 333
• Federal Court of Justice, 20 July 2016: Determination of the name in the case of a same-sex marriage concluded abroad, NZFam 2016, 1031-1033
• Determination of jurisdiction in cases of legal kidnapping abroad, NZFam 2016, 576
• Time limit and grounds in HKÜ proceedings, NZFam 2016, 83
• No perpetuatio fori in custody proceedings when the child moves to a third country, NZFam 2015, 474