In January 2019, a dam broke in the mountains near the Brazilian town of Brumadinho. Over 270 mining workers died. Their families have since sought to hold those accountable who had failed to prevent the disaster: Their claims for compensation have been directed not only against Vale, the Brazilian mining company which owned the dam, but also against “TÜV Süd“, the German corporation whose Brazilian subsidiary had certified the dam’s safety just a few months before it burst. A team of graduate students at the University of Regensburg is part of a transnational network supporting the victim families in their civil proceedings in Germany against TÜV Süd. The talk will present the ongoing case, analyze it as an  example of “strategic litigation”, and discuss its potential for establishing liability along transnational value chains.   

About the Speaker:

Prof. Alex Graser received his basic legal education in Germany. He also holds degrees from Oxford University and Harvard Law School. At the beginning of his academic career, he worked as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Policy in Munich. During that time, he also obtained his doctorate and post-secondary lectureship qualification („Habilitation“) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. After a first professorial appointment at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, he transitioned to the Faculty of Law at the University of Regensburg, where he has since held the Chair of of Public Law and Politics. In addition, Prof. Graser currently serves as the Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Regensburg. His research is in the fields constitutional law, social security, welfare and migration. Most of his work is comparative and international in orientation, with a focus in recent years on transfer of laws, access to justice, and strategic litigation.

Register here to attend the seminar on or before 24 September 2025, 12:30pm (Hong Kong Time).