Joel Berg

About Joel Berg

About Joel Berg

I am a Senior Lecturer in Law and Head of the Law Unit at the School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences. I obtained my law degree in 2016 and received my doctorate from Örebro University in 2023 with the thesis Fullmakten och dess uppkomst. Särskilt om huvudmannens viljeförklaring och tredje mans befogade tillit (The power of attorney and its creation, with particular regard to the principal’s declaration of intent and the third party’s justified reliance).

Research

My research concerns private law, primarily contract law. The thesis examines the power of attorney as a means of binding a principal to a contract and the question of how authority arises, through the principal’s declaration of intent or through the justified reliance of a third party. Authority, representation and other models for binding parties remain at the core of my research, including ongoing work on future powers of attorney (framtidsfullmakter) and on acting in one’s own name or in the name of another.

A larger ongoing project concerns smart contracts and the Swedish Contracts Act. The project examines how contracts that are wholly or partly expressed and performed in program code relate to the rules of the Contracts Act on formation, authority, interpretation and invalidity, how consumer protection and EU law affect the analysis, and whether new legislation is needed.

Together with Eleonor Kristoffersson I lead the research group Prison Law within the research environment Crises and Transformation. The group is interdisciplinary and brings together researchers in law, criminology, social work and media and communication studies around the rules governing prisons and remand centres and how those rules are applied in practice. Current questions include the enforcement of Swedish prison sentences in Estonia, prison sentences for children and young people, and the role of the Prison and Probation Service in times of crisis and war.

Within the Swedish–Japanese collaboration MIRAI I work on how AI companions for older people are regulated under EU law, including the AI Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. 

Teaching

I teach on the Master of Laws programme, mainly contract law and other areas of private law, and I supervise and examine degree theses. I have long experience of thesis supervision at both bachelor’s and master’s level. Outside the university I provide training in contract law and related subjects for practising lawyers and other professional groups.

Assignments and networks

Head of the Law Unit since 2023. Member of the collaboration between law faculties within the NEOLAiA university alliance.