the maastricht collection comprises a broad selection of legal instruments and provisions that have proven to be particularly relevant and useful to students and practitioners of international, european, and comparative law. the compilation is based on the long-standing expertise in teaching and researching european, international, and comparative national law at maastricht university’s faculty of law. it includes codes and statutory legislation from france, germany, the netherlands, and the united kingdom, international treaties and instruments of international organisations, as well as the treaties and selected secondary legal instruments of the european union. the provisions contained in the maastricht collection are reproduced in the original english or in the authentic english version, where applicable, or they are freshly translated under critical editorship. many existing translations of written law, including officious translations available on government websites, are significantly out of date and not sufficiently faithful to the original. they often seek to turn old-fashioned or ambiguous original texts into modern and elegant english. or, instead of translating, they seek to explain how certain terms or formulations are interpreted in practice. the translations contained in the maastricht collection remain true to the content, style, and syntax of the original as far as possible, allowing the reader to appreciate not only the substance but also the authentic form of legal sources. the maastricht collection presents itself as an even more comprehensive resource for students of european, international, and comparative law. this ninth edition contains updates of the instruments contained in the maastricht collection, as well as new legislation relating to brexit. it is divided into four reader-friendly volumes: vol. i – international and european law vol. ii – comparative public law vol. iii – international and european private law vol. iv – comparative private law