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Book Review: L. d’Avout’s La Cohérence Mondiale Du Droit (Brill)
The general course in private international law delivered at the Hague Academy of International Law by Louis d’Avout during the 2022 Summer Session was published in the Academy’s Pocket Books Series (1 032 pages). Louis d’Avout is Professor at Université Paris Panthéon-Assas. In addition to his numerous scholarly works, readers of this blog may recall that his special course on “L’entreprise et les conflits internationaux de lois” was also published in the Academy’s Pocket Books Series in 2019. The general course is title « La cohérence mondiale du droit » (“The Global Coherence of Law”). The publication of a general course in private international law—particularly in the Academy’s Pocket Books Series—deserves the attention of the readers of this blog. The aim of this review is, modestly, to offer a glimpse into this important work so readers who are sufficiently francophone may be encouraged to read it directly, while those who are not are offered a brief overview of the author’s approach. Read more
Trial Supervision System No Longer Impediment in Hong Kong’s Recognition and Enforcement of Chinese Mainland Judgments
1. Introduction
For more than 20 years after the handover, Hong Kong courts had regularly noted difficulties with the ‘trial supervision system’ 
(also known as ‘retrial procedure’ 
) in the Chinese Mainland when attempting to recognise and enforce Mainland judgments under the common law, as the trial supervision system was thought to mean that these judgments fail to meet the ‘final and conclusive’ requirement. Such thinking was criticised by scholars as problematic.[1] To address the issue, statutory regimes on the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong have been implemented. More recent studies documented changes in the judicial attitude of Hong Kong courts,[2] but there was a lack of definitive rulings to clarify the legal position. This article focuses on the most recent Hong Kong cases which confirmed that the trial supervision system in the Chinese Mainland has no automatic impact on the recognition and enforcement of Mainland judgments in Hong Kong. A party alleging that the trial supervision system has affected the finality and conclusiveness of a Mainland judgment must prove the likelihood of a retrial being ordered through factual and/or expert evidence.
REFLECTIONS ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN AFRICAN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
I. INTRODUCTION
This is the second symposium relating to private international law in Africa to be hosted on this blog, following a series that has run consistently since 2 February 2026. The first symposium, which focused on private international law in Nigeria, took place on 14 December 2020 and was jointly hosted on Afronomics and this blog. It was organised by Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong and me.
Professor Beligh Elbalti and I are deeply grateful to the scholars who agreed to participate in this symposium at short notice, including Dr Solomon Okorley, Dr Theophilus Edwin Coleman, Dr Elisa Rinaldi, Miss Anam Abdul-Majid, Mr Kitonga Mulandi, Dr Boris Awa, and Dr Abubakri Yekini.
The idea for this second symposium originated with my dear colleague, Professor Beligh Elbalti, and I am thankful to him for involving me in the leadership and organisation of this project. The symposium finds its true genesis in a larger edited volume we are currently preparing on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Africa, which examines developments across no fewer than twenty-six African jurisdictions. Read more
News
Internships at the HCCH
Applications are now open for three- to six-month legal internships at the headquarters of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH in The Hague, for the period from September 2026 to February 2027!
Interns work with our legal teams in the Family and Child Protection Law Division, the Transnational Litigation and Apostille Division, and the Commercial, Digital and Financial Law Division.
Duties may include carrying out research on particular points of private international law and/or comparative law, taking part in the preparation of HCCH meetings, and contributing to the promotion of the HCCH and its work.
Applications should be submitted by Monday, 20 April 2026 at 18.00 (CEST). For more information, please visit the Internships Section of the HCCH website.
This post is published by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference of Private International Law (HCCH).
TDM Call for Papers: Special Issue on “International Arbitration and the Space Industry”
Transnational Dispute Management (TDM) has kindly shared the following Call for Papers with us.
We are pleased to announce a forthcoming Transnational Dispute Management (TDM, ISSN 1875-4120, www.transnational-dispute-management.com) special issue on “International Arbitration and the Space Industry.”
This Special Issue will be edited by Alexandra van der Meulen, Kate Gough, Joshua Kelly, Annie Pan and Veronika Timofeeva (Freshfields LLP).
14th International Forum on the e-APP: Registration open!
The Permanent Bureau (PB) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for participation in the 14th International Forum on the electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP Forum), which will take place on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 May 2026 in Marrakesh, Morocco. To be held for the first time in Africa, this edition of the e-APP Forum will be organised by the HCCH’s Regional Office for Africa, with the support of the Ministry of Justice of Morocco. The Forum will be conducted in English, French, and Arabic, with simultaneous interpretation provided.
Since its launch in 2006, the e-APP has become an integral part of the operation of the Apostille Convention. The e-APP has two electronic components: an e-Apostille and an e-Register, which, over the past twenty years, have been instrumental in ensuring the practical, effective, and secure operation of the Apostille Convention amid constant technological development.
The e-APP Forum gathers experts and stakeholders from around the world. The Forum will provide a unique international platform for governments, organisations, and the private sector to learn more about the benefits of the e-APP, to promote its effective implementation, and to discuss the latest developments in relation to the e-APP worldwide.
Interested persons should register via this form no later than Friday 1 May 2026, 5.00 p.m. (CEST). Participation in the Forum is free of charge. However, participants are required to make their own travel and hotel arrangements and cover all related costs if participating in person. Please note that in-person seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and will be confirmed via e-mail by the PB.
For more information on the e-APP Forum, please visit the dedicated page on the HCCH website. A draft Agenda is available on the HCCH website and will be updated as panellists are confirmed.
For further information on the Apostille Convention and the e-APP, please visit the Apostille Section of the HCCH website.