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New York Court Denies Enforcement of Chinese Judgment on Systemic Due Process Grounds
Written by William S. Dodge (Professor, University of California, Davis, School of Law)
& Wenliang Zhang (Associate Professor, Renmin University of China Law School)
In Shanghai Yongrun Investment Management Co. v. Kashi Galaxy Venture Capital Co., the Supreme Court of New York (New York’s court of first instance) denied enforcement of a Chinese court judgment on the ground that the judgment “was rendered under a system which does not provide impartial tribunals or procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law.” The decision disagrees with every other U.S. and foreign court to have considered the adequacy of the Chinese judicial system in the context of judgments recognition. In recent years, there has been a growing trend in favor of the recognition of Chinese judgments in the United States and U.S. judgments in China. See William S. Dodge & Wenliang Zhang, Reciprocity in China-U.S. Judgments Recognition, 53 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 1541 (2020). Unless this recent decision is overturned on appeal, it threatens to reverse the trend, to the detriment of judgment creditors in both countries.
In 2016 Shanghai Yongrun purchased an interest in Kashi Galaxy. In 2017, Kashi Galaxy agreed to repurchase that interest for RMB 200 million, an agreement that Kashi Galaxy allegedly breached by paying only part of the repurchase price. The agreement was governed by Chinese law and provided that suits could be resolved by courts in Beijing. In 2018, Shanghai Yongrun sued Kashi Galaxy, Maodong Xu, and Xu’s wife in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. After a trial in which defendants were represented by counsel, the court granted judgment in favor of Shanghai Yongrun. The Beijing Higher People’s Court affirmed the judgment on appeal, but it could not be enforced in China because no assets were available within the court’s jurisdiction.
Territorial Jurisdiction for Disputes between Members of a Political Party in Nigeria
Election or political party disputes often feature before Nigerian courts. In Nigeria jurisdiction in matters of conflict of laws (called “territorial jurisdiction” by many Nigerian judges) also applies to matters of disputes between members of a political party in the inter-state context.[1]
In Oshiomhole v Salihu (No. 1)[2] (reported on June 7, 2021), one of the issues for determination was whether the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja possessed territorial jurisdiction to handle a dispute between members of Nigeria’s ruling political party. The 1st defendant/appellant was at the time the National Chairman of the 2nd defendant/appellant (the ruling party in Nigeria). It was alleged by some Members of the party that he had been suspended at the ward level in Edo State and he was thus disqualified from holding the position of National Chairman. The 1st defendant/appellant, inter alia, filed a preliminary objection to the suit and argued that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory did not possess territorial jurisdiction because the cause of action arose in Edo State where he was alleged to have been suspended as the National Chairman. The Court of Appeal (per Onyemenam JCA in his leading judgment) dismissed the preliminary objection and held as follows:
“The issue herein is straightforward. Order 3 rule 4 of the High Court of Federal Capital Territory (Civil Procedure) Rules 2018 provides that:
“All other suits shall where the defendant resides or carries on business or where the cause of action arose in the Federal Capital Territory, be commenced and determined in the High court of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
Online conference Cross-Border Litigation in Central-Europe
The University of Szeged Faculty of Law and the ELKH Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies are organizing an international online conference: “Cross-Border Litigation in Central-Europe: EU Private International Law before National Courts”. The conference will present the main results of the EU-funded CEPIL research project (“Cross-Border Litigation in Central-Europe: EU Private International Law before National Courts”, 800789 — CEPIL — JUST-AG-2017/JUST-JCOO-AG-2017). The CEPIL project inquires whether EU PIL functions optimally in the CE Member States in order to secure “a Europe of law and justice”. It examines whether EU PIL instruments are applied in CE Member States in a correct and uniform manner, whether Member State courts deal appropriately with disputes having a cross-border element and whether the current legal and institutional architecture is susceptible of securing legal certainty and an effective remedy for cross-border litigants. The project’s research output will be published by Kluwer International.
News
The annual seminar of the Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law will take place online from 17 to 19 November 2021
The Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law (AMEDIP) will be holding its annual XLIV Seminar entitled “New perspectives for Private International Law in a post-pandemic society” (perspectivas para el derecho internacional privado en una sociedad post-pandemia) from 17 to 19 November 2021 for the second time online.
The main focus of the seminar will be to analyse the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the development of private international law.
Potential speakers are invited to submit a paper in Spanish, English or Portuguese by September 1st 2021. Papers must comply with the criteria established by AMEDIP and will be evaluated accordingly. Selected speakers will be required to give their presentations preferably in Spanish as there will be no interpretation services but some exceptions may be made by the organisers upon request.
Participation is free of charge. The platform that will be used is Zoom and it will also be streamed via Facebook Live. For more information, please click here.
Call for papers – Milan Law Review – next deadline October 2021
The Milan Law Review (MLR) of the State University of Milan Law Faculty is a multidisciplinary and multilingual law journal, published on a six-monthly basis in open access mode.
Articles on topics of private international law, public international law and European Union law are welcome.
Papers can be written in Italian or English. Instructions for authors and more information about the journal can be found on the website: https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/milanlawreview/about.
Papers may be submitted to the Journal by email to the following address: milanlawreview@unimi.it.
The next deadline for submitting papers is 31 October 2021.
New article on ‘The prevalence of ‘jurisdiction’ in the recognition and enforcement of foreign civil and commercial judgments in India and South Africa: a comparative analysis’
Published in the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal by Saloni Khanderia, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (Experienced Researcher), Chair for Civil Law, International Private Law and Comparative Law, Ludwig Maximilian University, München and Professor of Law, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India.
The article provides a comparative analysis of the mechanism to determine the ‘international jurisdiction’ of a court in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters in Indian and South African private international law. It examines the theoretical bases for executing foreign judgments in these jurisdictions and the grounds on which a foreign court will be considered as ‘internationally competent’ under the private international laws of these BRICS jurisdictions. Accordingly, it demonstrates how the rules to ascertain the competency of the foreign forum in these jurisdictions are narrow and, consequently, impede the free movement of judgments and prevents access to justice. The article highlights some plausible ways to improve the free movement of judgments and access to justice in India and South Africa. In particular, it suggests the endorsement of the Hague Conventions on the Choice of Court Agreements and the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.