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International tech litigation reaches the next level: collective actions against TikTok and Google

Written by Xandra Kramer (Erasmus University Rotterdam/Utrecht University) & Eduardo Silva de Freitas (Erasmus University Rotterdam), members of the Vici project Affordable Access to Justice, financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), www.euciviljustice.eu.

Introduction

We have reported on the Dutch WAMCA procedure for collective actions in a number of previous blogposts. This collective action procedure was introduced on 1 January 2020, enabling claims for damages, and has since resulted in a stream of (interim) judgments addressing different aspects in the preliminary stages of the procedure. This includes questions on the admissibility and funding requirements, some of which are also of importance as examples for the rolling out of the Representative Action Directive for consumers in other Member States. It also poses very interesting questions of private international law, as in particular the collective actions for damages against tech giants are usually international cases. We refer in particular to earlier blogposts on international jurisdiction in the privacy case against TikTok and the referral to the CJEU regarding international jurisdiction under the Brussels I-bis Regulation in the competition case against Apple.

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Turning Point: China First Recognizes Japanese Bankruptcy Decision

This post is written by Guodong Du and Meng Yu and published at China Justice Observer. It is reproduced here by kind permission of the authors. 

Key takeaways:

  • In September 2023, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People’s Court ruled to recognize the Tokyo District Court’s decision to commence civil rehabilitation proceedings and the order appointing the supervisor ((2021) Hu 03 Xie Wai Ren No.1).
  • This marks not only the first time that China has recognized a Japanese court’s decision in a bankruptcy procedure, but also the first time that China has recognized a Japanese judgment.
  • The case establishes a legal precedent for cross-border bankruptcy decisions, demonstrating that prior non-recognition patterns between China and Japan in civil and commercial judgments may not apply in such cross-border scenarios.
  • While not resolving the broader recognition challenges between the two nations, this acknowledgment sends a positive signal from the Chinese court, hinting at potential future breakthroughs and fostering hope for improved legal cooperation.

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Disentangling Legal Knots: Intersection of Foreign Law and English Law in Overseas Marriages

Written by Muhammad Zubair Abbasi, Lecturer at School of Law, Oxford Brookes University (mabbasi@brookes.ac.uk)

Introduction:

In a recent judgment Tousi v Gaydukova [2024] EWCA Civ 203, the Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of the relevance of foreign law to the remedy available under English law in respect of an overseas ceremony of marriage. Earlier the High Court had held that the foreign law determines not only the validity or invalidity of the ceremony of marriage but also the ramifications of the validity or invalidity of the ceremony. The Court of Appeal disagreed and reiterated the rule that lex loci celebrationis is limited to the determination of the validity or invalidity of the ceremony of marriage. Therefore, English law will apply to provide a remedy or relief upon the breakdown of the relationship of the parties to a marriage ceremony that took place abroad.

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News

NGPIL Prize Winner – Miss Peace George

Originally posted on the NGPIL Website

“The winner of the 2024 NGPIL (Nigeria Group of Private International Law) Conflict of Law’s Essay Prize is Peace George, a recent LLB graduate with admission to the Nigerian Law School. Her essay is entitled “Domicile, Nationality and Habitual Residence: What Option for Nigeria” and was awarded 150,000 NGN [Naira] as the winning essay. The essay was of excellent standard and demonstrated a deep understanding of the principles at hand, analysing them to a high standard…”

HCCH Webinar: “HCCH 2005 Choice of Court Convention: Fostering Access to Justice for Cross-Border Commerce in the Asia Pacific Region”

The Permanent Bureau of the HCCH is pleased to announce that the webinar “HCCH 2005 Choice of Court Convention: Fostering Access to Justice for Cross-Border Commerce in the Asia Pacific Region” will be held this Friday, 22 March, from 16:00 to 17:30 p.m. (Hong Kong time).

The webinar will feature the following topics and speakers:

  • Welcome remarks, by Dr Christophe Bernasconi (HCCH)
  • Overview of the Choice of Court Convention, by Ms Melissa Ford (HCCH)
  • Application of the Choice of Court Convention in Singapore, by Prof Adeline CHONG Swee Ling (Singapore Management University)
  • Choice of Court Convention and the People’s Republic of China, by Prof Zheng TANG (Wuhan University)
  • Choice of Court Convention and the ASEAN Members – taking Indonesia as an example, by Prof Afifah Kusumadara (Brawijaya University)
  • Concluding remarks, by Prof Yun ZHAO (HCCH)

For more information, please consult the webinar’s programme.

A few takeaways from the Conclusions & Decisions of the HCCH governing body

The Conclusions & Decisions of the Council on General Affairs and Policy (basically, the governing body – CGAP) of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) were published this week. Click here.

What is remarkable is that this year’s Conclusions & Decisions, as well as other Preliminary Documents, were also published in Spanish. It is the first time in the history of this governing body that documents are translated into Spanish and signals its commitment and the looming deadline when Spanish will become an official language of the HCCH (i.e. 1 July 2024). Many congratulations to the HCCH team, it has been a long road.

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