Views
The Reception of Hilton v Guyot and Comity in the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Anglophone Africa
Introduction
Hilton v Guyot, is the most influential case in the United States—and perhaps globally—on the use of comity as a basis for recognising and enforcing foreign judgments. In that case, Justice Gray of the United States Supreme Court defined comity as follows:
“No law has any effect, of its own force, beyond the limits of the sovereignty from which its authority is derived. The extent of which the law of one nation… shall be allowed to operate within the dominion of another nation, depends upon… the “comity of nations”…” Read more
No Exequatur Granted for a Panamanian Judgment in Greece Due to Public Policy Considerations [Piraeus Court of First Instance Case No. 2040/2026, Unreported]
INTRODUCTION
Following a significant hiatus, the public policy defense has re-emerged prominently in discussions surrounding the enforcement of foreign judgments, particularly in the context of a judgment issued by the Panama Maritime Court in 2024. The primary issue addressed by the Greek court was whether a foreign judgment could be recognized and enforced when the foreign court denied appellate proceedings due to the failure to post a security deposit that was both substantial and necessary for the appeal process.
Non-Qualifying Ceremonies: The Futility of Foreign Registration of Islamic Marriages under English Law
This blog note is kindly provided by Dr. Muhammad Zubair Abbasi (Lecturer, School of Law, Royal Holloway, University of London; zubair.abbasi@rhul.ac.uk). It follows the author’s previous post on this topic, which was published earlier on this blog. Read more
News
Call for Papers: 6th PIL Early Career Researchers’ Conference (9/10 April 2027, Munich)
Hot on the heels of the publication of the proceedings of the 5th PIL Early Career Researchers’ Conference, the organizers of the 6th conference have just published the Call for Papers (German version).
The conference will take place on 9 and 10 April 2027 at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich under the title ‘Crises in PIL – Crises of PIL’, which the organizers introduce as follows:
We are living in an age of polycrisis: war and environmental destruction are forcing thousands upon thousands to flee; growing social inequality and the concentration of economic power are undermining social cohesion; political polarization and the rise of renationalization threaten the project of European integration and international cooperation. At our conference, we aim to explore the implications of these crises for private international law (PIL). What new questions do the political, social, economic, and ecological crises of our time raise for PIL? How does PIL contribute to crisis management, or, conversely, to the exacerbation of crises? And might the discipline of PIL itself be in crisis?
The keynote speech will be given by Heinz-Peter Mansel (University of Cologne).
More information can be found on the conference website.
HCCH Monthly Update: March 2026
Membership
On 4 March 2026, Guatemala deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Statute, becoming the 93rd Member of the HCCH. More information is available here.
Conventions & Instruments
On 1 March 2026, the 2019 Judgments Convention entered into force for Albania and Montenegro. At present, 33 HCCH Members are either bound by the 2019 Judgments Convention or a Contracting Party for which the Convention has not entered into force yet (Andorra). More information is available here (for Albania) and here (for Montenegro).
On 1 March 2026, the 2005 Choice of Court Convention entered into force for Monaco. At present, 38 States and the European Union are bound by the 2005 Choice of Court Convention. More information is available here.
Meetings & Events
From 3 to 6 March 2026, the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) of the HCCH met in The Hague. The meeting was attended by 560 participants joining both in person and online. During the meeting, the Members of the HCCH reviewed progress made to date and agreed on the work programme for the year ahead, taking important decisions on work relating to possible new legislative instruments, post-Convention work, and governance matters. More information is available here.
From 9 to 11 March 2026, the Regional Workshop on Sharing Experiences on the Effective Implementation of the 1993 Adoption Convention in Africa was held in Cape Town, South Africa. More information is available here.
On 24 March 2026, the first meeting for Central Authorities on the operation of the 1965 Service, 1970 Evidence and 1980 Access to Justice Conventions was held online, hosted by the PB of the HCCH.
Publications
On 3 March 2026, the Permanent Bureau announced the publication of the HCCH 2025 Annual Report. More information is available here.
Upcoming events
Registration is open for the 14th International Forum on the electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP), which will take place in hybrid format on 12 and 13 May 2026 in Marrakesh, Morocco. The registration deadline is Friday 1 May 2026, 5.00 p.m. (CEST). More information is available here.
Vacancies
Applications are now open for three- to six-month legal internships for the period from September 2026 to February 2027. The deadline for the submission of applications is 20 April 2026. More information is available here.
These monthly updates are published by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), providing an overview of the latest developments. More information and materials are available on the HCCH website.
Call for Abstracts: International Conference on Modern Problems of Private International Law, Poznan – Riga
The following announcement was shared with us by the conference organizers, Aleksandrs Fillers (Riga Graduate School of Law, Latvia), Adrian Rycerski (SWPS University in Poznan, Poland).
