There are a few private international law pieces forthcoming in English journals over the next month or so (encompassing articles, case-notes and book reviews.) In no particular order, they are:

1. Review:  “Dicey, Morris and Collins on The Conflict of Laws”, reviewed by Lorna Gillies, Civil Justice Quarterly 2007, 26(Oct), 524-526.

2. “Sale of goods and the relentless march of the Brussels I regulation“, Jonathan Harris, Law Quarterly Review 2007, 123(Oct), 522-528.

Comments on the European Court of Justice ruling in Color Drack GmbH v Lexx International Vertriebs GmbH (C-386/05) on whether a court had jurisdiction to hear a dispute under Council Regulation 44/2001 Art.5(1)(b) where there were several places of delivery within one Member State under a contract for the sale of goods.

3. “German Supreme Court refers another question to the ECJ“, Bob Wessels, Insolvency International 2007, 20(8), 127

Notes the decision of the German Federal Supreme Court in Bundesgerichtshof (IX ZR 39/06) to refer to the European Court of Justice the question of whether the courts of the country in which the main insolvency proceedings against a debtor are underway, have international jurisdiction under Council Regulation 44/2001 (the Brussels Regulation) in an avoidance action against a third party with its statutory seat in another country.

4. “The enforceability in Spain of a choice of foreign law clause“, Carlos Valls, International Company and Commercial Law Review 2007, 18(9), 328-330.

Comments on the Spanish Supreme Court ruling in Deutsche Seereenderei GmbH v Martico S.L, which concerned a dispute arising from a Maritime Agency Contract which the parties had agreed would be governed by German law. Considers whether the Supreme Court could hear an appeal based on the correct application of German law and, if so, whether the Supreme Court’s ruling would create a precedent for the interpretation of German law.

5. “The Hague Convention, the civil law and the Italian experience“, Maurizio Lupoi, Trust Law International 2007, 21(2), 80-89.

Discusses how domestic trusts operate in Italy under civil law, and criticises the provisions on the legal nature of a trust in the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition 1985. Explains Italian practice for drafting trust deeds and the courts’ approach to trusts. Examines how an amendment to the Italian Civil Code imposing limitations on dealings with assets will affect trust law.

6. “The Fifth Element” Marcel Lipelt, Law Society’s Gazette L.S.G. (2007) Vol.104 No.34 Page 34.

Highlights changes to EC law, by reason of the transposition of European Parliament and Council Directive 2005/14 into the national law of all member states, which make it easier for residents of a member state who are involved in road traffic accidents in other member state to pursue a claim for damages against the foreign third party insurer, including allowing proceedings to be issued in the courts of the member state in which the claimant is domiciled. Considers which laws the English courts will apply when dealing with such claims, in particular when assessing damages.

(This isn’t, by any means, meant to be a definitive list – if anyone knows of any other PIL-related articles about to be published, please do send me an email.)

A cooperation agreement between the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Institute for Private International Law in Africa, Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg, came into effect on 28 August 2007. In terms of the agreement the Johannesburg Institute will act as information centre for the Hague Conference and promote the work of the Conference on the African continent. The Conference will provide all their forthcoming publications, as well as all past publications since 1955, to UJ’s law library in order to assist the Institute with the task.

Cambridge University Press have published a new book on Conflict of Laws in a Globalized World, edited by Eckart Gottschalk (Harvard), Ralf Michaels (Duke), Giesela Ruhl (Max Planck, Hamburg) and Jan von Hein (Max Planck, Hamburg). The book is a tribute to the late Arthur von Mehren; the contributors (see below for a full list) are all former Joseph Story Fellows, who worked with von Mehren during their year at Harvard. Here is the publisher’s blurb:

This book contains ten contributions that examine current topics in the evolving transatlantic dialogue on the conflict of laws. The first five contributions deal with the design of judgments conventions in general, the recently adopted Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, problems involving negative declaratory actions in international disputes, and recent transatlantic developments relating to service of process and collective proceedings. The remaining five contributions focus on comparative and economic dimensions of party autonomy, choice of law relating to intellectual property rights, the applicable law in antitrust law litigation, international arbitration, and actions for punitive damages.

The contents:

Editor’s preface; Bibliographical note; Part I. Remembering Arthur T. von Mehren: 1. The last Euro-American legal scholar? Arthur Taylor von Mehren (1922 – 2006) Jürgen Basedow; 2. Arthur Taylor von Mehren and the Joseph Story Research Fellowship Peter L. Murray; 3. Building bridges between legal systems – the life and work of Arthur T. von Mehren Michael von Hinden; Part II. Transatlantic Litigation and Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters: 4. Some fundamental jurisdictional conceptions as applied in judgement conventions Ralf Michaels; 5. The Hague Convention on Choice-of-Court Agreements – was it worth the effort? Christian Thiele; 6. Lis Pendens, negative declaratory-judgement actions and the first-in-time principle Martin Gebauer; 7. Recent German jurisprudence on cooperation with the US in civil and commercial matters: a defense of sovereignty or judicial protectionism? Jan von Hein; 8. Collective litigation German style – the act on model proceedings in capital market disputes Moritz Balz and Feliz Blobel; Part III. Choice of Law in Transatlantic Relationships: 9. Party autonomy in the private international law of contracts: transatlantic convergence and economic efficiency Gisela Ruhl; 10. The law applicable to intellectual property rights: is the Lex Loci Protectionis a pertinent choice of law approach? Eckart Gottschalk; 11. The extraterritorial reach of antitrust law between legal imperialism and harmonious co-existence: the empagram judgement of the US Supreme Court from a European perpective Dietmar Baetge; 12. Mandatory elements of the Choice-of-Law Process in international arbitration – some reflections on Teubnerian and Kelsenian legal theory Matthias Weller; 13. Application of foreign law to determine punitive damages- a recent US Court contribution to Choice-of-Law evolution Oliver Furtak.

The contributors:

• Jürgen Basedow
• Peter L. Murray
• Micahel von Hinden
• Ralf Michaels
• Christian Thiele
• Martin Gebauer
• Jan von Hein
• Moritz Bälz
• Feliz Blobel
• Gisela Rühl
• Eckart Gottschalk
• Dietmar Baetge
• Matthias Weller
• Oliver Furtak

The book can be purchased from CUP (on either their main site, or the US variant.) It is priced at £45.00 (or $85.00) and will be available from October 2007. ISBN: 9780521871303.

Many thanks to Ralf Michaels for the tip-off.