Brexit and the Future of Private International Law in English Courts

Our esteemed co-editor Mukarrum Ahmed has recently published a book titled Brexit and the Future of Private International Law in English Courts with Oxford University Press. He has kindly provided us with the following summary:

This book is the first full length study of the private international law implications of Brexit in a single consolidated resource. It provides an analytical and authoritative commentary on the impact of Brexit upon jurisdiction, foreign judgments, and the applicable law in civil and commercial matters. By discussing the principal post-Brexit changes in England, this book faces towards the future of private international law in English courts. It utilises a once-in-a-generation opportunity to analyse, understand, and reframe some fundamental assumptions about private international law with a view to suggesting adjustments and law reform.

Ahmed argues that a conscious unlearning of the central precepts of EU private international law would be detrimental to the future of English private international law. The multilateral issues that lie ahead for the discipline rely on the legal epistemology of EU private international law, which also serves as a useful reference point when comparing aspects of English private international law. Unshackled from the EU’s external competence constraints, the UK will have the opportunity to play a more prominent role in the development of the Hague Conference’s global instruments. A methodologically pluralist approach to English private international law may be the best route to sustain its global leadership in this field, as well as simultaneously assimilating the best private international law developments from the Commonwealth, Europe, and beyond.