Conference: European Principles of Transnational Litigation and Their Reception Abroad (Hamburg, 8–10 Oct 2026)

On 8–10 October 2026, Julian Rapp and Wolfgang Wurmnest will be hosting a conference on European Principles of Transnational Litigation and Their Reception Abroad at the University of Hamburg.

The aim of the conference is described as follows:

As cross-border disputes grow increasingly common in today’s globalized world, reflection on key European procedural principles – and their influence beyond Europe – deserves closer examination. This conference examines how European procedural rules, particularly those shaped by the Court of Justice of the European Union, have evolved into general principles of transnational litigation. It will discuss classic jurisdictional rules (contract and tort jurisdiction, jurisdiction agreements, and lis pendens), the protection of weaker parties, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments – all reflecting the practical challenges that litigants and courts face in cross-border litigation.

Beyond taking stock of European law as it stands, the conference examines how these principles have been received (or rejected) outside the EU – a development that reveals much about their underlying quality. Drawing on comparative perspectives from the United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, and Korea, the conference aims to foster dialogue between legal cultures and to assess prospects for convergence or divergence in procedural standards. By engaging both doctrinal foundations and practical implications, the conference aims to deepen understanding of how European litigation principles shape, and are in turn shaped by, the evolving global discourse on transnational litigation.

The programme can be found here; registration is possible via this e-mail address: conference-european-principles.rw@uni-hamburg.de.