Views
The Titanium Brace Tightens: Rome II and Director Liability after Wunner
By Luisa Cassar Pullicino and Krista Refalo, Ganado Advocates
In the preliminary reference Case C-77/24 Wunner (the Titanium Brace case), the CJEU was asked to determine whether a damages claim brought by a consumer directly against company directors for losses suffered from unlicensed online gambling fell within the scope of the Rome II Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 864/2007), or whether it was excluded under Article 1(2)(d) as a “non-contractual obligation arising out of the law of companies”.
The practical stakes were considerable. If Rome II applied, Article 4(1) would designate the law of the place where the damage occurred — which, for online gambling losses, would normally be the habitual residence of the consumer. If excluded, the applicable law would instead be determined by national conflict-of-laws rules, typically, the lex societatis.
‘Salami-slicing’ and Issue Estoppel: Foreign Decisions on the Governing Law
One of the requirements for issue estoppel is identity of issue. However, the process of ‘refining down’ or ‘salami-slicing’[1] is not always clear. The argument that the issue is different because the two courts would arrive at different conclusions on the governing law is increasingly being utilised as a litigation strategy. If the first court applied its choice of law rules to determine that the governing law of the claim is Utopian law, would an issue estoppel arise over this decision in the second court if under the second court’s choice of law rules, Ruritanian law is the governing law? The answer depends on whether the ‘slice’ is thick or thin. Is the relevant issue ‘What law governs the dispute or issue?’ or ‘What law is identified by our (forum) choice of law rules to govern the dispute or issue?’ Read more
The Conflict-of-Law Rules in the UAE’s New Civil Transactions Act: Yet Another Missed Opportunity!
I. Introduction
On 1 January 2026, the Legislative Decree No. 25/2025 promulgating a new Civil Transactions Act (hereafter ‘NCTA’) entered into force. The NCTA repeals and replaces the former Federal Civil Transactions Act of 1985 (hereafter ‘the 1985 Act’). The adoption of the NCTA forms part of the State’s broader and ongoing effort to comprehensively update and modernize its legal system, an effort that has already touched major legislative instruments, including, among many others, the 2022 Civil Procedure Act, the 2024 Personal Status Act, the 2023 Competition Act, and the 2022 Commercial Transactions Act.
Since the 1985 Act contained a codified set of conflict-of-laws rules, its replacement necessarily entails a re-examination of the UAE’s private international law framework and, at least in principle, the introduction of new or revised choice-of-law provisions. Against this background, this note offers a preliminary and necessarily tentative assessment of the modifications introduced by the NCTA. It focuses on the main features of the new law in relation to choice-of-law regulation, highlighting both the changes introduced and the limits of the reform. Read more
News
New Book: La circolazione dello statuto personale / La circulation du statut personnel
A new collective volume entitled “La circolazione dello statuto personale / La circulation du statut personnel” has recently been published by Pacini Giuridica. Edited by Gustavo Cerqueira (Nice), Nicolas Nord (Strasbourg) and Claudio Scognamiglio (Rome), the book brings together the proceedings of an international conference held on 19 January 2024 in Rome, in the prestigious Giallombardo Hall of the Italian Court of Cassation.
The conference and the resulting volume stem from a joint initiative supported by several leading institutions in the fields of private law, comparative law and private international law: the Société de législation comparée (Comparative Methodology of Civil Law Section), the Associazione Civilisti Italiani and the International Commission on Civil Status (CIEC), with the support of the of the Italian Court of Cassation and the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Nice.
The volume addresses the circulation of personal status in a broad sense, at a time when increasing mobility of persons, the continuous renewal of issues relating to personal status, and sustained legislative and judicial activity across jurisdictions make this topic more relevant than ever. Rather than focusing on a single issue, the contributors adopt a comprehensive approach encompassing civil status in cross-border situations, personal identification, family relationships, filiation, and nationality. Taken together, these areas reflect the contemporary legal conception of the person, shaped by complex family ties and by the dynamics of cross-border recognition.
With contributions from scholars and practitioners from France, Italie and Switzerland, the book offers a genuinely civil, international and comparative perspective. Its bilingual Italian-French format further enhances its accessibility and comparative value for a European private international law readership. The richness of the discussions reproduced in the volume confirms the relevance of the chosen approach and makes a significant contribution to ongoing scholarly debates on the circulation of personal status.
Further information on the book is available on the publisher’s website.
English translation of fate Table of Contents:
Foreword
Nicolas Nord, The Circulation of Personal Status: Introductory Report
Civil Status and Cross-Border Situations
Gustavo Cerqueira, Civil Status and Borders
Francesco Salerno, The Paradigm of Substantive Values in the Extraterritorial Relevance of Personal Status
Marion Ho-Dac, Personal Status and International Cooperation: Attraction, Diversity and Obstacles
Identification of the Person
Giovanni Di Rosa, Identification of the Person: The Circulation of Surnames
Fernanda Munschy, The Cross-Border Circulation of Modified Gender Identity: From Attribution to Free Choice
Francesca Bartolini, The Circulation of a Person’s Sex: Attribution, Rectification and Autonomy
Union of Persons
Lukas Heckendorn Urscheler, The Circulation of Registered Partnerships: Tensions between Terminological Unity and Conceptual Diversity
Alessandra Spangaro, The Circulation of Registered Unions: Between Terminological Unity and Conceptual Diversity
Enrico Al Mureden, Same-Sex Marriage and Its Circulation: Between the Rights of the Couple, the Protection of the Child and the Prohibition of Surrogacy
Ilaria Pretelli and Renzo Calvigioni, Unions Celebrated Abroad: Certificates of Capacity and the Opportunities Offered by the New CIEC Convention No. 35
Filiation
Gordon Choisel, Filiation Based on Parenthood, or the Reversal of French International Public Policy
Mirzia Bianca, The Proliferation of Models of Parenthood: Reflections on De Facto Parenthood
Sylvain Bollée, Surrogacy: Spontaneous Circulation and Imposed Circulation
Roberto Senigaglia, The Circulation of Filiation Status Arising from Surrogacy Practices Established in EU and Non-EU States: The Case for a Differentiated Approach
Nationality
Hugues Fulchiron, Nationality and the Circulation of Personal Status: The Multiplication of Contemporary Issues
Sabine Corneloup, Evidentiary Difficulties and Obstacles to the Circulation of Status in Matters of Nationality
Conclusions
Liliana Rossi Carleo, The Circulation of Personal Status: Concluding Remarks
Dutch Journal of PIL (NIPR) – issue 2025/3
The latest issue of the Dutch Journal on Private International Law (NIPR) has been published. It contains the following contributions.
NIPR 2025, Issue 3
Editorial
Mathijs ten Wolde / p. 421
Articles
Steven Stuij, De positie van art. 10:2 BW in het Nederlands burgerlijk procesrecht / p. 423-444
Abstract
Article 10:2 of the Dutch Civil Code stipulates that the rules of private international law as well as the applicable law designated by those rules are to be applied ex officio. There has been a debate as to the positioning of this provision in relation to other rules of civil procedure on party autonomy as a result of two cases of the Dutch Supreme Court (‘Hoge Raad’). This contribution will address Read more
Public consultation on a possible new HCCH convention
Just 10 days left to participate in the public consultation on the Draft Text of a possible new HCCH convention on parallel proceedings and related actions!
The public consultation, launched on 18 November 2025, will close on 26 January 2026 at 9.00 a.m. CET. Experts, practitioners and judges from diverse legal traditions with experience in cross-border litigation and private international law more broadly are encouraged to participate in the consultation.
In 2021, the HCCH established a Working Group on matters related to jurisdiction in transnational civil or commercial litigation (WG), comprised of over 60 subject-matter experts from across the globe. The WG, after nine meetings, has developed a Draft Text containing provisions aimed at addressing parallel proceedings and related actions taking place in multiple States, acknowledging the primary roles of both jurisdictional rules and the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The objective of this future instrument would be to enhance legal certainty, predictability, and access to justice by reducing litigation costs and mitigating inconsistent judgments in transnational litigation in civil or commercial matters.
The public consultation seeks feedback on whether the Draft Text would, in practice, assist in addressing such matters and how the provisions in the Draft Text could be improved. The consultation is supported by a Consultation Paper comprising an Executive Summary, a detailed explanation of the key provisions and the operation of the Draft Text, and specific questions.
Responses received from this consultation will be submitted to all HCCH Members for consideration in advance of the next meeting of the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP), the governing body of the HCCH, in March 2026, at which the Members of the HCCH will decide on the next steps for the project.
For more information on the public consultation, please visit: https://www.hcch.net/en/projects/legislative-projects/jurisdiction/public-consultation
This post is published by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference of Private International Law (HCCH).
