Virtual Workshop (in English) on January 9: Jie (Jeanne) Huang on Can Private Parties Contract out of the Hague Service Convention?

On Tuesday, January 9, 2024, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 40th monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00-12:30 (CET). Jie (Jeanne) Huang (University of Sydney Law School) will speak, in English, about the topic

Can Private Parties Contract out of the Hague Service Convention?

Treaties are concluded by states but often impose rights and obligations upon private parties. Can private parties contract out of a treaty including states’ oppositions without explicit permissions granted by the treaty? The complexity between private parties, states, and treaties is reflected in recent cases and unsettled debates regarding the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters of November 15, 1965 (“HSC”). The HSC contains a large number of oppositions imposed by 62 Member States including China, India, Singapore, and Germany. Combining public and private international law, this paper aims to explore the correlative relationship between party autonomy and state sovereignty in treaty applications using the HSC as an example.