The Hague Academy of International Law Centre for Studies and Research 2025: “Artificial Intelligence and International Law”

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As recently highlighted by contributions on this blog, new technologies have a significant impact on the development of the law. Hence, the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law has chosen for the the 2025 edition of the Centre for Studies and Research (18 August – 5 September 2025) to focus on the emerging topic of “Artificial Intelligence and International Law“. This year, the selected researchers will be work under the guidance of the Directors of Research, Marion Ho-Dac (Université d’Artois) for the French-speaking section as well as Marco Roscini (University of Westminster) for the English-speaking section.

Interested candidates must be researchers and preferably hold an advanced degree (PhD or Doctorate degree). Registration for the 2025 Centre is open from 1 July to 15 October 2024 via the institution’s own Online Registration Form.

The Academy describes the scope of its 2025 Programme as follows (emphasis added to highlight passages of specific interest to col.net readers):

The increasing integration of digital technologies based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) into human activities requires a thorough re-examination of most normative frameworks in the international order. Advanced AI systems operate with ever greater autonomy, generating content, recommendations, predictions and decisions for States, organisations and individuals. AI thus offers enormous opportunities for humankind by facilitating (or even making possible) the performance of certain tasks. At the same time, however, it presents significant risks related, for instance, to potential biases and accountability gaps. In this context, is (public and private) international law capable of addressing the profound changes that the contemporary rise of AI is bringing? 

The Centre of Studies and Research 2025 of The Hague Academy of International Law aims to analyse these challenges and opportunities through the lenses of international law in a holistic manner by focusing on three different aspects: AI’s impact on the sources and institutions of the international legal order, AI’s impact on special regimes of international law, and AI’s role in addressing specific contemporary problems.

Selected researchers will be called to work on the following topics under the guidance of the Directors of Research:

  • AI and International/Regional Organisations
  • AI and International/Regional Courts and Tribunals
  • AI and the Making of (Public/Private) International Law
  • AI and the Practice of (Public/Private) International Law
  • International Governance of AI including Technical Standardisation
  • AI and the Risk-based Approach
  • AI and the International Law of Armed Conflict
  • AI and International Environmental Law
  • AI and Conflict of Laws 
  • AI and International Human Rights Law
  • AI and the Law of State Responsibility
  • AI and International Criminal Law
  • AI and International Business Law 
  • AI and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security
  • Lethal Autonomous Weapons and International Law
  • AI and the North-South Divide
  • AI and Cybersecurity
  • AI and Privacy  
  • AI and Humanitarian Action
  • AI and the Cross-border Movement of Persons
  • AI and (Mis)Information

For further information on the HAIL 2025 Centre and the Academy in general, please consult the HAIL Homepage or refer to the attached PDF Programme.

Two Interesting Recent Articles related to Private International Law

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Williams C Iheme, “The Overdependence of African Courts and Businesses on English Law and Forum:
The Negative Repercussions on the Development of African Legal and Economic Systems”  (2024) 15 Pravni Zapisi, pp. 151-190

The uncritical transplantation of English law by Anglophone-African legislators and judges, and their failure to sufficiently adapt English legal concepts to suit the idiosyncratic socioeconomic conditions in Africa, arguably contribute to the perpetuation of English law’s hegemony therein. It is argued that the overdependence on English law and courts by African businesses in resolving contractual disputes
is not necessarily due to any alleged stellar qualities of the former, but largely due to the over-marketing of the English legal system’s competence by its apologists. The analysis uses piquant examples to elicit some adverse effects of using/overreliance on the English law and forum by African businesses in resolving contractual disputes.

To reposition from the lengthened shadow of English law, Anglophone African legislators, judges and legal scholars, must craft autochthonous legal processes that suit Africa’s tastes and socioeconomic milieu.

 

Georgia Antonopoulou, “Forum Marketing in International Commercial Courts?” (2024) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies

Forum selling is a legal term used to describe the practices of courts and judges, geared towards attracting cases, such as increasing the predictability of judgments or speeding up trials. However, do courts also go beyond forum selling to attract cases? Taking international commercial courts as its focus, this article explores how these courts market themselves to attract cases and coins the term ‘forum marketing’. It demonstrates that the courts’ recent establishment, coupled with their voluntary jurisdiction, creates a compelling context, which encourages them to engage in forum marketing. The article argues that forum marketing is not merely a byproduct of the competition in commercial dispute resolution, but a powerful mechanism with deeply persuasive, normative and, effectively, structuring properties. Forum marketing is central to disseminating and reinforcing a pro-business approach in civil justice, consequently setting the stage for procedural inequality and a one per cent procedure.

Newest Commentaries and Newsletter on Private International Law (Vol. 7, Issue 1)

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We are pleased to present the newest Commentaries on Private International Law (Vol. 7, Issue 1), the newsletter of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Private International Law Interest Group (PILIG).

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Comparative Procedural Law and Justice Final Conference in Luxembourg (11–12 July 2024)

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On 11 and 12 July 2024, the Comparative Procedural Law and Justice (CPLJ) Final Conference will take place at the University of Luxembourg. The organizers have kindly shared the following announcement with us:

The conference will be held in a hybrid format and participation is free of charge. A brief description of the background of the CPLJ project and the final conference is provided below, together with the registration details.

The Project

CPLJ is a global project on comparative civil justice, which was launched in September 2020 by the former Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law with the financial support of the Luxembourg Research Fund (FNR). The project was designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of comparative civil procedural law and contemporary civil dispute resolution mechanisms.

Against this backdrop, CPLJ seeks to understand procedural rules within their cultural contexts and to identify effective approaches for resolving civil disputes. Moreover, it examines current developments in comparative civil procedure on a global scale, including the impact of information technologies, the growth of alternative dispute resolution methods, recent trends in access to justice and litigation funding, the complexities of collective litigation, and the increasing demands for transparency and independence within justice systems. These and other topics are addressed in sixteen thematic segments drafted by multi-jurisdictional author teams.

Over one hundred scholars from around the world actively participated in the genesis of CPLJ. They were guided by a Board of General Editors, consisting of Prof. Burkhard Hess, Prof. Margaret Woo, Prof. Loïc Cadiet, Prof. Séverine Menetry and Prof. Enrique Vallines. An Advisory Board of twelve esteemed scholars provided additional scientific support. Each of the sixteen author teams was led by a coordinator, who is a distinguished professor affiliated with a prestigious university or research institution. The multi-jurisdictional background of the individual members of the author teams ensures a global perspective.

The Final Conference

The final conference presents the results of the four-year CPLJ project. The rich two-day program encompasses numerous presentations by distinguished speakers who are contributors to the project, always followed by a discussion. The speakers will present highlights of their teams’ comparative procedural law research in their respective thematic segments.

The final conference additionally marks the launch of the CPLJ website that will host the thematic segments and the various contributions to those segments after their completion. The website will be open-access and is expected to become one of the major reference works for comparative civil procedural law for many years to come.

Make sure to register in time and please indicate whether you expect to attend in-person or online. The full program and registration details can be found here. We look forward to welcoming many attendants in Luxembourg to celebrate the conclusion of this exciting project with us.

China’s Cause of Foreign-related Rule of Law

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(drafted by Liu Zuozhen and revised by Tu Guangjian)

In recent years, China has put much emphasis on foreign-related rule of law. It is believed that enhancing the construction of foreign-related rule of law is vital for promoting the nation’s comprehensive development and rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization, high-level opening up, and responding to external risks. China’s top legislature has prioritized and made significant progress in foreign-related legislations across various legal domains, including civil, commercial, economic, administrative, and procedural laws. Two salient examples are the Law on Foreign Relations of the People’s Republic of China and the Foreign State Immunity Law of the People’s Republic of China, both of which were adopted in 2023 and have now entered into force.

Against this background, many official and academic activities have been launched and conducted for foreign-related rue of law. Across the country, in quite a few of universities, research institutes for foreign-related rule of law are established at various levels, some of which are even higher than the faculties.

With China’s increasing foreign trade, the influx of foreign-invested enterprises, and the expansion of Chinese enterprises abroad, there is, of course, a growing demand for foreign-related legal services as well. In Guangzhou, the Capital city of Guangdong Province, which has always been the forefront of the opening-up policy and international business center, with approval from the Guangzhou Municipal Justice Bureau, a local law firm, namely Guangdong Everwin Law Office even established its own foreign-related legal service research institute. It is not common for a law firm to have an internal research institute in China and many more might be on the way to come.

It seems that the Chinese story of foreign-related rule of law has just started and not reached its climax yet.

Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 4/2024: Abstracts

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The latest issue of the „Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts“ (IPRax) features the following articles:

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AMEDIP: Annual seminar to take place from 23 to 25 October 2024 (in Spanish)

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The Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law (AMEDIP) will be holding its annual XLVII Seminar entitled “The teaching, research and promotion of private international law in Mexico” (La enseñanza, investigación y difusión del Derecho Internacional Privado en México) from 23 to 25 October 2024. The venue of the seminar will be the Universidad Panamericana (campus Guadalajara, Mexico) – and online.

Potential speakers are invited to submit a paper in Spanish, English or Portuguese by 29 July 2024. Papers must comply with the criteria established by AMEDIP and will be evaluated accordingly. Selected speakers will be required to give their presentations preferably in Spanish as there will be no interpretation services but some exceptions may be made by the organisers upon request for presentations in English and Portuguese. For more information on the requirements, click here

Contributions will be published in the Revista Perspectiva Jurídica of the Universidad Panamericana.

There is a fee for participation both in person and online. For in-person participation, click here. For online participation, please contact seminario@amedip.org.

 

The United Kingdom has ratified the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention

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This week the United Kingdom ratified the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention. The Convention will enter into force for the United Kingdom on 1 July 2025. For more information, see the status table here.

The United Kingdom has made only one declaration so far:

27-06-2024
The United Kingdom declares, in accordance with Article 25, that the Convention shall extend to England and Wales only, and that it may at any time submit other declarations or modify this declaration in accordance with Article 30 of the Convention.

For the full notification, click here.

For the HCCH news item, click here.

 

Call for the 2025 Peter Nygh Hague Conference Internship

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The Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) and the Australian Branch of the International Law Association (ILA (AB)) are pleased to present the Peter Nygh Hague Conference Internship.

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Virtual Workshop (In English) on July 2: Maggie Gardner on Beyond the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality

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On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 46th monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm (CEST). Maggie Gardner (Cornell Law School) will speak, in English, about the topic

Beyond the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality

For the last decade, the debate over prescriptive jurisdiction in the United States has been monopolized by the Supreme Court’s rejuvenated presumption against extraterritoriality. Under this framework, U.S. courts interpreting federal statutes must ask (1) whether the statute expresses clear congressional intent to reach extraterritorial conduct, and if not, (2) whether the statute is nonetheless being applied domestically because its “focus” occurred in the United States. But even the Court’s presumption-with-teeth cannot answer all questions of prescriptive jurisdiction in a world of concurrent jurisdiction and economic interdependency. Are there limits on the applicability of U.S. statutes that do rebut the presumption at step one? At step two, does some need for balancing of sovereign interests remain–and is that balancing subsumed within the step two inquiry, or is it a distinct doctrine of international comity? This survey of lower federal court decisions shows that U.S. courts are continuing to engage in contextual balancing despite the rule-like framework of the modern presumption against extraterritoriality, but also that the “focus” test may be encouraging judges to identify a more limited and relevant set of factors to consider. What emerges is a multi-factor analysis that is statute-specific but still responsive to the circumstances of individual cases, in which the presumption serves only as an initial sorting rule. This project distills and defends this updated approach as more feasible for judges to apply, more faithful to congressional intent, and sufficiently capable of addressing international comity concerns without the need for an additional, free-standing comity doctrine.

The presentation will be followed by an open discussion. All are welcome. More information and sign-up here.

If you want to be invited to these events in the future, please write to veranstaltungen@mpipriv.de.