PhD positions at Humboldt University of Berlin

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Professor Dr. Giesela Rühl, LL.M. (Berkeley) is currently seeking to fill three PhD positions at her Chair at Humboldt University of Berlin ( https://www.rewi.hu-berlin.de/en/lf/ls/rhl/index.html).

The successful candidate should have a keen interest in issue of private international law, international civil procedure and/or civil procedure (including access to justice and digital justice). Since the positions come with teaching obligations, knowledge of the German language (and German law) is required.

The official call for applications will be out soon. In the meanwhile if you are interested (or have any questions) please do not hesitate to get in touch: sekretariat.ruehl.rewi@hu-berlin.de.

Recognition and Public Certification of German Ipso Iure Converted Pay Paternity Into Paternity With Civil Status Effects Does Not Violate Swiss Ordre Public

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This post has been written by Anna Bleichenbacher, MLaw, University of Basel, Nievergelt & Stoehr Law and Notary Office (Switzerland).

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht) published a leading decision on recognition and public certification of foreign conversions of ancient law pay paternities (Zahlvaterschaften) into paternities with civil status effects on June 15th, 2023 (decision of Swiss Federal Supreme Court 5A_81/2022 of May 12th, 2023).

Respondent in the present case was a German citizen, living in Germany (respondent). She was born out of wedlock in 1967 and acknowledged by her father (father) in the same year, both in Germany. The acknowledgement included only a pay paternity. A pay paternity was a legal institution with an obligation to pay maintenance. The pay paternity did not include a legal child relationship recorded in the civil register.

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RabelsZ: New issue alert

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The latest issue of RabelsZ has just been released. It contains the following contributions:

OBITUARY

Eva-Maria Kieninger, Ralf Michaels: Jürgen Basedow * 29.9.1949 † 6.4.2023, pp. 229–235, DOI: 10.1628/rabelsz-2023-0051

ESSAYS

Felix Berner: Implizite Qualifikationsvorgaben im europäischen Kollisionsrecht, pp- 236–263, DOI: 10.1628/rabelsz-2023-0028

Implicit Characterization in European Conflict of Laws. – Most German scholars assume that problems of characterization in European choice of law are to be resolved by means of functional characterization. This essay challenges that assumption. Quite often, European choice-of-law rules themselves require a certain treatment of a characterization problem. This can follow from the rules or recitals of European regulations. In such cases, the required approach is more or less explicitly given. However, the required analysis can also be implicitly established, especially when it is derived from the purpose of certain choice-of-law rules. The approach towards characterization is of both practical and theoretical significance. In practice it determines the outcome of a characterization inquiry. On a theoretical level, the approach towards characterization embodies a conceptual change: The more rules on characterization there are, the more the classic problem of characterization is marginalized. Questions of characterization turn into questions of “simple statutory interpretation”.

Frederick Rieländer: Die Anknüpfung der Produkthaftung für autonome Systeme, pp. 264–305, DOI: 10.1628/rabelsz-2023-0032

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DEADLINE EXTENDED-Call for submissions: 2023 Nygh and Brennan Essay Prizes – ILA Australian Branch

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Written by Phoebe Winch, Secretary of International Law Association (ILA) Australian Branch.

 

The Australian Branch is now calling for submissions for the 2023 Brennan Essay Prize in Public International Law and the Nygh Essay Prize in Private International Law.

The prizes are awarded for essays that demonstrate outstanding scholarship and make a distinct contribution to the field of public international law and private international law (conflict of laws), respectively. Essays for the prize to be awarded in 2023 should be sent to the email address of the Secretary of the Australian Branch at secretary@ila.org.au.

Further details (including conditions of entry) are available here. The extended deadline for submission is: 5 August 2023.

The results will be made available on the website of the ILA (www.ila.org.au) on approximately 31 August 2023. Winners will be notified by email. 

Upcoming Event: International Symposium (hybrid format) on International Arbitration and Mediation in Japan

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The Ministry of Justice of Japan (MOJ), Civil Affairs Bureau, in cooperation with the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA) and supported by CIArb East Asia Branch, Japan Association of Arbitration (JAA), Japan International Dispute Resolution Center (JIDRC), is organizing an international symposium (hybrid format) on the “Future Prospects of International Arbitration and Mediation: How does the Judiciary Assist?”.

This event could not have been more timely as the House of Councillors (the upper house of the Japanese Diet) unanimously passed and enacted into law on 21 April of this year the amendments to the Arbitration Act and the “Act for the Implementation of Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation” (the “Singapore Mediation Convention Implementation Act”). These enactments aim to promote international arbitration and mediation in Japan and to make Japan an attractive hub for international dispute resolution in competition with other leading centers in the region.

 

Date, Venue & Formats:

July 7 (Fri.), 2023, 9am-12:30 pm (JST)

Hotel New Otani Tokyo?ONSITE / Online?

Language: English

English-Japanese consecutive interpretation available

Program (see link below):

Keynote Speeches

Panel Sessions

Registration: free

Sign up on the Official Website of the Forums

by 6pm, JUNE 26 (Mon.) for ONSITE participation,

by noon, JULY 3 (Mon.) for Online participation

 

Details of registration and the program can be found here.

Out Now: Torts in UK Foreign Relations by Dr Ugljesa Grusic

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Oxford University Press officially released the recent book authored by Dr Ugljesa Grusic (Associate Professor at UCL Laws) titled Torts in UK Foreign Relations.

The book offers a comprehensive account of private international law aspects of tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority.

Can English courts hear tortious claims for wrongs allegedly committed by British armed forces and security services during their overseas operations? Should English courts hear such claims? What law governs issues raised by such claims? Can foreign judgments given on such claims be recognised and enforced in the UK?

 

Many questions such as these have arisen in relation to cases dealing with the tortious liability of the UK government and its officials for extraterritorial public acts committed during the conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and the ‘war on terror’. Torts in UK Foreign Relations examines the English courts’ treatment of such issues and offers a better understanding of this contested area of private international law. It shows that a defining characteristic of such tortious claims is that they are often subjected to the choice-of-law process and lead to the application of foreign law. Further, Dr Grusic clarifies the nature of the doctrines operating in this field, maps out the relationship between different jurisdictions and rules that are engaged, and criticises the current approach to choice-of-law, while arguing that English tort law should play a more prominent role.

 

Torts in UK Foreign Relations will appeal widely to academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of private international law, foreign relations law, tort law, and public law.

 

Torts in UK Foreign Relations:

  • Offers the first comprehensive account of private international law aspects of tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority
  • Segregates issues raised by such tortious claims and clarifies the principles, rules and practice that determine the law governing these issues
  • Maps out the relationship between different jurisdictions and rules that are engaged
  • Discusses important developments and case law affecting the field, including the Supreme Court judgments in Rahmatullah, Belhaj, Maduro and Brownlie

 

Torts in UK Foreign Relations is available to order on the OUP website.

Lancaster Workshop on Challenges in Contemporary International Litigation – 21 June 2023

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The University of Lancaster has organised a workshop on Challenges in Contemporary International Litigation on Wednesday, 21 June 2023, 12.30 – 5 pm UK time (in person and online via Teams). Some well established and emerging experts will discuss cutting edge issues of practical significance in private international law (broadly understood).

The programme for the workshop is as follows:

12.30 pm

Welcome remarks by Dr Mukarrum Ahmed and Professor David Milman (Co-chairs – University of Lancaster)

Professor Paul Beaumont FRSE (University of Stirling), ‘HCCH Jurisdiction Project’

Professor Paul Torremans (University of Nottingham), ‘CJEU case law on Article 7.2 Brussels I Regulation and its application to online copyright cases’

Dr Kirsty Hood KC (Discussant)

1.45 pm – 3.00 pm

Professor Zheng Sophia Tang (Wuhan University), ‘The challenge of emerging technology to International litigation’

Professor Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (University of Edinburgh), ‘Sustainability and Private International Law’

Dr Mihail Danov (University of Exeter), ‘Private International Law and Competition Litigation in a Global Context’

3.00 pm – 3.15 pm Break

3.15 pm – 5.00 pm

Dr Jayne Holliday (University of Stirling), ‘The non-recognition of transnational divorces’

Dr Chukwuma Okoli (University of Birmingham), ‘Implied Jurisdiction Agreement in International Commercial Contracts’

Dr Michiel Poesen (University of Aberdeen), ‘The interaction between UK private international law and liability arising out of the use of artificial intelligence’

Mr Denis Carey (University of Lancaster), ‘The Consultation on the Reform of the Arbitration Act 1996’

The workshop is free to attend, but registration is required via email. A Teams link will be provided for remote attendees.

No Recognition in Switzerland of the Removal of Gender Information according to German Law

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This note has been kindly provided by Dr. Samuel Vuattoux-Bock, LL.M. (Kiel), University of Freiburg (Germany).

On 8 June 2023, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht) pronounced a judgment on the removal of gender markers of a person according to German Law and denied the recognition of this removal in Switzerland. Read more

Regional Developments in International Law in Africa and Latin America – Annual Meeting of the German Branch of the ILA, Frankfurt, 7 July 2023

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This year’s annual meeting of the German Branch of the International Law Association will take place at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt (Main) on Friday, 7 July 2023. The subject will be “Regional Developments in International Law in Africa and Latin America”. The list of distinguished speakers includes Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime, University of Bayreuth, Alan Diego Vogelfanger, LL.M., University of Bonn/Universidad de Buenos Aires, Kholofelo Kugler, LL.B., M.A., University of Lucerne (Switzerland), and Priv.-Doz. Dr. Jan Peter Schmidt, Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. The full program can be found here. For registration, please click here. A passive attendance via Zoom will be possible.

Conference Sustaining Access to Justice, 19-20 Oct 2023 – registration open

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On 19-20 October 2023 the Conference Sustaining Access to Justice in Europe: New Avenues for Costs and Funding will take place at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Speakers from academia, policy, business and consumer associations from Europe, the US and Asia will discuss developments in funding, including third-party litigation funding and crowdfunding, collective actions, public interest litigation, ADR and ODR and entrepreneurial lawyering.

Description

Access to civil justice is of paramount importance for enforcing citizens’ rights. At the heart access to civil justice lies litigation funding and cost management. Yet, over the past decades, access to justice has been increasingly put under pressure due to retrenching governments, high costs of procedure, and inefficiency of courts and justice systems. Within this context, the funding of litigation in Europe seems to be shifting from public to private sources. Private actors and innovative business models have emerged to provide new solutions to the old problem of financial barriers to access to justice.

With the participation of academics, policymakers, practitioners, academics and representatives of civil society from all over Europe and beyond, the conference seeks to delve deeper into the financial implications of access to justice and the different ways to achieve sustainable civil justice systems in Europe. The topics addressed in this international academic conference include different methods of financing dispute resolution and regulating costs, such as third-party funding, crowdfunding, blockchain technologies, public interest litigation, developments in ADR/ODR, new business models of legal professionals as well as law and economics perspectives on litigation funding.

Program, registration and call for papers

The full program is available here and further information and registration is available here.

A call for papers for early career researchers is available here; deadline is 7 July 2023.

This conference is organised by Erasmus School of Law in the context of the NWO Vici Project: ‘Affordable Access to Justice’, funded by the Dutch Research Council.