The Elgar Companion to UNIDROIT: Virtual Book launch

Co-edited by Ben Köhler, Rishi Gulati and Thomas John, the Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL is now out. This is the third and final in the trilogy of books on the three key international institutions mandated to work on private international and international private law. The Elgar Companions to the HCCH and to UNCITRAL have already been published in 2020 and 2023 respectively.

The Elgar Companion to UNIDROIT brings together a diverse selection of contributors from a variety of legal backgrounds to present the past, present and future prospects of UNIDROIT’s instruments (for more information: link).

The book will be virtually launched by the President of UNIDROIT, Professor Dr. Maria Chiara Malaguti, on 17 January 2025 at 13:00 CET. The launch event will also include a presentation by Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Herbert Kronke, who will speak on the topic of “UNIDROIT and the EU”. The event will be held via zoom.

To register, please send an email to ben.koehler@uni-bayreuth.de

Netherlands Commercial Court updates its rules of procedure

The Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) has recently updated its rules of procedure. The updated version has come into force on January 1, 2025.

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Open Online Conference on International Recovery of Maintenance on the basis of authentic Instruments on January 29th, 2025 3–5pm CET

The Child Support forum is pleased to invite every interested stakeholder to a new open meeting on the issue of “International Maintenance Recovery on the Basis of Authentic Instruments”.

The payment of child maintenance is not always ordered by a court. Maintenance debtors may commit themselves to make these payments in an enforceable deed, also called “authentic instrument”. The enforceable deeds are usually established by public notaries or public authorities. They should not be confused with administrative orders, as they are based on a voluntary declaration by the maintenance debtor. In case of non-payment, enforcement can be carried out in the State of origin, in the same way as a court decision.

Regarding cross-border cases, the recognition and enforcement of child maintenance claims on the basis of authentic instruments is mentioned in certain provisions. However, the lack of international awareness as regards their nature leads to difficulties when it comes to their implementation. The meeting aims to provide information on these two topics and to allow an exchange between the stakeholders involved on both levels, the establishment and the enforcement of authentic instruments.

To register, click here.

Symeonides on Private International Law Bibliography 2024: U.S. and Foreign Sources in English

Over the past 19 years, Professor Symeon C. Symeonides (Alex L. Parks Distinguished Professor of Law, Dean Emeritus) has been providing scholars, researchers, practitionners and student with a comprehensive and extensive compliation of Parivate International law bibliogrphy.

The 2024’s compilation (Private International Law Bibliography 2024: U.S. and Foreign Sources in English) includes 58 books and 427 journal articles, covering a wide range of topics within private international law (conflict of laws) and related fields.

The bibliography addresses key areas such as prescriptive jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, federal-state conflicts, and specific aspects of arbitration. It also encompasses legal issues related to foreign relations and international human rights, providing a valuable reference for those studying or working in these domains.

This compilation serves as a significant resource for legal scholars and practitioners, offering a thorough overview of the literature in private international law and its associated fields.

Access to the bibliography is available on Prof. Symeonides’ SSRN page here.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Symeonides for his unwavering commitment and remarkable contributions. His bibliography continues to be a cornerstone of legal research and a testament to the enduring importance of meticulous scholarship.

Virtual Workshop (in English) on January 7: Joseph William Singer on “Conflict of Abortion Laws”

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On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (CET). Professor Joseph William Singer (Harvard Law School) will speak, in English, about the topic

“Conflict of Abortion Laws”

 

With the abolition of the constitutional abortion right in the United States come huge differences among the laws of the states, and that leads to questions about which state law applies when a person from an anti-abortion state travels to a pro-choice state to get an abortion. Can anti-abortion states apply their regulatory and tort regimes to their own residents who leave the state to obtain an abortion? Can they empower residents to sue abortion providers in other states to protect what they view as the “unborn child”? Can pro-choice states confer immunity from suit on abortion providers and on people who get abortions from suits filed in anti-abortion states? Does the United States Constitution limit the power of anti-abortion states to apply their laws in an extraterritorial manner, and, if not, how should courts revolve conflicts of law (private international law) questions about abortion?

 

The presentation will be followed by 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.

Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 1/2025: Abstracts

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

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Announcement – Save the Date: Online Workshop on Cross-Border Protection of Cultural Property

Chinese Journal of Transnational Law will hold an online workshop on Cross-Border Protection of Cultural Property on 28 Feb 2025. All are welcome to attend. A Zoom link will be provided closer to the event.

Tentative Programme

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Christa Roodt, University of Glasgow

Prof. Zhengxin Huo, China University of Political Science and Law

 

Speakers and Presentations

•Restitution of Cultural Objects Unethically Acquired During the Colonial Era: The Intersection of Public and Private International Law

Andreas Giorgallis (PGR), University of Glasgow

•The Contribution of Postcolonial Theory to the Cross-Border Protection of Indigenous Cultural Heritage

Eleni Moustaira, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

•From Freedom to Restitution (With Special Focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the Lusophone Community)

Miroslaw Michal Sadowski, University of Strathclyde

•Restitution of Cultural Property in China: In Search of a New Paradigm for Cross-Border Cultural Property Claims

Ruida Chen, China University of Political Science and Law

•Forfeiture and Freezing Orders in Trans-border Cultural Property Litigation

Maggie Fleming Cacot

•Restitution of Stolen Foreign Cultural Property and Hurdles in Choice of Law

Yehya Badr, Yamamah University

•The Issue of Applicable Law in Disputes Arising from Violations of Private Law Regulations on Cultural Properties: The Case of Türkiye

Ekin Hacibekiroglu, Kadir Has University

•Evolving Models of Restitution

Evelien Campfens, University of Amsterdam

•Moving People, Shifting State Borders and the Return of Cultural Property: The Case of Poland

Andrzej Jakubowski, Instytut Nauk Prawnych, Polska Akademia Nauk,

We invite those interested in this important discussion to mark their calendars. More information will be provided soon.

Happy New Year from ConflictofLaws.net (now also on Bluesky)!

The editors of ConflictofLaws.net would like to wish you a year filled with happiness, health, and success, academically and otherwise.

2024 has been another great year for the blog, with close to one new post per day (bringing us to more than 5,500 posts in total) and record numbers of readers and subscribers. Our content, just like our readership, reflects the global scope of the blog, with popular posts including Saloni Khanderia & Shubh Jaiswal’s article on the application of the lex fori ‘by default’ in Indian courts, Mayela Celis’ note on Smith & Wesson v Mexico, Orji A Uka & Damilola Alabi’s contribution on service under Nigerian law, Yasmín Aguada & Laura Martina Jeifetz two-part piece on international judicial cooperation and technology in private international law, and Tobias Lutzi’s comment on the CJEU’s decision in Real Madrid.

In addition to our e-mail newsletter (which continues to be surprisingly popular), you can subscribe to our blog on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and – from this year on – Bluesky.

The FAMIMOVE project ends today – A summary of its achievements

Today (31-December 2024), FAMIMOVE 2.0. is coming to an end after having accomplished all of its goals and created a solid network of experts. The project’s full name is Families on the Move: The Coordination between international family law and migration law and is an international project co-funded by the European Commission under the JUST-2022-JCOO program. For more information, click here.

The project aimed to improve the protection of migrant children and families by bringing actual practice more in line with EU goals and values, such as the protection of fundamental rights and best interests of the child. It sought to provide more effectiveness to EU objectives through a better coordination of instruments in overlapping fields, such as Regulations in private international law in family law matters and migration law rules.

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Out now: Issue 4/2024 of RabelsZ

The last issue of RabelsZ 2024 has just been released. It contains the following contributions (which are all available Open Access: CC BY 4.0):

 

Holger Fleischer & Simon Horn, Unternehmensskandale und skandalgetriebene Regulierung: Die Stavisky-Affäre als Prüfstein (Corporate Scandals and Scandal-Driven Regulation: The Stavisky Affair as Touchstone), pp. 648–693, https://doi.org/10.1628/rabelsz-2024-0062 Read more