New Edition of Leading Canadian Conflict of Laws Treatise

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A loose-leaf publication tends to stay as current as the most recent set of insert pages, and so identifying it either by its initial year of publication or its edition number can be misleading. For many years the leading Canadian work on private international law has been the 6th edition of Castel & Walker Canadian Conflict of Laws, with that edition first appearing in 2005. For nearly two decades, then, it has had the same year of publication and edition number, but as a loose-leaf (and as available through an electronic subscription) it has been kept quite up-to-date on a frequent basis. Now comes a new edition, the 7th, published in 2023 and with a revised title. The text is now called simply Canadian Conflict of Laws and its sole author, as was the case for the 6th edition, is Professor Janet Walker of Osgoode Hall Law School. The change in the title reflects the completion of a long process of transition from the original edition (1975) as written by Professor Jean-Gabriel Castel through some editions that were co-written by Professors Castel and Walker.  Detailed information about the new edition is available here. It remains an indispensable resource in the Canadian context and beyond.

Book on the African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts now available

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Posted by Marlene Wethmar-Lemmer

This booklet contains the first draft of the envisaged African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts. The proposal could be used by national legislators on the continent and African economic integration organisations, particularly the African Union, in, respectively, domestic legislation and regional or supranational laws of a soft or binding nature. The existence of a reliable transnational legal infrastructure in respect of international commercial law, including commercial private international law, is a prerequisite for investor confidence, inclusive economic growth, sustainable development, and the ultimate alleviation of poverty on the African continent. The instrument may contribute to sustainable growth on a long-term basis. The regulation of private international law of contract is essential to the further development of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Jan L Neels is professor of private international law and director of the Research Centre for Private International Law in Emerging Countries at the University of Johannesburg.

ISBNs
978-1-7764474-0-4 (Paperback)
978-1-7764474-1-1 (PDF)
978-1-7764474-2-8 (EPUB)
978-1-7764474-3-5 (XML)
DOI:  https://doi.org/10.36615/9781776447411
PRICE:  R125 (print), OA (ebook)

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Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL: Virtual Book launch

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Co-edited by Rishi Gulati, Thomas John and Ben Koehler, the Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL is now out. This is the second in the trilogy of books on the three key international institutions mandated to work on private international and international private law. The Elgar Companion to the HCCH has already been published in 2020, with the Elgar Companion to UNIDROIT out in 2024.

The Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL brings together a diverse selection of contributors from a variety of legal backgrounds to present the past, present and future prospects of UNCITRAL instruments. Split into four key thematic sections, this book starts by providing an institutional background to UNCITRAL, before moving on to discuss the topic of dispute resolution, including contributions on international arbitration, mediation, and online dispute resolution. Further chapters then explore key topics in international contract law, especially relating to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The final section of the Companion consists of chapters on a variety of matters considered at UNCITRAL, namely, micro, small and medium-sized businesses; insolvency; secured transactions; negotiable instruments; public procurement; electronic commerce and transport law.

The book will be virtually launched by the Secretary of UNCITRAL, Ms Anna Joubin-Bret, on 14 December 2024 at 13:00 CET. The launch event will also include a highly informative panel discussion. To register, please click at the link below:

https://events.mpipriv.de/book_launch_elgar_companion_to_uncitral

Fundamental Rights and PIL after the German Federal Constitutional Court Decision on the Act to Combat Child Marriages

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Die »Kinderehen«-Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts: Welche Schlussfolgerungen ergeben sich für das internationale Eheschließungsrecht?In May, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute organized an online panel to discuss implications from the German Federal Constitutional Court Decision on the Act to Combat Child Marriages rendered just prior. The panelist were Henning Radtke (Judge at the Constitutional Court),  Dagmar Coester-Waltjen (Professor emeritus for PIL at University of Göttingen), Susanne Gössl (Professor for PIL at University of Bonn) and Lars Viellechner (Professor for Constitutional Law at University of Bremen). Their contributions are now available, together with a short introduction, in open access via the “online first” section of Rabels Zeitschrift.

 

Ralf Michaels, Einleitung zum Symposium

Henning Radtke, Zu den Maßstäben der verfassungsrechtlichen Beurteilung von Regelungen des deutschen Internationalen Privatrechts

Susanne Lilian Gössl, Grundrechte und IPR: Vom beidseitigem Desinteresse zu höflicher Aufmerksamkeit – und zu angeregtem Austausch?

Lars Viellechner, Die Anwendbarkeit der Grundrechte im Internationalen Privatrecht: Zur Methodik der Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts über die Kinderehe

Dagmar Coester-Waltjen, Die “Kinderehen”-Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts: Welche Schlussfolgerungen ergeben sich für das internationale Eheschließungsrecht?

International Seminar at València on Sustainability, Solidarity and Tolerance from Private International Law

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On 16 November 2023, on the “International Day of Tolerance”, Prof. Rosario Espinosa Calabuig, is organising a new International Seminar, this time under the title: SUSTAINABILITY, SOLIDARITY AND TOLERANCE FROM PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW.
Program:
 Verónica Ruiz Abu-Ngim CARTEL Seminario Sostenibilidad, solidaridad y tolerancia. 16 nov. 2023 (Edinburgh): “Solidarity and sustainability: a look at Private International Law from the 2030 Agenda”
Stéphanie Franq (Louvain): “From Sorority to Solidarity in Private International Law: a methodological approach”
Laura Carballo Piñeiro (Vigo): “Tolerance or Solidarity? A look at maritime migrations from the perspective of cinema”.
More info here.

Virtual Workshop (in English) on December 7: Mary Keyes on Trends in Australian Private International Law

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On Tuesday, December 7, 2023, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 39th monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 10:00-11:30 (CET). Mary Keyes (Griffith University Brisbane) will speak, in English, about the topic

Trends in Australian Private International Law

This presentation will describe and analyse five important trends in Australian private international law, some but not all of which are not uniquely Australian. These are increasing independence from the English law on which Australian private international law is based; an astonishing increase in the volume of cross-border litigation; the rise and rise of jurisdiction; a broad attitude to the Australian courts’ jurisdiction; and the lack of systemic development of this area of the law.

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.

Second Issue of the Journal of Private International Law for 2023

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The second issue of the Journal of Private International Law for 2023 has just been published. It contains the following articles:

DJB Svantesson & SC Symeonides, “Cross-border internet defamation conflicts and what to do about them: Two proposals”

Conflicts of laws in cross-border defamation cases are politically and culturally sensitive and their resolution has always been difficult. But the ubiquity of the internet has increased their frequency, complexity, and intensity. Faced with the realities of the online environment—including the virtual disappearance of national borders—several countries have acted unilaterally to preserve their values and protect their interests. Some countries enacted laws favouring consumers or other potential plaintiffs, while other countries took steps to protect potential defendants, including publishers and internet service providers. As a result, these conflicts are now more contentious than ever before. We believe there is a better way—even-handed multilateral action rather than self-serving unilateral action. In this article, we advance two proposals for multilateral action. The first is a set of soft law principles in the form of a resolution adopted by the Institut de Droit International in 2019. The second is a proposed Model Defamation Convention. After presenting and comparing these two instruments, we apply them to two scenarios derived from two leading cases (the first and one of the latest of the internet era) decided by courts of last resort. The first scenario is based on Dow Jones & Company Inc v Gutnick, which was decided by the High Court of Australia in 2002. The second is based on Gtflix Tv v. DR, which was decided by the Court of Justice of the European Union at the end of 2021. We believe that these two instruments would produce more rational solutions to these and other cross-border defamation conflicts. But if we fail to persuade readers on the specifics, we hope to demonstrate that other multilateral solutions are feasible and desirable, and that they are vastly superior to a continuing unilateral “arms race.” In any event, we hope that this article will spur the development of other proposals for multilateral action.

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Conference on Digital Justice for Cross-border Cases: University of Alicante, 23 November 2023 (in Spanish)

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The Private International Law Department of the University of Alicante is organizing a conference entitled “Digital Justice for Cross-border Cases” (both onsite and online – in Spanish). The event will take place on 23 November 2023 at the Salón de Grados “Rector Ramón Martín Mateo” of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alicante.

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Chinese Journal of Transnational Law Special Issue: Call for Papers

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CHINESE JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW

Call for Papers

Special Issue: Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Asia

The United Nations Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seems to have a blind spot for the role of private and private international law. That blind spot is beginning to be closed. A collective volume with global outlook published in 2021 addressed “the private side of transforming our world”: each of the 17 SDGs was discussed in one chapter of the book devoted to the specific relevance of private law and private international law. In 2022, the IACL-ASADIP conference in Asunción, Paraguay discussed sustainable private international law with regard to Latin America; the contributions published in 2023 in a special issue of the University of Brasilia Law Journal – Direito.UnB., V.7., N.3 (2023).

In this occasion the focus is on Asia. The Chinese Journal of Transnational Law invites submissions for its Vol. 2 Issue 2, to be published in 2025, engaging critically with the functions, methodologies and techniques of private international law in relation to sustainability from an Asian perspective, as well as in relation to the actual and potential contributions of private international law to the SDGs in Asia. Read more

Cycle de conférences: La refonte du règlement Bruxelles I Bis

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Starting 30 November 2023, the French Cour de cassation is going to host a lecture series on the ongoing discussion of Brussels Ia reform under the direction of Marie-Elodie Ancel (Université Paris-Panthéon Assas) and Pascal de Vareilles-Sommières (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).

The programme of the first session – and the video stream! – can be found here.