The Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) and the Australian Branch of the ILA are pleased to present the 2022 Peter Nygh Hague Conference Internship. The award will support a postgraduate student or graduate of an Australian law school to undertake an internship with The Hague Conference on Private International Law in the Netherlands by providing funds to cover the cost of travel to the Netherlands and a contribution towards living expenses.

 

Applications for the 2023 Nygh Internship are now open, and will close on 30 September 2022. More information about the award and how to apply is available here, and below.

 

The Internship

The award will provide a postgraduate student or graduate with the opportunity to work with some of the leading private international law practitioners in the world. With over 80 members (including the European Union) representing all major regions and legal systems, The Hague Conference is a global intergovernmental organisation that aims for the ‘progressive unification’ of the various State private international law rules.

Activities of The Hague Conference are coordinated by a multinational Secretariat – the Permanent Bureau – located in The Hague. The successful intern will work for 5 to 6 months under the direction of the Secretariat, assisting with research, translation and preparation of meetings in accordance with the needs of the lawyers of the Permanent Bureau.

 

How to apply

Please send a letter of application addressed to the Peter Nygh Hague Conference Internship Board (nygh.internship@internationalaffairs.org.au) or to c/- Ms Nicola Nygh, Resolve Litigation Lawyers, level 18, 126 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

The letter should include:

• the applicant’s reasons for applying for the Peter Nygh Hague Conference Internship;
• the benefits which the applicant expects are to be derived from the internship and the contribution which the applicant expects to make to the work of The Hague Conference;
• the applicant’s career ambitions and how the internship will relate to those ambitions;
• a description of the applicant’s current research, if applicable; and
• the dates when the applicant would be available to undertake the internship (Note: The applicant must be available to undertake the internship for 5 to 6 months. The preferred start date is the beginning of January 2023 and the preferred end date is the end of June 2023. The start date, and indeed whether the internship can be undertaken in 2023, may vary depending on what travel restrictions are in place at the time).

The award is for a lump sum amount, and the successful candidate will need to accept the risks and increased costs of travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited and more expensive flights (in particular into and out of Australia), government restrictions on travel, and quarantine regimes for travellers.

 

Please also enclose the following:

• the applicant’s up-to-date résumé;
• the applicant’s most recent academic transcript;
• two letters of reference for the applicant (including at least one academic reference), with contact details of referees;
• a copy of research work by the applicant in a field relevant to the work of The Hague Conference; and
• any other proof of the applicant’s legal and linguistic abilities and knowledge. Knowledge of French would be an asset but is not required. Knowledge of any other languages may also be an advantage.

The Hon Dr Peter Nygh AM

The Peter Nygh Hague Conference Internship has been established in memory of the late Hon Dr Peter Nygh AM, a leading international lawyer, former judge of the Family Court of Australia and former President of the ILA (Australian Branch). Dr Nygh began his 25 year association with The Hague Conference as a member of Australia’s delegation in 1975. During this time, Dr Nygh helped to draft the Convention on the Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages as well as the Convention on the Law Applicable to Matrimonial Property Regimes, work which contributed to his appointment to the Family Court of Australia. After his retirement from the bench, Dr Nygh returned to The Hague Conference and between 1994 and his death in 2002 he contributed in many ways, including serving as co-rapporteur on The Hague ‘judgments project’ from 1996 and representing Australia in the negotiations that led to the Convention on the Protection of Children. In his later years Dr Nygh spent extended periods in The Hague without remuneration or payment of his expenses, yet his work did not go unrecognised. He was awarded the Centenary Medal by the Australian Government as well as the Order of Australia, partly in recognition of his outstanding and longstanding contribution to private international law, and in particular his representation of Australia at The Hague Conference.

Thanks to Costanza Honorati and Laura Carpaneto for the tip!

The Practice Guide on the Brussels IIb Regulation (Regulation 2019/1111) has been published on the site of the European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters (EJN) – scroll to the bottom.

The Guide was written by Boriana Musseva under a contract between the European Commission and Milieu Consulting, under the supervision of the EJN. It uses the name Brussels IIb (presumably the Commission’s preferred nomenclature) even though some authors also use Brussels IIter. The Guide is still being translated in the other EU languages and will then also be published with the other information that the Commission provides on the European Judicial Atlas.

Here is the direct link to the Practice Guide for the application of the Brussels IIb Regulation.

The current issue of Lex & Forum explores the existing status of Private International Law & the Internet, and tries to map out solutions and proposals for the future.

The issue benefits from the privilege of hosting papers of two worldwide leading figures in the area of private international law: Professor Dan Svantesson is sharing his insightful conclusions about the current state of the interplay between Private International Law & the Internet and, also, points at the critical problems that need to be addressed in order to secure a better digital future. In doing so, he sets the tone of the entire issue. At the same time, Professor Symeon Symeonides offers a fascinating account of a much needed international coordination effort. After explaining the current status of addressing internet related personality infringemetns accross different jurisdictions, Prof. Symeonides focuses on the initiative of the Institut de Droit International (IDI), which at its 79^th biennial session adopted a critical Resolution on internet related personality infringements and Private International Law. Prof. Symeonides explains vividly how this transnational initiative improves over existing regional approaches and offers great insights on its history, rationale and development.

The papers of Prof. Svantesson and Prof. Symeonides are accompanied by that of Professor Ioannis Deliskostopoulos, University of Athens, who offers an excellent account of how the CJEU has been dealing with the challenge of personality related internet disputes. Trying to address future challenges, a second family of papers focused on blockchain based issues. Dr. Ioannis Revolidis, Lecturer at the University of Malta, contributes a primer on International Jurisdiction and the Blockchain, by exploring the unique characteristics of blockchain based systems and by extending his analysis on the so-called Non Fungible Tokens. Dr. Nikolaos Zaprianos puts the challenge of smart contracts into perspective, offering an excellent account about the limits of automation in contractual relationships, while Dr. Konstantinos Voulgarakis monitors the impact of cryptoassets in capital markets and the ensuing private international law challenges. All the aforementioned papers have been presented during a webinar hosted by Lex&Forum on May 13 2022 (youtube.com/watch?v=84wCNVyWXPA&t=652s, accessed 3.9.2022).

The analysis of the relation between Private International Law & the Internet in the current issue of Lex&Forum is concluded with the Praefatio authored by another leading expert in the area, Prof. Gerald Spindler from the University of Göttingen/Germany. The title of it reads as follows: “The Internet and other emerging technologies within the EU and international legal order – aspects of conflicts of laws and international civil procedure”.

At the same time, the Judge of the Court of Appeal Mr. Ioannis Valmantonis has provided a comment on the decision of the CJEU in Gtflix v DR, while Dr. Apostolos Anthimos contributes his views on two Greek court decisions on the refusal of recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards ordering payment in bitcoin (Court of Appeal Western Central Greece 88/2021 and Court of First Instance of Agrinio, Single Chamber, 193/2018). Lastly, Dr. Evangelos Ziakas contributes a paper on the mosaic approach of the CJEU on internet related personality disputes.

Lex&Forum will return with a new issue, which will be focusing on the relationship of the EU Private International Law acquis with cases including third country elements.

The second issue of 2022 of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP, published by CEDAM) was just released. It features:

Costanza Honorati, Professor at the University Milan-Bicocca, Giovanna Ricciardi, Doctoral candidate at the University Milan-Bicocca, Violenza domestica e protezione cross-border (Domestic Violence and Cross-Border Protection) [in Italian]

Domestic violence has drawn increasing attention both from the lawmaker and legal scholars. Legal means to prevent domestic violence and protect women have been promoted and implemented at the national and supranational levels. This article concentrates on seeking and enforcing civil protection measures in cross-border family conflicts. Protective measures are often sought and taken in the State where the prospective victim (and often also the tortfeasor) is habitually resident. PIL issues are however rarely addressed. Regulation (EU) No 606/2013 on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters provides a useful instrument when the need for recognition and enforcement in a different Member State arises at a later stage. Less dealt with is the issue of selecting an appropriate ground for jurisdiction, which is not governed by the mentioned Regulation. The latter issue becomes especially relevant in the very peculiar case of protection measures to be issued in the so-called State of refuge when a mother challenges a situation of domestic violence as a ground for leaving the State of a child’s habitual residence and searches for protection elsewhere. The interplay between domestic violence and abduction cases, a situation quite frequent in practice but rarely addressed in legal literature, is further explored and dealt with.

Ilaria Viarengo, Professor at the University Milan, The Coordination of Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Proceedings Related to Economic Aspects of Family Law

This article addresses the complex features and problems arising from the combined application of all European and international instruments dealing with divorce and the economic aspects of family law. The need to avoid litigation proceedings in different jurisdictions, entailing the duplication of proceedings and costs and the need to have divorce and all the financial aspects governed by the same law are of central importance from a practical point of view. This article provides an analysis of whether and to what extent these two needs can be satisfied with the combined application of the EU family law regulations at issue. Firstly, it deals with some general issues whose solution could have an impact on the coordination among all these instruments. Consequently, it examines the interplay among rules on jurisdiction and applicable law, including the role of party autonomy in pursuing coordination.

The following comment is also featured:

Curzio Fossati, Doctoral candidate at the University of Insubria, La residenza abituale nei regolamenti europei di diritto internazionale privato della famiglia alla luce della giurisprudenza della Corte di giustizia (Habitual Residence in EU Private International Law Regulations in Family Matters in View of the Case-Law of the Court of Justice) [in Italian]

This article deals with the concept of habitual residence, which is in widespread use in the EU Regulations in the field of family law. Firstly, the article gives an overview of these Regulations, and then it analyses the case-law of the CJEU on the criterion of habitual residence referred to children, deceased persons, and spouses. The contribution examines two fundamental elements of the concept of habitual residence identified both by CJEU and scholars: the objective element, i.e. a sufficiently stable presence of a person in a Member State, and the subjective element, i.e. the intention of the person concerned to establish the permanent or habitual centre of his or her interests in that place. The article also tries to identify the most suitable method of interpretation of the concept of habitual residence and, in particular, it investigates which approach is more desirable between a uniform approach (which fosters a uniform definition of habitual residence in EU law) and a functional one (which implies an interpretation that takes into account the aim of the disposition in which the concept is used). Ultimately, the Author endorses the solution adopted by the CJEU in the IB case, which combines the aforementioned approaches.

Finally, this issue features the following book review by Cristina M. Mariottini, Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law: Henry Deeb GABRIEL, Contracts for the Sale of Goods – A Comparison of U.S. and International Law, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2022, pp. v-401.