CJEU on acquisition of new habitual residence under the 2007 Hague Protocol subsequently to a wrongful removal, case W.J., C-644/20

/in /by

Under the Hague Protocol of 23 November 2007 on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations, maintenance obligations are governed by the law of the State of habitual residence of the creditor, save where the Protocol itself provides otherwise [Article 3(1)]. Echoing the issues pertaining to the so-called conflit mobile, the Protocol provides also that in the case of a change in the habitual residence of the creditor, the law of the State of the new habitual residence is to apply as from the moment when the change occurs [Article 3(2)].

If the creditor is a child, does a wrongful removal – followed by an order commanding to return the child to the State in which he/she habitually resided immediately prior to the wrongful removal – constitute an obstacle to the acquisition of a new place of habitual residence by the creditor? This is the legal issue that the Court addresses in its judgment handed down this Thursday in the case W.J., C-644/20.

Read more

Pax Moot 2022 results

/in /by

The Pax Moot Borrás Round of 2022 took place in Paris on 4 to 6 May. The preliminary rounds and semi-finals were held at the Universities of Sciences-Pio and Paris-Dauphine; the finals took place at the Commercial Court on the Quai de la Corse.

The University of Ljubljana won the oral rounds, with the University of Ghent as runner-up.

For the written memorials two teams share the winning position: the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano and the Universität Wien.

Santiago García Parga, from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid won the prize for the best pleader.

The European Commission co-funds the moot court.

Global Security and International Rule of Law

/in /by

Dr Sophie Duroy and Dr Rishi Gulati, both presently members of the KFG Berlin Potsdam Research Group ‘The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?’, will be hosting a virtual half-day webinar titled “Global Security and the International Rule of Law: Interdisciplinary Perspectives” on 30 May 2022. The event is free to attend. A program and link to registration is below:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-security-and-the-international-rule-of-law-tickets-331724325387

Two recent Private International Law Articles published by International and Comparative Law Quarterly in 2022

/in /by

Two recent private international law articles were published by International and Comparative Law Quarterly:

B Marshall, “Asymmetric Jurisdiction Clauses and the Anomaly created by Article 31(2) of the Brussels I Recast Regulation”

The English Court of Appeal and German Bundesgerichtshof recently decided that Article 31(2) of the Brussels I Recast Regulation applies to asymmetric jurisdiction clauses. This article contends that while this conclusion is sound, separating the ‘clause’ into two ‘agreements’ to reach it is not. This disaggregation prevents a solution to the anomaly that Article 31(2) creates for asymmetric clauses, where a lender sues under its option and the borrower subsequently sues in the anchor court. This article proposes a solution, based on a uniform characterisation of the clause as a whole, which protects the lender’s option and mitigates the risk of parallel proceedings

TD Grant, “Arbitration, Corruption and Post-Award Control in French and English Courts”

In September 2021, the French Cour de Cassation reversed the annulment that the Paris Cour d’appel earlier had granted in regard to an arbitral award in Alexander Brothers v Alstom on grounds of corruption. This brought French courts in line with their English counterparts, at least in that one case, the latter having accepted the Alexander Brothers award as enforceable. Noteworthy beyond the welcome consistency that the recent French judgment imparts in one case, that and other recent judgments cast light on several issues in international arbitration, including the arbitrability of allegations of fraud or corruption, the relevance of evidence of corruption ‘downstream’ from a contract, and the legal effects (if any) on third parties of internal compliance regimes that enterprises adopt in response to national regulatory and enforcement actions in respect of corruption.

 

The International Court of Justice again on jurisdictional immunities – A webinar, 11 May 2022

/3 Comments/in /by

Invitation by Pietro Franzina

On 29 April 2022, Germany filed an application against Italy before the International Court of Justice. Germany complains that Italy is allowing its courts to entertain claims for compensation for prejudice resulting from war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated between 1943 and 1945 by the Third Reich’s forces in Italy.

Recalling the ruling given by the International Court of Justice itself in 2012, in the case of the Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening), Germany contends that the conduct of Italian authorities amounts to a violation of jurisdictional immunity of Germany as a sovereign State (for a more detailed account of the case, see this post on the EAPIL blog).

A webinar in English, organised by the University of Ferrara and the Catholic University of Milan, will take place on 11 May 2022, between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm, via GoogleMeet, to discuss the various issues surrounding the case.

The speakers include Giorgia Berrino (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Serena Forlati (University of Ferrara), Pietro Franzina (Catholic University of the Sacred Geart, Milan), Karin Oellers-Frahm (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law  and International Law, Heidelberg), Riccardo Pavoni (University of Siena), and Pierfrancesco Rossi (LUISS Guido Carli, Rome).

Attendance is free. See here for further details.

Second Issue of Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly

/in /by

The second issue of the Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly for 2022 was just published. It features the following case notes, articles and book review on private international law:

David Capper, Proving Dissipation in Freezing Orders

J Atmaz Al-Sibaie, Foreign Claims and Foreign Laws

P Devonshire, Clearing the Decks: The Siskina in the Privy Council

M Paterson, Finally laying The Siskina to rest? and expanding the court’s power to grant freezing injunctions

M Teo, Foreign Act of State: Comity or Certainty

A Dickinson, W(h)ither Unjust Enrichment? Border Disputes in the Conflict of Laws (Again)

C Proctor, Book Review on INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS. Benjamin Geva, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, and Sagi Peari, UWA Law School, University of Western Australia. ISBN 978-0-19-882868-6. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2020) xxxi and 252 pp., plus I p. Appendix and 12 pp. Index. Hardback £110.

AMEDIP’s upcoming webinar – presentation of the book Private International Law: Practical Cases Resolved and Explained on 12 May 2022 at 1 pm Mexico City time – in Spanish

/in /by

The Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law (AMEDIP) is holding a webinar on 12 May 2022 at 1:00 pm (Mexico City time – CDT), 8:00 pm (Europe, CEST time). The purpose of this webinar is to showcase the book entitled Private International Law: Practical Cases Resolved and Explained, and will be presented by professors David Carrizo Aguado, María del Carmen Chéliz Inglés and Lucas Andrés Pérez Martín in Spanish.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88944671902?pwd=SHdQSGVFOGZHWjl4TDdJTmJ6bUc1dz09

Meeting ID: 889 4467 1902

Password: BMAAMEDIP

Participation is free of charge.

This event will also be streamed live: https://www.facebook.com/AmedipMX

Virtual Workshop (in English) on May 10: Kermit Roosevelt on The Third Restatement of Conflict of Laws

/in /by

https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/image/gid/35/crop/1/src_region/1056,281,2457,1684/714_kermit_roosevelt.jpgOn Tuesday, May 10, 2022, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 22nd monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 17:00-18:30 CEST. Kermit Roosevelt (University of Pennsylvania) will speak, in English, about the topic

“The Third Restatement of Conflict of Laws: Origins and Aspirations“.

During the middle of the twentieth century, American judges and law professors reacted against the territorialist rigidity of the First Restatement of Conflict of Laws, ushering in the chaos of the choice-of-law revolution. The Second Restatement, completed in 1971, won wide acceptance by courts but found less favor with law professors and has not brought order to the field. In 2014, the American Law Institute decided to try again, beginning work on the Third Restatement. What lessons can be learned from the history of American choice of law, and how can those lessons inform the drafting of a new Restatement? Kermit Roosevelt, the Reporter for the Third Restatement, will offer an overview of the current draft that seeks to situate it within the history of American choice of law and suggest the reasons that it takes the form it does.

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.

Don’t forget to register: 80th Biennial Conference of the International Law Association in Lisbon (19–23 June 2022)

/in /by

The Early Bird Registration for the 80th Biennial Conference of the International Law Association in Lisbon (19–23 June 2022) will close on 13th May 2022.

The programme includes sessions of the ILA Committees and Study Groups and a set of parallel panels where the main issues affecting the current status of International Law will be discussed. Information on the programme is available here. Kindly register as soon as possible to secure your place. Online registration is available here.

HCCH Monthly Update: April 2022

/in /by

Conventions & Instruments

On 8 April 2022, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deposited its instrument of accession to the HCCH Apostille Convention. The Convention will enter into force for Saudi Arabia on 7 December 2022. With this accession, the Apostille Convention now has 122 Contracting Parties. More information is available here.

Meetings & Events

From 28 March to 1 April 2022, the Experts’ Group on Parentage / Surrogacy met for the eleventh time. The Group discussed the content of the final report that is to be presented to the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) at its 2023 meeting. More information is available here.

The Permanent Bureau has announced that the inaugural CODIFI Conference will be held online from 12 to 16 September 2022. CODIFI will examine issues of private international law in the Commercial, Digital, and Financial (CODIFI) sectors, highlighting developments in the digital economy and fintech industries as well as clarifying the roles of core HCCH instruments: the 1985 Trusts Convention, the 2006 Securities Convention, and the 2015 Choice of Law Principles. More information is available here.

 

These monthly updates are published by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), providing an overview of the latest developments. More information and materials are available on the HCCH website.