Determining the Appropriate Forum by the Applicable Law by Prof. Richard Garnett (1 April Online)

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The Chinese University of Hong Kong’ Cross-Border Legal issues Dialogue Seminar Series presents this online seminar by Professor Richard Garnett on 1st April 2022 12.30pm -2pm (Hong Kong time; GMT +8 hours).

The conflict of laws has traditionally drawn a sharp distinction between jurisdiction and applicable law. The conventional approach suggests that a court only reaches the question of the law to be applied to the merits after the tribunal has determined that it has the power to adjudicate the action. Common law systems have however long recognised that a court has a discretion to accept or decline jurisdiction (determine the appropriate forum) and that a relevant factor in this discretion is the applicable law.

The purpose of this presentation is to examine the current status of the applicable law in jurisdiction and forum disputes, noting the trend in countries such as Australia to give the factor substantial weight and significance.

About the speaker:

Richard Garnett is Professor of Private International Law at the University of Melbourne, Australia and a consultant in international disputes at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Richard regularly advises on cross-border litigation and arbitration matters and has appeared as advocate (barrister) before several tribunals including the High Court of Australia. Richard has written extensively in the fields of conflict of laws, foreign state immunity and international arbitration, with his work cited by leading tribunals around the world, including the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the English Court of Appeal, United States federal district courts, the Singapore Court of Appeal and Australian, Israeli and New Zealand courts. Richard has also served as expert member of the Australian Government delegation to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, to negotiate the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and the 2019 Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments.

Please register by 5 pm, 31 March 2022 (Hong Kong time; GMT +8 hours) to attend the seminar.

 

HCCH Information Note – Children deprived of their family environment due to the armed conflict in Ukraine

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The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) has just issued an “Information Note – Children deprived of their family environment due to the armed conflict in Ukraine”. Click here for the English version and here for the French version. The HCCH news item is available here.

CEDEP: Online course on Choice of Law, International Contracts and the Hague Principles

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The Center for Law, Economics and Policy Studies (CEDEP) is organising an online course on Choice of Law, International Contracts and the Hague Principles. For more information on this course, click here.

The course will officially begin on Tuesday 22 March 2022, with weekly sessions (a total of 9) to be released on Tuesdays (which may be supplemented with additional lessons in May). The sessions will be in English with Spanish subtitles and will be available throughout the year 2022 on the CEDEP e-learning platform, thus there is no deadline for registration. The registration fee is 90USD – several payment methods are possible (including online). To register click here.

CEDEP has kindly provided in advance the link to the Introductory Session (Choice of Law – 22 March 2022) for Conflictoflaws.net readers, which may be viewed free of charge here: 1. Choice of Law – Introductory Session.

The speakers of the Introductory Session are Luca Castellani (UNCITRAL), Anna Veneziano (UNIDROIT) and Ning Zhao (HCCH) and the topic is UNCITRAL, HCCH, and UNIDROIT Legal Guide to Uniform Instruments in the Area of International Commercial Contracts, with a Focus on Sales. The Legal Guide and other information may be accessed on the Hague Conference website, click here.

The e-learning platform will also make available relevant bibliography, the presentations of the speakers, discounts for a relevant publication and much more. A certificate of participation will be given if a minimum attendance is confirmed.

Below is a list of the speakers per session:

Virtual Workshop (in German) on April 5: Erik Jayme on International Art Law

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Erik Jayme

On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 21th monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00-12:30 (CET). Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Erik Jayme (University of Heidelberg) will speak, in German, about the topic

 

International Art Law: Signs of Disintegration in Classical Private International 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.

Funding opportunities EU Justice program (deadline extended)

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Deadline extended: Funding opportunities under the justice programme in the area of judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters (JUST-2022-JCOO).

The deadline for proposal submission to the call for proposals for action grants to promote judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters has been extended.

The new deadline for submission is the 30 March 2022 – 17:00:00 CET, Brussel’s time.

The total budget available for the call is EUR 5.500.000. The co-financing rate is 90%.

The key priorities for 2022 under this call are to contribute to the effective and coherent application of the EU acquis relating to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, thus strengthening mutual trust.

In particular, the call aims to

  1. facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters
  2. promote the rule of law, independence and impartiality of the judiciary, including by supporting the efforts to improve the effectiveness of national justice systems, and the effective enforcement of decisions

The call-related documents, guidance and other instructions are available in the call page within the funding & tender opportunities portal (F&T).

Project activities under this call would in principle include:

  1. facilitating cooperation between competent authorities and agencies, legal practitioners and/or service providers (including multi-disciplinary networks at international, national, regional or local levels);
  2. mutual learning, identifying and exchange of best practices, development of working methods which may be transferable to other participating countries;
  3. analytical activities, including data collection, surveys, research, etc.;
  4. exchange and provision of information and development of information tools;
  5. capacity building for professionals;
  6. dissemination and awareness raising activities;
  7. training activities can also be funded under this call, as long as they are of ancillary nature and not the main purpose of the project.

Any further request for information can be addressed to  EC-JUSTICE-CALLS@ec.europa.eu

Climate Change and Law Seminars of CCLLAB welcomes Prof. Dr. Sam Fankhauser on March!

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Kadir Has University Climate Change and Law Laboratory (CCLLAB), continues its series of events on legal aspects of Climate Change. At the sixth session of Climate Change and Law Seminars, Kadir Has University Climate Change and Law Laboratory (CCLLAB) will be honored by the lecture of Prof. Dr. Sam Fankhauser on Trends in Climate Legislation. Event is open to public via Zoom. No formal registration required; we would appreciate however if you confirm your participation by sending an e-mail to ccllab@khas.edu.tr. To find out more about our lab, please visit https://ccllab.khas.edu.tr/

Sam Fankhauser is Professor of Climate Economics and Policy at the University of Oxford, where he is affiliated with the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and the School of Geography and the Environment. He is also Research Director of Oxford Net Zero. Before moving to Oxford, Sam was Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, where he remains a Visiting Professor. He has also worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility.

Online Conference: Cross Border Portability of Refugees’ Personal and Family Status – A Plea for Better Interplay Between Private International Law and Migration Law

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You are kindly invited to the online conference on “Cross-border portability of refugees’ personal and family status – a plea for better interplay between private international law and migration law” by Prof. Dr. Jinske Verhellen on March 16, 2022, Wednesday between 12.30-13.30 (GMT+3). The conference is organized by Bilkent University as a part of the Talks on Migration Series within the Jean Monnet Module on European and International Migration Law. It will be held via zoom, free of charge. Please contact us (Jmmigration@bilkent.edu.tr) for participation.

Biography:
Jinske Verhellen is a Professor of Private International Law and Head of the Institute for Private International Law at the Faculty of Law and Criminology of Ghent University (Belgium). She is a member of the Ghent University Interfaculty Research Group CESSMIR (Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees) and of the Ghent University Human Rights Research Network. She has published on various aspects of private international law, international family law, migration law, and nationality law.
Abstract:
The lecture will address several legal problems encountered by refugees with regard to their personal and family status acquired in one country and transferred to another country (such as the absence of documentary evidence, the issue of limping legal relationships). It will focus on the interactions between international refugee law (relating to the rights and obligations of States regarding the protection of refugees) and private international law (dealing with private relationships in a cross-border context). These two sets of rules still operate in very different and even separated universes. The following issues will be covered: specific private international law hurdles that refugees have to take, the concept of personal status (age, parental status, marital status) in international refugee law, and the role of private international law conventions in the international protection of refugees.

AG Pikamäe on the time limits for lodging an objection against a decision on enforcement, in the context of the Service and Brussels I bis Regulations, in the case LKW Walter, C-7/21

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This Thursday AG Pikamäe delivered his Opinion in the case LKW Walter, C-7/21. The request for a preliminary ruling originates in the proceedings on a litigation malpractice action, between a company established under Austrian law and the lawyers established in that Member State, who represented the said company in the proceedings in which it acted as a defendant.

By this request, the referring court seeks the interpretation of the Brussels I bis Regulation, of the Service Regulation and of the Article 18(1) TFEU (interdiction of discrimination on the grounds of nationality).

 

Read more

HCCH Monthly Update: January/February 2022

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Meeting of the Council on General Affairs and Policy

The Council on General Affairs and Policy of the HCCH met online from 28 February to 4 March 2022, with over 450 participants. Over the course of five days, HCCH Members reviewed progress made to date and agreed on the work programme for the year ahead in terms of normative, non-normative and governance work. More information is available here.

Several important developments relating to Membership and HCCH Conventions occurred during the meeting:

  • El Salvador deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Statute, becoming the 91stMember of the HCCH.
  • Ecuador signed the 2007 Child Support Convention and 2007 Maintenance Obligations Protocol and deposited its instrument of ratification of both instruments, which will enter into force on 1 July 2022.
  • The United States of America signed the 2019 Judgments Convention, becoming its sixth signatory.

More information on these developments is available here.

 

Other developments

 

Conventions & Instruments

On 1 January 2022, the HCCH 1965 Service Convention entered into force for Georgia. It currently has 79 Contracting Parties. More information is available here.

On 18 February 2022, the Philippines signed the 2007 Child Support Convention. The Convention will enter into force for the Philippines further to the deposit of its instrument of ratification. More information is available here.

 

Meetings & Events

From 11 to 20 January 2022, the International Hague Network of Judges (IHNJ) met via videoconference, with the participation of judges from 35 States. Established in 1998, the IHNJ facilitates international cooperation and communication between judges on the cross-border protection of children. More information is available here.

On 28 January 2022, the HCCH participated in the panel discussion “Thailand and the HCCH Core Conventions: Connecting Possibility and Approach”, organised by the Ministry of Justice of Thailand.

From 7 to 9 February 2022, the International Transfer of Maintenance Funds Experts’ Group met via videoconference. The Group continued its work discussing good practices and identifying possible future improvements in relation to the cross-border transfer of child support payments, with a view to facilitating the most cost-effective, transparent, prompt, efficient and accessible cross-border transfer of funds. More information is available here.

From 14 to 18 February 2022, the second meeting of the Working Group on Matters Related to Jurisdiction in Transnational Civil or Commercial Litigation was held via videoconference. The Group made further progress on the development of draft provisions on parallel litigation in civil or commercial matters, which may occur when separate proceedings are instituted before the courts of different States. More information is available here.

 

Publications and Documentation

On 22 February 2022, the Permanent Bureau launched consultations on the draft Practical Handbook on the Operation of the 2000 Protection of Adults Convention. More information is available here.

On 28 February 2022, the Permanent Bureau announced the publication of the HCCH 2021 Annual Report. More information is available here.

 

Vacancies

Applications are now open for three- to six-month legal internships from July to December 2022. The deadline for the submission of applications is 17 March 2022 (18:00 CET). 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.

Jean Monnet Module Series of Webinars on Multilevel, Multiparty and Multisector Cross-Border Litigation in Europe March – May 2022, 2nd Edition

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From March 15 to May 19, 2022, as part of the three-year European project called Jean Monnet Module on Multilevel, Multiparty and Multisector Cross-Border Litigation in Europe, will take place the 2nd edition of the cycle of online seminars on transnational civil and commercial litigation in Europe. Among the novelties of this edition, the participation of professionals from the European Court of Human Rights, the European Central Bank, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School, New York. The initiative has received the patronage of the Chamber of International Lawyers, the Italian National Council of Notaries, the European Union of Judicial Officers, the Transnational Dispute Management network and the DEuTraDiS Research Center.

Deadline for registration: March 15, 2022.

Here the registration form and the official flyer.