Views
The Council of the HCCH has spoken – the Conclusions & Recommendations are available
The Conclusions & Recommendations (C&R) of the governance body of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) (i.e. the Council on General Affairs and Policy) are available in both English and French.
The conclusions that are worthy of note are the following:
The Parentage/Surrogacy Project is going ahead. The Council endorsed the continuation of the work in line with the latest report of the Experts’ Group (see my previous post here). See C&R 7-12.
The Tourist and Visitors Project is also moving forward. See C&R 14-17.
A meeting of the Experts’ Groups on these respective topics will take place in the near future.
As regards the HCCH publications, it should be noted that there were two Guides on family law, one Guide on the Evidence Convention and one WIPO-HCCH Guide on intellectual property that were submitted for approval to Council; the full titles of which are:
- The revised draft Practical Guide on the cross-border recognition and enforcement of agreements reached in the course of family matters involving children
- The revised draft Guide to Good Practice on Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention
- The draft Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-link under the Evidence Convention
- The WIPO-HCCH Guide on “When Private International Law meets Intellectual Property Law – A Guide for Judges”
See also my previous posts here (Child Abduction) and here (Evidence Convention).
The Council approved only one: the WIPO-HCCH Guide. With regard to the other three, the Council decided instead to put into place a procedure to obtain further comments from Members. Importantly, there were concerns expressed by Members regarding the two family law guides, which means that further work is needed. An important issue that might have played a role in these decisions is the massive amount of information that was submitted this year to Council.
Because of the complexity of the conclusions, I prefer to include some excerpts below:
“19. In light of concerns expressed, Council did not approve the revised draft Practical Guide [on the cross-border recognition and enforcement of agreements reached in the course of family law matters involving children]. Council asked that the draft Practical Guide be re-circulated to Members to provide additional comments within a three-month period. All comments received will be made available to other Members on the Secure Portal of the HCCH website. The draft Practical Guide would then be revised by the Experts’ Group with a view, in particular, to increasing its readability for a wider audience. The finalised draft Practical Guide would be circulated to Members for approval. In the absence of any objection within one month, the draft Practical Guide would be taken to be approved; in the case of one or more objections, the draft Practical Guide would be put to Council at its 2020 meeting, without any further work being undertaken. Council requested that the Permanent Bureau immediately notify the Members of any objections.”
“24. Council thanked the Working Group and stressed the importance of the Guide to Good Practice on Article 13(1)(b). In light of concerns expressed, Council did not approve the revised draft Guide. Council asked that the draft Guide be re-circulated to Members to provide additional comments within a two-month period. All comments received will be made available to other Members on the Secure Portal of the HCCH website. The draft Guide would then be revised by the Working Group. The finalised draft Guide would be circulated to Members for approval. In the absence of any objection within one month, the draft Guide would be taken to be approved; in the case of one or more objections, the draft Guide would be put to Council at its 2020 meeting, without any further work being undertaken. Council requested that the Permanent Bureau immediately notify the Members of any objections.”
Council was more lenient with regard to the Video-link Guide:
“38. Council welcomed the preparation of the draft Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-Link under the Evidence Convention and thanked the Experts’ Group. Council asked that the draft Guide be re-circulated to Members to provide additional comments within a one-month period. All comments received will be made available to other Members on the Secure Portal of the HCCH website. The draft Guide would then be revised by the Experts’ Group. The finalised draft Guide would be circulated to Members for approval. In the absence of any objection within one month, the draft Guide would be taken to be approved; in the case of one or more objections, the draft Guide would be put to Council at its 2020 meeting, without any further work being undertaken. Council requested that the Permanent Bureau immediately notify the Members of any objections.”
All this means that these three Guides are not final and readers must await the revised versions, which might or might not need to be submitted to the next meeting of the Council in March 2020. I advise you then to be patient.
The International Business Courts saga continued: NCC First Judgment – BIBC Proposal unplugged
Written by Georgia Antonopoulou and Xandra Kramer, Erasmus University Rotterdam (PhD candidate and PI ERC consolidator project Building EU Civil Justice)
1. Mushrooming International Business Courts on the Eve of Brexit
Readers of this blog will have followed the developments on the international business courts and international commercial chambers being established around Europe and elsewhere. While many of the initiatives to set up such a court or special chamber date from before the Brexit vote, it is clear that the UK leaving the EU has boosted these and is considered to be a big game changer. It remains to be seen whether it really is, but in any case the creation of courts and procedures designed to deal with international commercial disputes efficiently is very interesting! Read more
Brexit: Three modest proposals
After last Thursday’s EU summit, which resulted in a double-barreled “flextension” of the date for Brexit, all cards are on the table again. Insofar, it is worth noticing that the German journalist Harald Martenstein, in his weekly column for the Berlin-based “Tagesspiegel”, has recently offered three innovative solutions for the Brexit dilemma:
The first one may be called the “one island, two countries” proposal: Great Britain would be split into two parts, one leaving the EU, the other remaining. All Britons would then be granted double citizenship and be free to make up their minds according to their preferences.
The second solution that the columnist proposes takes up the frequently raised demand for a second referendum that should overturn the first Brexit vote. Well, if there is going to be a second referendum, why not a third or even a fourth one? Thus, Martenstein suggests that, in the future, a referendum should be held every year on 2 January; for the remaining part of the year, the United Kingdom would then be either in or out of the EU.
Thirdly and finally, if all else fails, Martenstein argues that the UK might simply turn the tables and offer the other Member States the possibility of leaving the EU as well and joining the UK instead, which would then change its name to “Greatest Britain Ever”.
Obviously, the proposals made by the columnist are meant as a satirical comment. Yet, there are some elements of reality contained in his mockery: who knows whether, in case of a hard Brexit, Scotland (or Northern Ireland) would stay a part of the UK or whether a new referendum on seceding from the UK – and re-joining the EU – would be organized? And already today, numerous Britons are applying for a double citizenship in order to keep a foothold in the EU. Who knows whether a second referendum on Brexit will take place and whether it will actually settle the matter once and for all? And wasn’t the EU summit an attempt by the EU-27 to avoid the Brexit populist contagion from spreading to the continent via the impending EU parliamentary elections? In sum, the situation is increasingly reminiscent of a book title by Paul Watzlawick: hopeless, but not serious…
News
The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Cornerstones, Prospects, Outlook
Hart Studies in Private International Law officially released a book today titled: The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Cornerstones, Prospects, Outlook. The book is edited by M Weller et al. The blurb reads as follows:
This book analyses, comments and further develops on the most important instrument of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH): the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention. The HCCH Convention, the product of decades of work, will have a transformative effect on global judicial cooperation in civil matters. This book explores its ‘mechanics’, i.e. the legal cornerstones of the new Convention (Part I), its prospects in leading regions of the world (Part II), and offers an overview and comment on its outlook (Part III). Drawing on contributions from world-leading experts, this magisterial and ambitious work will become the reference work for law-makers, judges, lawyers and scholars in the field of private international law.
New Editors
We are happy to announce the following new members of the Editorial Board:
- Prof Marlene Wethmar-Lemmer (University of South Africa, South Africa)
- Prof Béligh Elbalti (University of Osaka, Japan)
- Prof David P Stewart (Georgetown University, USA)
- Prof Du Tao (East China University of Politics and Law, China)
- Prof Wenliang Zhang (Renmin University, China)
- Prof Samuel Fulli-Lemaire (University of Strasbourg, France)
- Prof Étienne Farnoux (University of Strasbourg, France)
9th Journal of Private International Law Conference: Registration is now open!
We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 9th Journal of Private International Law Conference. The conference will be held on 3 to 5 August 2023 at the Yong Pung How School of Law at the Singapore Management University. The keynote address will be delivered by The Honourable Justice Philip Jeyaretnam, President of the Singapore International Commercial Court.
The deadline for speakers to register is 30 May 2023. The deadline for other registrants is 15 July 2023.
Registration is complimentary for speakers, Journal of Private International Law editorial board members and SMU faculty, staff and students. Preferential rates apply for academics, government officials, SMU alumni and non-SMU students – register with your institutional e-mail to enjoy the preferential rate.
More information, including the draft programme and link to register, can be found here. We look forward to welcoming you to Singapore.