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Major amendment to Chinese Arbitration Act after three decades
This guest post is written by Jie Zheng, Assistant Professor & Research Fellow, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
On 12th September 2025, the 17th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress passed the Amendment to the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter “Chinese Arbitration Act”) to be effective from 1st March 2026[1], which was first adopted in 1994. Since its adoption, China has undergone enormous economic reforms and a more urgent need to align the legislation with international arbitration practices. There were only two minor revisions in 2009 and 2017 to fix technical inconsistencies with other procedural laws. In July 2021, the Ministry of Justice of China released a Draft Revision of the Arbitration Law for public consultation. [2] This was the first comprehensive reform since 1994. The draft was reviewed by the Sanding Committee of the National People’s Congress three times. Read more
Personal Jurisdiction, Consent, and the Law of Agency
I have long argued – in articles, blog posts, and amicus briefs – that it violates due process to invoke a forum selection clause to obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant who was not a party to the agreement in which the clause appears. This position has not yet achieved universal acceptance. The state courts in New York, in particular, have repeatedly held that forum selection clauses can be used to assert personal jurisdiction over non-party defendants who are “closely related” to the parties or the transaction. In this blog post, I use a recent case—Bandari v. QED Connect Inc.—decided by Magistrate Judge Gary Stein (SDNY) to highlight some of the problems with the “closely related” test. Read more
Can a Seat Court Injunct a Foreign Non-Party to an Arbitration? Singapore High Court clarifies in Alphard Maritime v Samson Maritime (2025) SGHC 154
This guest post is posted on behalf of Kamakshi Puri, Senior Associate at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Delhi, India, and dual-qualified lawyer (India and England and Wales).
The Singapore High Court recently clarified the scope of the court’s jurisdiction over foreign non-parties to the arbitration. In an application to set aside two interim injunctions, in Alphard Maritime Ltd. v Samson Maritime Ltd. & Ors. (2025) SGHC 154,[1] the court held that the the seat per se did not confer jurisdiction against non-parties to an arbitration, and that jurisdiction would first have to be established through regular service-out procedures before the seat court could grant an injunction against a non-party.
News
Virtual Workshop (in English) on February 3, 2026: Stellina Jolly on “Forging a Path for Climate Justice: Integrating Public and Private International Law in Transboundary Litigation in India”
On Tuesday, February 3, 2026, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (CEST). Stellina Jolly (South Asian University) will speak, in English, about the topic
“Forging a Path for Climate Justice: Integrating Public and Private International Law in Transboundary Litigation in India”
Cross-border climate litigation, gaining traction globally, requires active engagement with private international law for effective dispute adjudication. Although Indian climate jurisprudence has not yet substantively addressed cross-border disputes, emerging trends suggest that this scenario may soon evolve. The talk analyses three plausible litigation scenarios involving Indian and foreign parties to assess the readiness of Indian private international law in addressing transboundary climate harm. Firstly, Indian plaintiffs filing cases in foreign jurisdictions against transnational corporations headquartered abroad, alleging climate-related harm caused within India; secondly, foreign plaintiffs filing cases before Indian courts for the harm caused by Indian transnational corporations in their jurisdictions; thirdly, foreign plaintiffs filing cases before Indian courts for the transboundary harm caused by Indian companies as a result of their Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The talk evaluates the adequacy of Indian private international law in addressing cross-border climate cases and proposes incorporating environmental and human rights considerations in the determination of choice of 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.
New Book: La circolazione dello statuto personale / La circulation du statut personnel
A new collective volume entitled “La circolazione dello statuto personale / La circulation du statut personnel” has recently been published by Pacini Giuridica. Edited by Gustavo Cerqueira (Nice), Nicolas Nord (Strasbourg) and Claudio Scognamiglio (Rome), the book brings together the proceedings of an international conference held on 19 January 2024 in Rome, in the prestigious Giallombardo Hall of the Italian Court of Cassation. Read more
Dutch Journal of PIL (NIPR) – issue 2025/3
The latest issue of the Dutch Journal on Private International Law (NIPR) has been published. It contains the following contributions.
NIPR 2025, Issue 3
Editorial
Mathijs ten Wolde / p. 421
Articles
Steven Stuij, De positie van art. 10:2 BW in het Nederlands burgerlijk procesrecht / p. 423-444
Abstract
Article 10:2 of the Dutch Civil Code stipulates that the rules of private international law as well as the applicable law designated by those rules are to be applied ex officio. There has been a debate as to the positioning of this provision in relation to other rules of civil procedure on party autonomy as a result of two cases of the Dutch Supreme Court (‘Hoge Raad’). This contribution will address Read more