Views
Beyond Domicile: The BHP Litigation and the Functional Interconnection of Public and Private International Law
from Marcel Vitor de Magalhães e Guerra
On 14 November 2025, the English High Court handed down its Stage 1 judgment in Município de Mariana and others v. BHP Group Plc and BHP Group Limited [2025] EWHC 3001 (TCC), finding the defendants liable — under Brazilian law — for the 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam: over 600,000 claimants, an estimated £36 billion, the largest group litigation in English legal history. This post argues that Mariana exposes a functional interconnection between public and private international law at the stage of determining jurisdiction itself: although doctrinally distinct, the court’s application of a private international law rule required engaging questions of corporate organisation, adjudicatory legitimacy, and transnational responsibility that traditionally belong to public international law. Read more
Conflicts of jurisdiction in Senegal: lesson from the Senegalese Supreme Court on Lis Pendens and the Exequatur of foreign judgments
This post was kindly prepared by Véronique Carole Ngono, Professor of Private Law (agrégée), University of Douala, Cameroon.
I. Introduction
The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa has not been the subject of many studies. Although a few such studies do exist, this is in contrast to the field of conflict of laws and personal status law in particular. Consequently, the two rulings issued by the Supreme Court of Senegal on August 12, 2020, in connected disputes went practically unnoticed, even though they offer valuable insights into determining the jurisdiction of Senegalese courts in international disputes and the enforcement of foreign judgments.
The purpose of this note is therefore to shed light on the law and practice of conflict jurisdictions in Senegal.
Adoption in the proposal for a European Parenthood Regulation
This post was written by Aukje Mens, Jurist at INEA, the Dutch expertise centre on intercountry adoption. She wrote in her own name.
Recently, an article I wrote about adoption in the proposal for a European Parenthood Regulation was published in the Dutch Journal of Family and Youth Law (Tijdschrift voor Familie- en Jeugdrecht, 2026/3). This article examines the uncertainties and gaps in the regulation of adoption and argues for an autonomous European Adoption Regulation to adequately govern international adoptions. Below is a summary in English of the article.
News
New Publication: Second Edition of the Elgar’s Research Handbook on EU PIL
While much of Europe slows down for August, there is still some fresh academic news to share: the publication of the second edition of the *Research Handbook on EU Private International Law*, edited by Youseph Farah, of the University of East Anglia and Elisabetta Bergamini, of the University of Udine, and published by Edward Elgar Publishing as part of the *Research Handbooks in European Law* series.
Thoroughly revised and updated, the new edition brings together civil-law and common-law perspectives to examine some of the most important questions and continuing challenges in EU private international law. Alongside the traditional fields of jurisdiction, contractual and non-contractual obligations, the Handbook addresses significant developments in family law, parental responsibility and cross-border succession.
CfP: 3rd International Seminar “The Challenges of Private International Law in Contemporary Society” – Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 4-6 November 2026
Call for Papers: 3rd International Seminar “The Challenges of Private International Law in Contemporary Society” – Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 4-6 November 2026
This Call for Papers has been kindly shared with us by Inez Lopes / University of Brasilia (UnB) and Fabricio B. Pasquot Polido / University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Following the previous editions hosted by the University of Brasilia in 2019 and 2024, the Third Seminar “The Challenges of Private International Law in Contemporary Society”, will be held from 4 to 6 November 2026 at the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brasil. The theme of the 2026 edition is:
“Jurisdiction and Transnational Access to Justice between New Technologies and ‘The Human Side of Artificial Intelligence’” Read more
AMEDIP: Annual seminar to take place from 15 to 16 October 2026 (in Spanish)
The Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law (AMEDIP) will be holding its XLIX Seminar entitled “Towards a new codification of Private International Law in Mexico” (Hacia una nueva codificación del Derecho Internacional Privado en México) from 15 to 16 October 2026. The venue of the seminar will be the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (Mérida, Mexico).
This edition of the seminar will primarily focus on the draft bill on Private International Law for the state of Yucatán, an initiative presented by AMEDIP to the authorities of that state. This draft breaks from previous practice, according to which state PIL rules are contained in civil codes, by suggesting the adoption of a standalone Act (available here). Read more