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The Bahraini Supreme Court on Choice of Court Agreements, Bases of Jurisdiction and… Forum non Conveniens!

I. Introduction:

In a previous post on this blog, I reported a decision rendered by the Bahrain High Court in which the court refused to enforce a choice of court agreement in favour of English courts. The refusal was based on the grounds that the case was brought against a Bahraini defendant and that rules of international jurisdiction are mandatory. The Bahraini Supreme Court’s decision reported here is a subsequent development on the same case. The ruling is significant for many reasons. In a methodical manner, the Supreme Court identified the foundational justifications for the jurisdictional rules applied in Bahrain. Moreover, it clarified the role and effect of choice of court agreements, particularly their derogative effect. Finally, and somehow surprisingly, the Court supported its position by invoking to “the doctrine of forum non conveniens”, explicitly mentioned in its decision. Read more

“Other Appropriate Connections”: China’s Newly Adopted Jurisdiction Ground

Written by Jidong Lin, Wuhan University Institute of International Law

  1. Background

China’s newly amended Civil Procedure Law (“CPL 2024”), which came into effect on 1 January 2024, introduces several distinct and innovative changes. Among the most notable is the incorporation of “other appropriate connections” as a jurisdiction ground. Article 276 of the CPL 2024 addresses the jurisdiction of Chinese courts over foreign-related disputes where the defendant lacks domicile in China. Paragraph 1 of Article 276 lists six jurisdiction grounds, including the place of contract formation, place of contract performance, place of the subject matter, place of distrainable property, place of tort, and place of representative offices. As a supplement, Paragraph 2 provides that “notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, foreign-related civil disputes that have other appropriate connections with the People’s Republic of China may fall under the jurisdiction of the People’s Courts.” The term “other appropriate connections” represents a legal innovation not only within Chinese legislation but also on a global scale. Currently, there is no official interpretation or guidance on its precise meaning, making it essential to analyze and evaluate this jurisdiction ground and its potential implications for jurisdictional practices. Read more

The Moroccan Supreme Court on the Authenticity of an Apostillised Certificate of Conversion to Islam

I. Introduction

As mentioned in a previous post, Morocco is not only the MENA Arab jurisdiction that has ratified the largest number of the HCCH Conventions (7 in total), but also a country where the HCCH conventions have been actively applied (see here on the application of the HCCH 1980 Child Abduction Convention, and here for a case involving the application of the HCCH 1996 Child Protection Convention). The application of the HCCH Conventions in Morocco offers valuable insights into how these HCCH instruments operate within an Islamic context, challenging the widely held assumption of the existence of an Islamic exceptionalism (though such exceptionalism does exist, but to a varying degree across the Muslim-majority countries. See e.g. Béligh Elbalti, “The Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Filiation Judgments in Arab Countriesin Nadjma Yassari et al. (ed.), Filiation and the Protection of Parentless Children (T.M.C. Asser Press, 2019), 373-402).

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News

Dutch Journal of PIL (NIPR) – issue 2024/2

The latest issue of the Dutch Journal on Private International Law (NIPR) has been published.

NIPR 2024 issue 2

 

EDITORIAL

M.H. ten Wolde / p. 239

Article

C.G. van der Plas, A.F. Veldhuis, B.H.B. Verheul, Automatische erkenning en tenuitvoerlegging van vonnissen in het Europa van nu: de noodzaak van een nieuwe blik op wederzijds vertrouwen na J/H Limited / p. 241-267 Read more

Out now: The Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law, Volume 12 (2024), Issue 1

The following information has been kindly provided by Wilson Lui, PhD Candidate, Melbourne Law School; Part-time Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong. 

The latest issue of the Journal is available online and features the following papers delivered at the ILA-Korea’s 60th Anniversary Conference on Private International Law held in Seoul, Korea on 11 June 2024:

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Call for Papers: 3rd Asian Private International Law Academy Conference (8th to 9th December 2024)

The following information has kindly been provided by Anselmo Reyes.

The third Asian Private International Law Academy (APILA) Conference will take place in person at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday 8 (Day 1) and Monday 9 (Day 2) December 2024. Persons whose abstracts have been selected (see next paragraph) will deliver oral presentations in turn on Days 1 and 2. Each presentation will run for about 10 minutes and be followed by a discussion of about 10 to 15  minutes in which participants will have the opportunity to comment on a presentation. The APILA Conference will be in the form of two days of roundtable discussions in English. The objective of the APILA Conference is to assist presenters to refine prospective research papers with a view to eventual publication. Read more