Views
Protection of Forced Heirs and International Public Policy
Written by Matteo Mangone, PhD candidate in Private Law at the University of Turin
Protection of Forced Heirs and International Public Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Italy in Light of the Bundesgerichtshof Judgment of 29 June 2022
1. The German Approach
The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice), in its judgment of 29 June 2022, affirmed the following legal principle: the protection of mandatory heirs pertains to German public policy and, consequently, pursuant to Article 35 of EU Regulation No. 650/2012, it is possible to disregard the lex successionis designated under Article 22 of the same Regulation whenever its application does not concretely guarantee mandatory heirs a level of protection at least equivalent to that ensured by German inheritance law. Read more
Online Symposium on Recent Developments in African PIL (VII) – South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal orders the return of a child under the Hague Child Abduction Convention
As part of the second online symposium on recent developments in African private international law, we are pleased to present the seventh an final contribution, kindly prepared by Solomon Okorley (University of Johannesburg, South Africa), which examines a decision of the South African Supreme Court of Appeal ordering the return of a child under the Hague Child Abduction Convention.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal Orders the Return of a Child under the Hague Child Abduction Convention: Marital Status of Parents not Important in Determining the Child’s Habitual Residence
Online Symposium on Recent Developments in African PIL (VI) – Proof of Foreign Law and the Fragility of Foreign Marriages in Ghanaian Courts
As part of the second online symposium on recent developments in African private international law, we are pleased to present the sixth contribution, kindly prepared by Theophilus Edwin Coleman (University at Buffalo School of Law, New York (USA) & Senior Research Associate, RCPILEC, University of Johannesburg, South Africa).
From Daddy to Zaddy or Both? Proof of Foreign Law and the Fragility of Foreign Marriages in Ghanaian Courts – Reflections on Akosua Serwaah Fosuh v. Abusua-Panin Kofi Owusu & 2 Others, Suit No. GJ12/20/2026
News
Call for Papers: Annual Courts and Justice Conference 2026 (4 Dec 2026, University of Nicosia)
This Call for Papers was shared with us by Procedural Law Unit of the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.
SLAPP-Directive implemented in Belgium
The SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) Directive of the EU (2024/1069 of 11 April 2024) is transposed in Belgian law by the Act of 30 May 2026. The Act was published in the Belgian Official Journal on 12 June 2026 (see the French version and the Dutch version), and will enter into force on 22 June 2026.
The main features of the Act are:
Out Now: Status and Family Relationships in European PIL
The new extensive Volume Status and Family Relationships in Private International Law was just published by Edward Elgar Publishing.
Edited by Silvia Marino (University of Insubria, Como), Anna Wysocka-Bar (Jagiellonian University, Kraków) and Javier Carrascosa González (University of Murcia), the volume, builds on the presentations delivered at the 2024 EAPIL Winter School, held in Como in February 2024. It is the second book in the European Association of Private International Law series.