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Regulating International Organisations: What Role for Private International Law?
Written by Dr Rishi Gulati, LSE Fellow in Law, London School of Economics; Barrister, Victorian Bar, Australia
The regulation of public international organisations (IOs) has been brought into sharp focus following the landmark US Supreme Court ruling in Jam v International Finance Corporation586 US (2019) (Jam). Jam is remarkable because the virtually absolute immunities enjoyed by some important IOs have now been limited in the US (where several IOs are based), giving some hope that access to justice for the victims of institutional action may finally become a reality. Jam has no doubt reinvigorated the debate about the regulation of IOs. This post calls for private international law to play its part in that broader debate. After briefly setting out the decision in Jam, a call for a greater role for private international law in the governance of IOs is made. Read more
Viewing the “Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” as a Window onto the New Legal Hubs
Written by Matthew S. Erie, Associate Professor of Modern Chinese Studies and Fellow at St. Cross College, University of Oxford
On April 2, 2019, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) and the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China” (“Supreme People’s Court”) signed an Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the HKSAR (hereinafter, “the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance,” see English translation here). This is a momentous development in the growth of international commercial arbitration in both mainland China (also, the “PRC”) and Hong Kong as it is the first time that such a mechanism has been put in place to allow Chinese courts to render interim relief to support arbitrations seated outside of the PRC. Read more
Interpreting Forum Selection Clauses
Written by John Coyle, the Reef C. Ivey II Term Professor of Law, Associate Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law
Last week, I wrote about the interpretive rules that U.S. courts use to construe ambiguous choice-of-law clauses. Choice-of-law clauses are not, however, the only means by which contracting parties may exercise their autonomy under the rules of private international law. Parties may also select via contract the forum in which their disputes will be resolved. In the United States, these contractual provisions are generally known as forum selection clauses. Elsewhere in the world, such provisions are generally known as choice-of-court clauses. Since this post is largely focused on U.S. practice, I utilize the former term. Read more
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From Theory to Practice in Private International Law: Gedächtnisschrift for Professor Jonathan Fitchen
Written by Justin Borg-Barthet, Katarina Trimmings, Burcu Yüksel Ripley and Patricia Živkovic
Note: This post is also available via the blog of the European Association of Private International Law.
When our colleague and friend Prof Jonathan Fitchen passed away on 22nd January 2021, we were comforted in our grief by an outpouring of messages of condolence from private international lawyers around the world. We had known, of course, of the impact and importance of Jonathan’s work to the world of private international law scholarship. His monograph on authentic instruments, for example, will remain an essential reference on that subject for many years to come. Jonathan’s impact on the world of private international law scholars was, to a degree, less obvious. He was an unassuming man. He did not seek to command the attention of every gathering he attended, and he might have been surprised to realise how often he did just that. He was tremendously well-liked and well-respected for his wit, his self-deprecating sense of humour, and his empathy.
Virtual Workshop (in English) on March 5: Marta Pertegás Sender on Current Developments in Cross-Border Enforcement of Patent Rights: Revisiting Territoriality and Reflexive Effect?
On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 42nd monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00-12:30 (CET). Marta Pertegás Sender (Maastricht University and University of Antwerp) will speak, in English, about the topic
Current Developments in Cross-Border Enforcement of Patent Rights: Revisiting Territoriality and Reflexive Effect?
The CJEU preliminary ruling in BSH Hausgeräte Case C-339/22 is eagerly awaited by those involved or interested in cross-border enforcement of patent rights. The forthcoming judgment may have broader repercussions for the position of territoriality in international litigation on intellectual property rights or for the private international law of property more generally.
EAPIL Wroclaw Conference 2024: Private International Law and Global Crises
We are please to announce that registration for the next bi-annual conference of the European Association of Private International Law (EAPIL) is now open!
The conference will take place in Wroclaw (Poland) from 6 to 8 June 2024 and will be devoted to “Private International Law and Global Crises”. Topics to be discussed will include the interplay of private international law and 1) war and armed conflicts, 2) the rule of law, 3) climate change and 4) global supply chains. Speakers will be:
- Raffaele Sabato (European Court of Human Rights)
- Vincent Kronenberger (Court of Justice of the European Union)
- Andreas Stein (European Commission)
- Patrick Kinsch (University of Luxembourg)
- Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (University of Edinburgh)
- Iryna Dikovska (Taras Shevchenko National University Kyiv)
- Tamasz Szabados (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University)
- Alex Mills (University College London)
- Matthias Weller (University of Bonn)
- Eduardo Alvarez Armas (Universidad Pontificia Comillas)
- Olivera Boskovic (Université Paris Cité)
- Rui Dias (University of Coimbra)
- Klaas Eller (University of Amsterdam)
- Laura Carpaneto (University of Genova)
To register for the conference please click here.
For questions, please get in touch with the local organizer, Agnieszka-Frackowiak-Adamska, at 2024.EAPIL.Wroclaw@uwr.edu.pl.