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Bob Wessels, International Insolvency Law: Part II European Insolvency Law, 4th edition 2017, Wolters Kluwer
Written by Lukas Schmidt, Research Fellow at the Center for Transnational Commercial Dispute Resolution (TCDR) of the EBS Law School, Wiesbaden, Germany
With International Insolvency Law Part II having been published, Bob Wessels’ 10 volume series ‘Insolventierecht’ (Insolvency Law) is now completed in its 4th edition. The publication comprehensively deals with the European Insolvency Regulation Recast as entered into force on 26 June 2017, while International Insolvency Law: Part I Global Perspectives on Cross-Border Insolvency Law, already published at the end of 2015, covers the core concepts of Cross-Border Insolvency Law, other regional frameworks than the EIR and relevant instruments of soft law. Read more
Deference to Foreign Sovereign Submissions
As previously reported here, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision in 2016 reversing a $147.8 million price-fixing judgment against two Chinese manufacturers of Vitamin C. The plaintiffs alleged that the Chinese manufacturers engaged in price fixing and supply manipulation in violation of U.S. antitrust laws. In its first ever appearance as an amicus before a U.S. court, the Chinese government filed a formal statement asserting that Chinese law required the Chinese manufacturers to set prices and reduce the quantities of Vitamin C sold abroad. Relying on this statement, the Second Circuit held that because the Chinese manufacturers could not comply with both Chinese law and the U.S. antitrust laws, principles of international comity compelled dismissal of the case.
This case raises a host of interesting questions. First, did the Second Circuit reach the right result? Second, is this a comity case or a foreign sovereign compulsion case? Third, what level of deference is due to a foreign sovereign that appears in private litigation to explain their country’s laws? Fourth, should U.S. judges defer to such an explanation?
In June 2017, the United States Supreme Court called for the views of the United States. This past Tuesday, the Solicitor General (SG) filed this brief in response to the Court’s order.
In this submission, the SG explains that the Court should grant review of the Second Circuit’s decision in order to review the court of appeals’ holding that the Chinese government’s submission conclusively established the content of Chinese law. According to the SG, “a foreign government’s characterization of its own law is entitled to substantial weight, but it is not conclusive.” The SG argues that the case warrants the Court’s review because “[t]he degree of deference that a court owes to a foreign government’s characterization of its own law is an important and recurring question, and foreign sovereigns considering making their views known to federal courts should understand the standards that will be applied to their submissions.”
Should the Court grant review, the question of what standard should be applied to foreign sovereign submissions will be key. This is a question I have explored here.
It will be interesting to see whether the Court accepts the SG’s request to review the Second Circuit’s decision.
Jurisdiction, Conflict of Laws and Data Protection in Cyberspace
Report on the Conference held in Luxembourg on 12 October 2017, by Martina Mantovani, Research Fellow MPI Luxembourg
On 12 October 2017, the Brussels Privacy Hub (BPH) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Department of European and Comparative Procedural Law of the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg held a joint conference entitled “Jurisdiction, Conflicts of Law and Data Protection in Cyberspace”. The conference, which was attended by nearly 100 people, included presentations by academics from around the world, as well as from Advocate General Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The entire conference was filmed and is available for viewing on the YouTube Channel of the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg (first and second parts) Read more
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Lecture on Private International Law and Voices of Children, organized in cooperation with ConflictofLaws.net
Online event
When making decisions, adults should think about how their decisions will affect children. Recent years have witnessed, in private international law cases and legislation, the protection of children is increasingly mingled with gender, indigenous issues, refugees, violence, war, surrogacy technology, etc. This is evidenced by the US Supreme Court 2022 judgment Golan v. Saada, the Australian case Secretary, Department of Communities & Justice v Bamfield, the 2023 German Constitutional Court decision, the Chinese Civil Code, the Australia Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Amendment (Family Violence) Regulations 2022, and developments at the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH Children Conventions) and the United Nations (Convention on the Rights of the Child and its additional Protocols).
On this International Children’s Day, let us join this CAPLUS webinar in cooperation with conflictoflaws.net and American Society of International Law Private International Law Interest Group to hear voices of children in private international law.
Speakers
- Ms. Anna Mary Coburn
After 22-years of public service as a U.S. Department of State Attorney-Advisor for Children’s Issues as well as a USAID Regional Legal Advisor/Senior Advisor for Children/Youth in Conflict, Anna has transitioned to practicing international family law with a focus on child rights cases and issues.
- Mr. Philippe Lortie
Philippe is co-head of the International Family and Child Protection Law Division at the Hague Conference on Private International Law Permanent Bureau and has more than 30 years’ experience in the field of child protection.
- Dr. Miranda Kaye
Dr Miranda Kaye is an academic at the Faculty of Law in the University of Technology Sydney in Australia and a member of Hague Mothers, a project aiming to end the injustices created by the Hague Child Abduction Convention. She also has experience in the public service (Law Commission of England and Wales) and as a practicing solicitor (family law in the UK).
- Professor Lukas Rademacher
Lukas is a Professor of Private Law, Private International Law, and Comparative Law in Kiel, Germany. He studied law at the Universities of Düsseldorf and Oxford, and received his PhD at the University of Münster. He wrote his postdoctoral thesis at the University of Cologne.
- Ms. Haitao Ye
Haitao is a lawyer at the Shanghai Office of the Beijing Dacheng Law LLP specializing in marriage and family dispute resolution, family wealth inheritance and management. She is a former experienced judge in civil and commercial trials at the Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court in China.
Moderators/commentators
• Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang (Associate Professor at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney)
Thursday 1 June, 6-7.30pm AEST
(4-5.30am Washington D.C./9-10:30am London/10-11.30am the Hague/4-5.30pm Beijing)
Free admissions can be registered here.
This event is proudly co-presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney, conflictoflaws.net and the American Society of International Law Private International Law Interest Group.
Pax Moot Court Competition Peter Nygh round: the results
The Peter Nygh Round (2023) of the Pax Moot court was held in Antwerp from 3 to 5 May – the preliminary days at the University of Antwerp and the semi-finals and finals at the Antwerp court.
This year saw the highest number of registered teams yet for the PAX Competition (37 teams). 28 teams made it to the oral rounds. 48 judges, lawyers and academics invited took up the role as judge in the competition.
The winner of the oral rounds was the University of Ljubljana, with the University of Vienna as runner-up. The teams of the University of Maastricht and Singapore Management University made it up to the semi-finals.
The University of Vienna won the prize for the best written memorials, with the University of Ghent in second place and the University of Sofia third.
Best pleader was Matej Iglicar (University of Ljubljana), followed by Maximilian Murtinger and in third place Gustav Kirchauer (both of the University of Vienna).
The European Commission co-funds the competition.
Next year’s Pax Moot court competition will take place from 24 to 26 April in Ljubljana.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) – International Aspects: Event on 17 May
On May 17th, 2023, the Department of Law of the University of Urbino (Italy), will host an event titled “The Digital Services Act (DSA): International Aspects – Aspects Internationaux” co-organized with the Centre de recherche de droit international privé et du commerce international de l’Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas and the University of Malaga.
The DSA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), submitted along with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), has been approved on October 19th, 2022, and shall apply from February 17th, 2024. It will amend the Directive 2000/31/EC (Directive on Electronic Commerce) and introduce a wide-ranging set of new obligations on digital platforms regarding illegal content, transparent advertising and disinformation.
Confirmed speakers include Marie-Elodie ANCEL (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, CRDI), Maria Isabel TORRES CAZORLA (University of Malaga), Basile DARMOIS (Université de Brest), Federico FERRI (Université de Bologne); Valère NDIOR (Université de Brest, IUF), Edoardo Alberto ROSSI (University of Urbino), Massimo RUBECHI (University of Urbino).
The main topics that will be discussed include the European legal framework within the DSA has been adopted, the conflict of laws methods, online content moderation, the cooperation between relevant national and European authorities and the available remedies in case of violation of the rights of users.
The event can be followed both face-to-face and remotely, on the Zoom platform.
See here for information about the program and how to register