Views
Reciprocity and the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Egypt – A Critical Assessment of a Recent Supreme Court Decision
I. Introduction
Reciprocity is probably one of the most controversial requirements in the field of the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. While its legitimacy appears to be on the wane (see Béligh Elbalti, “Reciprocity and the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments: A Lot of Bark but Not Much Bite,” 13 JPIL 1 (2017) 184), reciprocity can still strike hard – particularly when it is applied loosely and without sufficient consideration.
The case presented here, decided by the Egyptian Supreme Court (Appeal No. 11434 of 21 June 2025), provides a good illustration. Despite the Court’s well-established case law imposing certain restrictions on the use of the reciprocity requirement, this recent judgment shows that, when not applied with the necessary rigor, reciprocity can still produce significant effects that undermine the legitimate expectations of the parties.
The WTO TRIPS Agreement and Conflict-of-Laws Rules in Intellectual Property Cases
By Marketa Trimble, Samuel S. Lionel Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Co-Director of the IP Law Concentration, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
It is neither new nor surprising that international treaties affect the design and application of conflict-of-laws rules; not only international conventions on private international law but also other international treaties shape conflicts rules, with human rights treaties being the primary example. But a recent decision concerning the interpretation of the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS Agreement”) could have profound and arguably unprecedented effects on the conflict rules that are applied in intellectual property (“IP”) cases, such as cross-border cases concerning copyright infringement, trademark ownership, and patent licenses.
Kairos Shipping II LLC (appellant) v Songa Product and Chemical Tankers III AS (respondent), The interpretation of natural language on charter contracts
Written by Nicolás Preus Miranda, student at Universidad Carlos III in Getafe, Spain, specializing in maritime, international law and international commercial arbitration
The decision in Kairos Shipping II LLC v Songa Product and Chemical Tankers III AS [2025] EWCA Civ 1227 represents a pivotal clarification in the interpretation of repossession clauses within standard-form bareboat charterparties, particularly under the BIMCO Barecon 2001 framework. Arising from a dispute over the early termination of a charter for a 49,708 DeadWeight Tonnage (DWT) chemical/oil tanker, the case underscores the English courts’ commitment to contextual and purposive contract interpretation, balancing textual fidelity with commercial practicality. This analysis expands on the case’s significance, the interpretive principles it embodies, and its ultimate resolution, drawing from judicial reasoning and industry commentary.[1] Read more
News
Choice of Law Dataverse Launch — Online Event
The announcement below is kindly provided by Agatha Brandão de Oliveira (University of Lucerne, Switzerland)
After several years of intensive work, the Choice of Law Dataverse (CoLD) is ready to be shared with the wider community. The platform is an open-access resource gathering more than 17,000 data points — including legislation, court decisions, and other materials from 100 jurisdictions around the world. After collecting and processing this information, we have analyzed and systematized these choice-of-law rules into pedagogical country reports, now freely available for research, teaching, and practice. The project was recently awarded the Swiss National ORD Prize 2025.
We would be delighted to share this milestone with colleagues whose work continues to shape the field.
JLMI – Call for papers – Issue no. 1/2027
This Call for Papers of the Journal of Law, Market & Innovation (JLMI) concerns the first issue to be published at the end of March 2027 and is devoted to the Securitisation of Supply Chains: Critical Raw Materials Between Energy Security and the Green Transition. This issue will be edited by the Editors-in-Chief of the JLMI (Lorenza Mola, Cristina Poncibò and Riccardo de Caria), along with Pritam Banerjee and Vishakha Srivastava as guest co-editor. You can find the call with all the details at the following link:
Postdoc Position “Fashion’s PLACE – Private (International) Law and Circular Economy”
The University of Edinburgh is recruiting a postdoctoral research fellow in private international law to work on an exciting new research project funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) entitled “Fashion’s PLACE – Private (International) Law and Circular Economy”. The project explores the private law and private international law components of legal design for a just circular economy transition in global value chains. It takes the fashion industry as a case study, examining the journey of textiles from the places of production, via the marketplaces of consumption, to the places of disposal.