Views
Major amendment to Chinese Arbitration Act after three decades
This guest post is written by Jie Zheng, Assistant Professor & Research Fellow, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
On 12th September 2025, the 17th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress passed the Amendment to the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter “Chinese Arbitration Act”) to be effective from 1st March 2026[1], which was first adopted in 1994. Since its adoption, China has undergone enormous economic reforms and a more urgent need to align the legislation with international arbitration practices. There were only two minor revisions in 2009 and 2017 to fix technical inconsistencies with other procedural laws. In July 2021, the Ministry of Justice of China released a Draft Revision of the Arbitration Law for public consultation. [2] This was the first comprehensive reform since 1994. The draft was reviewed by the Sanding Committee of the National People’s Congress three times. Read more
Personal Jurisdiction, Consent, and the Law of Agency
I have long argued – in articles, blog posts, and amicus briefs – that it violates due process to invoke a forum selection clause to obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant who was not a party to the agreement in which the clause appears. This position has not yet achieved universal acceptance. The state courts in New York, in particular, have repeatedly held that forum selection clauses can be used to assert personal jurisdiction over non-party defendants who are “closely related” to the parties or the transaction. In this blog post, I use a recent case—Bandari v. QED Connect Inc.—decided by Magistrate Judge Gary Stein (SDNY) to highlight some of the problems with the “closely related” test. Read more
Can a Seat Court Injunct a Foreign Non-Party to an Arbitration? Singapore High Court clarifies in Alphard Maritime v Samson Maritime (2025) SGHC 154
This guest post is posted on behalf of Kamakshi Puri, Senior Associate at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Delhi, India, and dual-qualified lawyer (India and England and Wales).
The Singapore High Court recently clarified the scope of the court’s jurisdiction over foreign non-parties to the arbitration. In an application to set aside two interim injunctions, in Alphard Maritime Ltd. v Samson Maritime Ltd. & Ors. (2025) SGHC 154,[1] the court held that the the seat per se did not confer jurisdiction against non-parties to an arbitration, and that jurisdiction would first have to be established through regular service-out procedures before the seat court could grant an injunction against a non-party.
News
Registration open: Australasian Association of Private International Law Conference, Sydney, 16-17 April 2026
Registrations for the 2026 AAPrIL Conference, to be held on 16 and 17 Apriil 2026, are now open!
VENUE: Ashurst Lawyers
Level 8, 39 Martin Place
Sydney, New South Wales 2000
AUSTRALIA
PANELS AND SESSIONS:
- Jurisdiction
- Private International Law and Digitalisation
- Regional and International Cooperation
- Arbitration
- Applicable Law
Attendance at conference sessions can be used for CPD; you will need to check local requirements.
REGISTRATION FEES:
If you are coming for both days, please select Friday.
Non-member 2 days: $160
Non-member 1 day: $90
AAPrIL member 2 days: $120
AAPrIL member 1 day: $70
Student: Free to attend the conference only
Conference dinner: $110 for dinner and a selection of drinks
REGISTRATION INCLUDES:
Access to all conference sessions
Morning tea and coffee, morning teas and lunches
Access to purchase a conference dinner ticket at an additional cost of $110
ELI-Webinar “Enhancing Child Protection” (Int’l Filiation Law)
As already announced in another post, there will be a Webinar organized by the European Law Institute (ELI) on March 12 to present and discuss the Project Report of the ELI Project “Enhancing Child Protection: Private International Law on Filiation and the European Commission’s Proposal COM/2022/695 final”
Call for Papers: 11th Journal of Private International Law Conference (Zurich, 1–3 April 2027)
The following Call for Papers has been kindly shared with us by Christiane von Bary (University of Zurich):
Following the 20th Anniversary Conference in London (2025), we are pleased to announce that the Journal of Private International Law will be holding its 11th Conference at the University of Zurich from 1 to 3 April 2027.
We are now inviting the submission of paper proposals for the conference. Please submit an abstract if you would like to make a presentation at the conference and you are willing to produce a final paper that you will submit for publication in the Journal. Abstracts should be up to 500 words in length and should clearly state the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s). Participants are also welcome to propose collective panels. If the proposal is for a panel, it should include the names and affiliations of all proposed participants.
Presentations can be on any subject matter that falls within the scope of the Journal and can be offered by people at any stage of their career, including postgraduate students and practitioners. Presentation at the conference will depend on whether your abstract is selected by the Editors of the Journal (Professor Jonathan Harris KC, King’s College, London and Professor Paul Beaumont FRSE, University of Stirling) and the conference organisers (Professors Tanja Domej and Christiane von Bary, University of Zurich). The subsequent article should be submitted to either of the editors of the Journal before the end of 2027. Publication in the Journal will be subject to the usual system of peer review.
The Conference will be held at the University of Zurich. There will be a mixture of plenary and parallel panel sessions. Speakers will not be expected to pay a conference fee but will be expected to pay for their own expenses in relation to their attendance at the conference in Zurich. Non-speakers will be expected to pay a conference fee. A conference dinner will be held on Friday (2 April 2027), at additional cost and with limited places. Details about registration, the conference dinner and options for accommodation will be made available on the conference webpage: https://t.uzh.ch/1WV.
Please send your proposal to the following e-mail address by Tuesday, 30 June 2026:
We look forward to receiving your proposals, and to welcoming you to Zurich in April 2027!