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South Africa Grapples with the Act of State Doctrine and Choice of Law in Delict
By Jason Mitchell, barrister at Maitland Chambers in London and at Group 621 in Johannesburg.
The Supreme Court of Appeal delivered judgment today in East Asian Consortium v MTN Group. The judgment is available here.
East Asian Consortium, a Dutch company, was part of the Turkcell consortium. The consortium bid on an Iranian telecommunications licence. The consortium won the bid. East Asian Consortium alleged that it was later ousted as a shareholder of the ultimate license holder, the Irancell Telecommunications Services Company. East Asian Consortium sued, amongst others, several subsidiaries of the MTN Group, a South African telecommunications company, in South Africa. East Asian Consortium alleged that the defendants unlawfully induced the Iranian government to replace East Asian Consortium with one of the MTN subsidiaries. Read more
U.S. Court Issues Worldwide Anti-Enforcement Injunction
This post was written by Hannah Buxbaum, the John E. Schiller Chair in Legal Ethics and Professor of Law at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in the United States.
Last month, Judge Edward Davila, a federal judge sitting in the Northern District of California in the United States, granted a motion by Google for a rare type of equitable relief: a worldwide anti-enforcement injunction. In Google v. Nao Tsargrad Media, a Russian media company obtained a judgment against Google in Russia and then began proceedings to enforce it in nine different countries. Arguing that the judgment was obtained in violation of an exclusive forum selection clause, Google petitioned the court in California for an order to block Tsargrad from enforcing it.
As Ralf Michaels and I found in a recent analysis, the anti-enforcement injunction is an unusual but important device in transnational litigation. There aren’t many U.S. cases involving these orders, and one of the leading decisions arose in the context of the wildly complicated and somewhat anomalous Chevron Ecuador litigation. As a result, there is little U.S. authority on a number of important questions, including the legal standard that applies to this form of relief and the mix of factors that courts should assess in considering its availability. Judge Davila’s decision in the Google case addresses some of these questions.
Read more
Tatlici v. Tatlici: Malta Rejects $740 Million U.S. Defamation Judgment as Turkish Case Looms
Written by Fikri Soral, Independant Lawyer, Turkey; and LL.M. student, Galatasaray University, Turkey
A Maltese court has refused to enforce a $740 million default judgment issued by the 15th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Palm Beach County) in a defamation suit brought by Applicant Mehmet Tatlici against his half-brother, Defendant Ugur Tatlici. [1] The Florida court’s award—issued on 8 January 2020 in a defamation suit filed by Mehmet Tatlici against his half-brother—was deemed procedurally deficient and substantively incompatible with Malta’s public policy, particularly due to its lack of reasoning and its chilling effect on free expression.[2] Read more
News
[Out Now!] Sooksripaisarnkit and Garimella on Legal Challenges of China’s One Belt One Road Initative: Private International Law Considerations
This note was kindly prepared by Dr. Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit.
A new book Legal Challenges of China’s One Belt One Road Initative: Private International Law Considerations edited by Dr Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Dr Sai Ramani Garimella has now been released by Routledge.
This book is a sequel to the book China’s One Belt One Road Initiative and Private International Law which was published by Routledge in 2018.
Here is the publisher’s blurb:
“This book covers new legal developments of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project and assesses how litigation may be organised to enforce and compensate for defaults for its related initiatives.
This book is structured into five themes, consisting of essays which assess the decade of BRI’s existence in the context of international economic engagement and the rule of law, private international law, dispute resolution mechanisms – including mediation and judgment mobility. The chapters in the book strike new ground and cover recent developments such as the establishment of China’s International Commercial Court, engagements in multiple Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) construction and investment projects.
The book will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers and students interested in private international law issues pertaining to the OBOR routes as well as private international law in general, Asian studies and the politics of international trade”.
The table of contents and contributors include:
Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Sai Ramani Garimella: Current Developments of the One Belt One Road Project and the Emerging Private International Law Issues
Dilini Pathirana: Sri Lanka’s Loan Agreements with China under the BRI: A Reflection of Selected Infrastructure Project-Related Loans
Atul Alexander: China and Foreign State Immunity Law: Legal Implications on State-Owned Entities
Mark McLaughlin: Global Standards, Local Realities: An Analysis of Singapore Convention on Mediation in the Context of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises
Zhengxin Huo: China’s International Commercial Court and Their Operation
Beligh Elbalti: Choice of Law in Contracts and Foreign Law before MENA Arab Courts from the Perspective of Belt and Road Initiative
Anna Wysocka-Bar: Circulation of Judgments Between EU Member States and China: A Path Through Complicated Framework Examined on the Example of Poland
Nobumichi Teramura: Recognition and Enforcement of Chinese judgments in Cambodia: Uncertain Foundations of the Rigid Reciprocity Standard in Cambodian Law
Jie (Jeanne) Huang: Recognition and Enforcement of Chinese Judicially Confirmed Mediation Decisions Abroad: The Challenges of Finality
Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit: Private International Law Dimensions of Blockchain-Based Bills of Lading
Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Sai Ramani Garimella: Conclusion and Reflection
The book can be ordered directly from Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Legal-Challenges-of-Chinas-One-Belt-One-Road-Initiative-Private-International-Law-Considerations/Sooksripaisarnkit-Garimella/p/book/9781032805733
Anyone can use the below discount code to obtain 20% discount (available until 31st March 2026:
The editors are in the process of planning a book launch event (online). Currently, it is scheduled on 26th January 2026 between 8:00 -9:00 p.m (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). Further details will be announced once the full programme of event is available.
Crossroads in Private International Law Webinar with on ‘the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive’ at the University of Aberdeen
The Centre for Private International Law & Transnational Governance of the University of Aberdeen is continuing its Crossroads in Private International Law webinar series with a talk by Birgit van Houtert (Maastricht University) and Francesca Farrington (University of Liverpool) titled ‘The EU Anti-SLAPP Directive – Comparative Perspectives on Implementation’:
The Centre for Private International Law & Transnational Governance invites you to our next Crossroads in PIL webinar. This session brings together experts on Anti-SLAPP legislation from the UK and the Netherlands to discuss the Anti-SLAPP Directive. With 6 months to go before the Directive’s implementation deadline, this webinar will take stock of emerging best practices and challenges in implementing the directive and flesh out some unresolved questions.
Dr Francesca Farrington (University of Liverpool) will introduce the challenges posed by cross-border SLAPPs, before discussing how the Directive’s provisions on jurisdiction and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments respond to these challenges. While these provisions represent a positive development, they also leave a number of issues unresolved and raise concerns about the fragmentation of European private international law.
Dr Birgit van Houtert (Maastricht University) will address the Dutch draft act regarding the transposition of the Anti SLAPP Directive. She will focus in particular on the challenges concerning the implementation of Articles 16 and 17 of the Directive. These core private international law provisions aim to provide protection for SLAPP targets against third country proceedings and judgments.
The webinar will be chaired by Prof Justin Borg-Barthet (University of Aberdeen).
Additional information and the link to register can be found here.
Launch of public consultation on a possible new HCCH convention
The Permanent Bureau of the HCCH is pleased to announce the launch of a public consultation on the Draft Text of a possible new convention on parallel proceedings and related actions, to be held from 18 November 2025 to 26 January 2026.
Experts, practitioners and judges from diverse legal traditions with experience in cross-border litigation and private international law more broadly are encouraged to participate in the consultation.
In 2021, the HCCH established a Working Group on matters related to jurisdiction in transnational civil or commercial litigation (WG), comprised of over 60 subject-matter experts from across the globe. The WG, after nine meetings, has developed a Draft Text containing provisions aimed at addressing parallel proceedings and related actions taking place in multiple States, acknowledging the primary roles of both jurisdictional rules and the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The objective of this future instrument would be to enhance legal certainty, predictability, and access to justice by reducing litigation costs and mitigating inconsistent judgments in transnational litigation in civil or commercial matters.
The public consultation seeks feedback on whether the Draft Text would, in practice, assist in addressing such matters and how the provisions in the Draft Text could be improved. The consultation is supported by a Consultation Paper comprising an Executive Summary, a detailed explanation of the key provisions and the operation of the Draft Text, and specific questions. Responses received from this consultation will be submitted to all HCCH Members for consideration in advance of the next meeting of the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP), the governing body of the HCCH, in March 2026, at which the Members of the HCCH will decide on the next steps for the project.
For more information on the public consultation, please visit: https://www.hcch.net/en/projects/legislative-projects/jurisdiction/public-consultation
This post is published by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference of Private International Law (HCCH).
