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Legislative direction for recognition of foreign judgments in Sri Lanka: A new sign-post in the private international law landscape
This post was written by Rose Wijeyesekera, Professor of Private and Comparative Law, Chair / Department of Private and Comparative Law – Faculty of Law, University of Colombo
Introduction
Sri Lanka (formerly known as ‘Ceylon’) is an island in the Indian Ocean, and is home to a total population of 21,763,170, consisting of Sinhalese 74.9%, Tamils 15.4%, Muslims 9.3%, and 0.5% consisting of others such as Veddhas, Burghers, and gypsies.The legal system of this island nation is a unique blend of native laws and the laws that were placed by the colonial powers from 1505 to 1947, when the country gained independence. Since then, Sri Lanka has been a democratic republic and a Unitary State governed by a constitution. The Sri Lankan legal system is primarily based on Roman-Dutch law, inherited from its colonial past under the Dutch, and English common law introduced by the British colonial rulers. Apart from these two, the legal system incorporates elements of Kandyan law (representing indigenous customs of the Sinhalese), Tesawalamai(customary laws of the Tamils of the Northern province of the country) and Muslim law. These personal laws apply in matters of personal law, such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, depending on the community to which an individual belongs. All Muslims including the sub-categories such as Moors and Malays, are governed by Muslim Law in their personal matters, while Kandyan Sinhalese (a minority of the Sinhalese who hail from “Kandyan Provinces” / the hill country, are governed by Kandyan Law. These customary laws bear a territorial and/or a religious nature. Most of these laws are enacted, but some remain open leaving room for judicial interpretation. The court system in Sri Lanka is structured hierarchically and is designed to ensure justice through a combination of traditional and modern legal principles. The system comprises the Supreme Court at the apex, the Court of Appeal, Provincial High Courts, District Courts, Magistrate Courts, and tribunals such as Labour Tribunals, Quazi Courts, and Mediation Boards. Read more
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
News
Call for papers: Bridging Jurisdictions: Rethinking Commercial Conflicts of Laws 10 Years After Brexit
by Dr Georgia Antonopoulou (University of Birmingham) and Dr Ekaterina Pannebakker (Leiden University)
On 14 May 2026, the roundtable Bridging Jurisdictions: Rethinking Commercial Conflicts of Laws 10 Years After Brexit will take place at the University of Birmingham, in the UK. This roundtable will focus on highlighting cooperation opportunities in commercial conflicts of laws between the United Kingdom and the EU in light of current developments including jurisdictional competition, digitisation, sustainability, and international sanctions. The roundtable will feature policymakers and internationally renowned scholars.
We invite submissions of draft articles from researchers and academics, especially at their early stages of their careers, on private international law in the aftermath of the Brexit. The applications should be in English. Kindly email your application to Dr E. Pannebakker (e.s.pannebakker@law.leidenuniv.nl) and Dr G. Antonopoulou (g.antonopoulou@bham.ac.uk). The submissions should include:
- an abstract (max. 200 words);
- a draft or a detailed outline of the contribution (max. 5,000 words);
- a bio/curriculum vitae of the author (max. 2 pages long).
The deadline for submission is 1 February 2026. The selected participants will be notified by the end of February 2026.
During the roundtable, the selected participants will give a presentation of their articles and then receive feedback. Accepted papers will be considered for publication in an edited special journal issue in an international review. The roundtable will cover reasonable costs of travel, accommodation, and meals for the selected participants.
Possible topics include:
- Jurisdictional competition including arbitration and international commercial courts;
- PIL in the United Kingdom post-Brexit;
- The impact of digitisation on private international law (applicable law and/or jurisdiction);
- Sustainability and private international law;
- The impact of trade sanctions on private international law.
We particularly welcome applications from underrepresented groups. Special consideration will be given to female participants vested with childcare and/or other domestic responsibilities.
This project has received funding from the Birmingham – Leiden universities Strategic Collaboration Fund.
We are looking forward to receiving your application!
Upcoming European Dialogue on Civil Procedural Law “Recent Developments on Brussels Ibis” Thursday, 4 December 2025 1 pm CET
The next session of the conference series European Dialogue on Civil Procedural Law will take place (online) on Thursday, 4 December 2025, from 13:00 to 17:00 (CET), under the theme “Recent Developments on Brussels Ibis”.
The event is organised by Dr. habil. Balázs Arató, PhD, Prof. Dr. Thomas Garber, Prof. Dr. Katharina Lugani and Prof. Dr. Matthias Neumayr.
The Brussels I bis Regulation, together with its parallel instrument, the Lugano Convention, forms the core of European civil procedure law. Events in this series serve to promote dialogue among Member States and with third countries, thereby strengthening and improving the integration and efficiency of European legal instruments. The interim online conference on 4 December 2025 will feature country reports from four legal systems and two presentations on current topics relating to the Brussels Ia Regulation. The event is aimed at academics and practitioners alike. We look forward to a lively exchange.
The speakers are :
- Dr. habil. Balázs Arató, PhD, Budapest, Hungary
- Dr. Caterina Benini, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Eva Dobrovolná, Ph.D., LL.M., Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Prof. Dr. Étienne Farnoux, University of Strasbourg, France, seconded to the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Garber, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
- Prof. Dr. Katharina Lugani, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
- Prof. Dr. Robert Magnus, University of Bayreuth, Germany
- Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Martina Melcher, M.Jur, University of Graz, Austria
- Prof. Dr. Matthias Neumayr, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
- Prof. Dr. Anna Nylund, University of Bergen, Norway
The flyer for the event can be found here.
Please register here.
Participation is free of charge.
HCCH Monthly Update: November 2025
HCCH Monthly Update: November 2025
Conventions & Instruments
On 5 November 2025, Algeria deposited its instrument of accession to the 1961 Apostille Convention. With the ratification of Argentina, the Convention now has 58 Contracting Parties. With the accession of Algeria, the 1961 Apostille Convention now has 128 Contracting Parties. It will enter into force for Algeria on 9 July 2026. More information is available here.
On 27 November 2025, Monaco deposited its instrument of accession to the 2005 Choice of Court Convention. With the accession of Monaco, 38 States and the European Union are bound by the 2005 Choice of Court Convention. The Convention will enter into force for Monaco on 1 March 2026. More information is available here.