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Torts and Tourists in the Supreme Court of Canada
In Sinclair v Venezia Turismo, 2025 SCC 27 (available here) the Supreme Court of Canada has, by 5-4 decision, held that the Ontario court does not have jurisdiction to hear claims by Ontario residents against three Italian defendants in respect of a tort in Italy. The Sinclair family members were injured in a gondola collision in Venice that they alleged was caused by the Italian defendants. But there were several connections to Ontario. The trip to Italy had been booked by Mr Sinclair using a premium credit card’s concierge and travel agency service [4, 156] and the gondola ride had been arranged through that service [15, 160]. The card was with Amex Canada and one or more contracts connected to the gondola ride had been made in Ontario. The Sinclairs were also suing Amex Canada and the travel service for carelessness in making the arrangements with the Italian defendants, and those defendants attorned in Ontario [167, 172]. A core overall issue, then, was whether the plaintiffs would be able to pursue all of their claims arising from the gondola collision, against various defendants, in one legal proceeding in Ontario.
According to the French Cour de Cassation, the law applicable to the sub-purchaser’s direct action against the original seller depends on who brings the claim!
Written by Héloise Meur, Université Paris 8
In two rulings dated 28 May 2025, the French Cour de cassation (Supreme Court) ruled on the issue of the law applicable to a sub-purchaser’s direct action in a chain of contracts transferring ownership, under European private international law. The issue is sensitive. The contractual classification under French law —an outlier in comparative law— had not been upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine international jurisdiction under the Brussels system (CJEU, 17 June 1992, C-26/91, Jakob Handte). Despite CJEU’s position, the Cour de cassation had consistently refused to adopt a tort-based qualification to determine the applicable law (esp. Civ. 1st, 18 dec. 1990, n° 89-12.177 ; 10 oct. 1995, n° 93-17.359 ; 6 feb. 1996, n° 94-11.143 ; Civ. 3rd, 16 janv. 2019, n° 11-13.509. See also, Civ. 1st, 16 jan. 2019, n° 17-21.477), until these two rulings rendered under the Rome II Regulation.
“Towards an EU Law on International Commercial Arbitration?” A Sorbonne Law School Research Project
Written by Dr. Nima Nasrollahi-Shahri (Sorbonne Law School) and Vincent Bassani-Winckler (PhD Candidate, Sorbonne Law School), both authors participated in the Working Group.
A few days ago, the Sorbonne Law School released the final report of a collective research project chaired by Professors Mathias Audit and Sylvain Bollée, entitled “Towards an EU Law on International Commercial Arbitration?”.
Conducted within the IRJS (Institut de Recherche Juridique de la Sorbonne), and more specifically its research group on private international law, SERPI (Sorbonne – Étude des Relations Privées Internationales), this project sets out to examine whether and how to improve the relationship between commercial arbitration and EU law.
News
TDM Call for Papers: Special Issue on “International Arbitration and the Space Industry”
Transnational Dispute Management (TDM) has kindly shared the following Call for Papers with us.
We are pleased to announce a forthcoming Transnational Dispute Management (TDM, ISSN 1875-4120, www.transnational-dispute-management.com) special issue on “International Arbitration and the Space Industry.”
This Special Issue will be edited by Alexandra van der Meulen, Kate Gough, Joshua Kelly, Annie Pan and Veronika Timofeeva (Freshfields LLP).
14th International Forum on the e-APP: Registration open!
The Permanent Bureau (PB) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for participation in the 14th International Forum on the electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP Forum), which will take place on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 May 2026 in Marrakesh, Morocco. To be held for the first time in Africa, this edition of the e-APP Forum will be organised by the HCCH’s Regional Office for Africa, with the support of the Ministry of Justice of Morocco. The Forum will be conducted in English, French, and Arabic, with simultaneous interpretation provided.
Since its launch in 2006, the e-APP has become an integral part of the operation of the Apostille Convention. The e-APP has two electronic components: an e-Apostille and an e-Register, which, over the past twenty years, have been instrumental in ensuring the practical, effective, and secure operation of the Apostille Convention amid constant technological development.
The e-APP Forum gathers experts and stakeholders from around the world. The Forum will provide a unique international platform for governments, organisations, and the private sector to learn more about the benefits of the e-APP, to promote its effective implementation, and to discuss the latest developments in relation to the e-APP worldwide.
Interested persons should register via this form no later than Friday 1 May 2026, 5.00 p.m. (CEST). Participation in the Forum is free of charge. However, participants are required to make their own travel and hotel arrangements and cover all related costs if participating in person. Please note that in-person seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and will be confirmed via e-mail by the PB.
For more information on the e-APP Forum, please visit the dedicated page on the HCCH website. A draft Agenda is available on the HCCH website and will be updated as panellists are confirmed.
For further information on the Apostille Convention and the e-APP, please visit the Apostille Section of the HCCH website.
Call for papers – fourth edition of their Decolonial Comparative Law Workshop series
This post is posted on behalf of Kwamou FEUKEU Eva, Head of the Africa Centre of Expertise and Coordinator of Decolonial Comparative Law, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
The Africa Centre of Expertise and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law have announced a call for papers for the fourth edition of their Decolonial Comparative Law Workshop series, to be held on 5–6 May 2027 in Douala in collaboration with the Fondation Afric’Avenir. This edition focuses on the theme “Decolonial Comparative Law and the Informal/Formal Economy,” asking scholars to rethink the distinction between formal and informal economies from a decolonial and comparative perspective. The workshop places particular emphasis on recognising the informal economy as a site of legality in its own right, foregrounding legal pluralism and context-specific practices. Contributions are encouraged on a wide range of topics, including microlending, alternative forms of value creation, labour rights in informal work, and indigenous and customary economies. Selected papers will be discussed in an interdisciplinary setting, with engagement from peers, scholars from fields such as anthropology, history, and economics, and practitioners and artists.
The deadline for paper submissions is 1 September 2026. Further details, including the full call for papers (available in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic), can be accessed here: https://www.mpipriv.de/2020710/decola-informal-formal-economy. An online information session for prospective applicants will be held on 18 March 2026 at 10:00 and 16:00 GMT, with registration available here: https://events.mpipriv.de/b?p=decola_and_the_informal_forma_leconomy_information_session. Following the workshop, an “Epupa School” (meaning “rainy season” in the Douala language) will take place from 10 to 12 May 2027 at the Fondation Afric’Avenir, offering scholars, students, and activists an opportunity to further engage with decolonial comparative approaches to the formal and informal economy.