Views
Amendment of Chinese Civil Procedure Law Concerning Foreign Affairs
by Du Tao*/Xie Keshi
On September 1, 2023, the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress deliberated and adopted the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Amending the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, which will come into force on January 1, 2024. This amendment to the Civil Litigation Law implements the Party Central Committee’s decision and deployment on coordinating domestic rule of law and foreign-related rule of law, strengthening foreign-related rule of law construction, and among the 26 amendments involved, the fourth part of the Special Provisions on Foreign-related civil Procedure is exclusive to 19, which is the first substantive amendment to the foreign-related civil procedure since 1991.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: first judgment on international child abduction
Guest post by Janaína Albuquerque, International Lawyer and Mediator
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has just published their first ever judgment on an international child abduction case in Córdoba v. Paraguay, which concerns the illicit removal of a child who was habitually resident in Argentina. The applicant and left-behind parent, Mr. Arnaldo Javier Córdoba, claimed that Paraguay violated his human rights by failing to enforce the return order and ensuring the maintenance of contact with his son. At the time of the abduction, the child was about to reach 2 years of age and the taking parent relocated, without the father’s consent, to Paraguay.
Moroccan Supreme Court on the HCCH 1996 Child Protection Convention
Among all Arab and Muslim-majority countries, Morocco stands out as the only State to have ratified seven (7) HCCH Conventions. This number of ratifications, comparable to that of other prominent countries such as United States or Japan, speaks volumes about Morocco’s commitment to being an integral part of the global network of jurisdictions benefiting from the work of the HCCH on the harmonisation of private international and fostering mutual legal cooperation. The decisions of the Moroccan Supreme Court also reflect these efforts as the Court has shown its willingness to oversight the proper application of the HCCH Conventions (on the application of the 1980 HCCH Convention, see here). The Supreme Court Ruling No. 71 of 7 February 2023 briefly commented on here is another notable example related to the application of the 1996 HCCH Child Protection Convention. The case is also particularly interesting because it concerns the establishment of a kafala under Moroccan law for the purpose of relocating the child in another Contracting State (France in casu).
News
HCCH Monthly Update: September 2024
Conventions & Instruments
On 1 November 2024, the 2007 Child Support Convention entered into force for Kyrgyzstan. At present, 52 States and the European Union are bound by the 2007 Child Support Convention. More information is available here.
On 21 November 2024, North Macedonia deposited its instrument of ratification of the 2005 Choice of Court Convention. With the ratification of North Macedonia, 36 States and the European Union are bound by the 2005 Choice of Court Convention. It will enter into force for North Macedonia on 1 March 2025. More information is available here.
Book on PIL on rights in rem in the EU
The book titled Private International Law on Rights in rem in the European Union. Derecho internacional privado sobre derechos reales en la Unión Europea and edited by Maria Font-Mas of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain, has just been released with Marcial Pons.
The book is the result of the several years of collaborative work (referred to here and here) of the researchers from different countries convened by Maria Font Mas under the project PID2020-112609GB-I0 “Property Rights System over Tangible Goods in the Field of European Private International Law: Aspects of International Jurisdiction and Applicable Law”, funded by the Spanish Government.
The great achievement of the editor is in her ability not only to gather and coordinate many authors of various provenance around under-researched topic of rights in rem in PIL but also to have this book published in open access so that it is available to all under no limitations except to have the internet access. The book may be viewed and downloaded at https://marcialpons-openaccess.es/index.php/juridicas/catalog/book/5 as a single volume or chapter-by-chapter. In case you prefer the paper version, it is available for purchase here.
The contributors (in the order of appearance) are: Maria Font-Mas, Georgina Garriga Suau, Josep M. Fontanellas Morell, Héctor Simón Moreno, Christopher A. Whytock, Rocío Caro Gándara, Josep M. Fontanellas Morell, Iván Heredia Cervantes, Nerea Magallón Elósegui, Ángel Serrano de Nicolás, Albert Font i Segura, Pau Oriol Cosialls Perpinyà, Ilaria Pretelli, Carmen Parra Rodríguez, Cristina González Beilfuss, Diana Marín Consarnau, Eva-Maria Kieninger, Francisco J. Garcimartín Alférez, Afonso Patrão, Pietro Franzina, Gilles Cuniberti, Jonathan Schenk, Birgit van Houtert, Alfonso Ortega Giménez, Ivana Kunda, Janeen M. Carruthers, Sabrina Ferrazzi, Guillermo Palao Moreno, Rosa Miquel Sala, Silvana Canales Gutiérrez and Vésela Andreeva Andreeva.
Webinar on Multistate Torts Ahead of the EAPIL Winter School, 2 December 2024
On 2 December 2024, at 6 pm CET, a free webinar will take place in preparation of the 2025 edition of the EAPIL Winter School on Multistate Torts, which will be held on-site in Como between 10 and 15 February 2025 (see here for the full program and further details).
The webinar will give a glimpse of what the Winter School will be about and will briefly present some of its hot topics, such as online defamation, climate change litigation, artificial intelligence and crypto values.
The speakers are some of those who will be lecturing at the Winter School, namely Javier Carrascosa González (University of Murcia), Anatol Dutta (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Thomas Kadner Graziano (University of Geneva), Tobias Lutzi (University of Augsburg), Satu Heikkilä (Administrative Law Judge), Silvia Marino (University of Insubria), Nadia Rusinova (The Hague University, attorney at law), Geert van Calster (KU Leuven) and Anna Wysocka-Bar (Jagiellonian University).
The webinar will also offer an opportunity to provide information about the EAPIL Winter School.
Join the free seminar to discover what awaits you during the Winter School week, and…if you want to know more, enrol and come to Como in February!
Those interested in attending the webinar shall write at eapilws@gmail.com in order to receive the Teams link.