Views
Private International Law and European Society
from Marlene Tiede, a Research Fellow and PhD Candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.
Can one speak of a European society without speaking about private relations? Recent scholarship on European society has largely approached the concept through the lens of public law. Yet societies are constituted at least as much by the horizontal relations between individuals and groups as by public institutions. In the absence of a comprehensive European private law, this blogpost turns to EU private international law (PIL), the principal framework for coordinating interactions between the diverse private laws of the Member States and structuring cross-border private life within the Union. I will argue that EU PIL brings into view the importance of coordination frameworks for organising a mode of integration based not on unification, but on interdependence.
The New Zealand Supreme Court’s judgment in Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley on anti-enforcement relief
In Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley [2026] NZSC 97, the New Zealand Supreme Court recently delivered its reasons for reinstating world-wide anti-enforcement orders in relation to a fraudulently obtained default judgment from Kentucky. The judgment, given by Kós J, contains a useful analysis of the principles on anti-suit and anti-enforcement injunctions and offers guidance on the interrelationship between fraud and comity.
The background to the case is set out in previous posts (here, here and here). In summary, Kea Investments Ltd (Kea), a British Virgin Islands company, alleged that the default judgment obtained by Wikeley Family Trustee Ltd (WFTL), a New Zealand company, was based on fabricated claims intended to defraud Kea. The New Zealand High Court found that the defendants had perpetrated a tortious conspiracy. The Court of Appeal upheld the findings of fraud but allowed an appeal against the grant of the injunction, concluding that an injunction could only be granted as a step of last resort, which required Kea to pursue its right of appeal against the Kentucky judgment.
It was not in issue before the Supreme Court that the claim in the Kentucky court formed part of a conspiracy to defraud Kea (at [102]). It was also not in issue that New Zealand was the proper jurisdiction to deal with the claim of fraud (at [102]). In these circumstances, the Court found that comity did not stand in the way of anti-enforcement relief.
Beyond Domicile: The BHP Litigation and the Functional Interconnection of Public and Private International Law
from Marcel Vitor de Magalhães e Guerra
On 14 November 2025, the English High Court handed down its Stage 1 judgment in Município de Mariana and others v. BHP Group Plc and BHP Group Limited [2025] EWHC 3001 (TCC), finding the defendants liable — under Brazilian law — for the 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam: over 600,000 claimants, an estimated £36 billion, the largest group litigation in English legal history. This post argues that Mariana exposes a functional interconnection between public and private international law at the stage of determining jurisdiction itself: although doctrinally distinct, the court’s application of a private international law rule required engaging questions of corporate organisation, adjudicatory legitimacy, and transnational responsibility that traditionally belong to public international law. Read more
News
Virtual Workshop (in English) on September 8, 2026: Xandra Kramer on “Cross-Border Collective Litigation in Tech Cases: Is the European Framework up to the Challenge?”
On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (CEST).
Xandra Kramer (Erasmus University Rotterdam & Utrecht University) will speak, in English, about the topic
“Cross-Border Collective Litigation in Tech Cases: Is the European Framework up to the Challenge?”
Collective actions have gained traction in Europe, boosted by the Representative Actions Directive and enabled by third-party litigation funding in several jurisdictions. These increasingly involve cases against multinational big tech companies operating in Europe. The current private international law framework, however, is not designed to address the challenges of these complex cases. The presentation will discuss how the European Court of Justice and Dutch courts have primarily handled questions of international jurisdiction and to what extent the existing legislative framework needs amendment.
The presentation will be followed by open discussion. All are welcome. More information and sign-up here.
If you want to be invited to these events in the future, please write to veranstaltungen@mpipriv.de.
XIX ASADIP Conference – El Salvador, 20-23 October 2026
The Annual Conference of the American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP) will take place from 20 to 23 October 2026 in San Salvador (El Salvador). It is entitled the transformative spirit of Private International Law (“La vocación transformadora del Derecho Internacional Privado”).
The deadline to submit posters has been extended to 13 September 2026. Read more
Public consultation on jurisdiction rules and recognition and enforcement of judgments – Brussels Ia Regulation (review) is open
The European Commission has just opened a public consultation on the Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast). A call for evidence is available here (which includes the three policy options being considered). Read more