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
3 new books on Portuguese (and European) PIL
For those able to read Portuguese, 3 new books of great interest have been published in the last months.
In January 2025, Professor Luís de Lima Pinheiro published a new, 4th edition of Volume I of the treatise on Private International Law. In more than 600 pages, the book gives an introduction to Conflict of Laws and deals with the General Part of this field. Along with the in-depth analysis of all those subjects, a comprehensive list of legal literature can be found at the beginning of each Chapter.
In November 2024, Professor Dário Moura Vicente published the 5th volume of his PIL “Essays” collection. It gathers 22 scholarly contributions of the author divided into five categories, namely general issues of Private International Law, jurisdiction and recognition of foreign judgments in the EU, international unification of Private Law, the information society and its international regulation, and international arbitration.
And in October 2024, Professor Elsa Dias Oliveira published a book on Conflict of Laws in the EU. It deals with the «general part» issues that for decades have been puzzling many European private international lawyers, due to the fact that for some of them, such as renvoi or ordre public, we may find explicit rules in many PIL regulations, while for others, such as characterization or the application of foreign law, that is not the case.
Seminar: Gender-based violence across borders: challenges and opportunities to establishing routes to safety in a migratory world
Lauren Clayton-Helm and Ana Speed (both Northumbria University) are hosting a Modern Law Review funded conference at Northumbria University Law school on the 24th April entitled ‘Gender-based violence across borders: challenges and opportunities to establishing routes to safety in a migratory world’.
Further information can be found on the poster.
There will be space for up to 40 attendees.
Registration is mandatory under this link.
Vacancy at the University of Bremen: Paid PhD-Researcher Position in Civil Law, Private International Law and Legal Theory
The Faculty of Law of the University of Bremen is recruiting a doctoral researcher in Private International Law, Civil Law and Legal Theory (‘wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter’ m/w/d; salary group 13 TV-L), part time 50 per cent, starting in 2025, for a duration of 36 months.
The researcher will provide scientific services in teaching to the extent of 2 SWS, and will be expected to work towards a PhD-thesis (doctor iuris) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gralf-Peter Calliess, in the research focus of the professorship, namely, private international law, civil procedure, arbitration, antitrust law and legal theory.
Candidates shall hold a first state examination in law (Staatsprüfung) or comparable academic university degree (graduation among the top 20 per cent of the year). A very good command of the German language is required, while a good command of English and/or other foreign language skills is an additional asset.
Deadline for applications with a letter of motivation, CV and certificates: 25th of March of 2025. For further information, please the legally binding call for applications (in German) to be found here or contact Margrit Knipper: knipper@uni-bremen.de.