Views
Cassirer on Remand: Considering the Laws of Other Interested States
This post is by Carlos Manuel Vázquez, a professor of law at Georgetown Law School. It is cross-posted at Transnational Litigation Blog.
Claude Cassirer brought suit in federal court in California eighteen years ago against the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum of Madrid, Spain, to recover a painting by Camille Pissarro that was stolen from his grandmother by the Nazis during World War II. After a reversal and remand from the U.S. Supreme Court last summer, the case is now before the Ninth Circuit for decision of the legal question that is likely to be decisive: which law governs?
The district court and the court of appeals have so far framed the issue as a binary choice: the governing law on the merits is either that of Spain or that of California. I suggest here that the issue is better framed as a choice between the law of Spain, on the one hand, and the laws of all the other states or countries with connections to the dispute, on the other. (Disclosure: I submitted expert declarations in support of the plaintiffs on issues of public international law during earlier phases of this case.)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the district court’s holding that, under the law of Spain, the plaintiff loses because the museum acquired title to the painting through adverse possession (otherwise known as acquisitive prescription). It is equally clear that, under the law of California, the plaintiff would prevail because California does not recognize the acquisition of title to moveable property through adverse possession. What has so far not featured prominently in the courts’ analyses of the choice-of-law issue is that the plaintiff would also prevail under the laws of all the other jurisdictions that have relevant connections to the dispute. Under governmental interest analysis, this should be central to the analysis. Read more
Review of: PP Penasthika, Unravelling Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts: Indonesia as an Illustrative Case Study (The Hague: Eleven Publishers 2022)
Very recently, Indonesian private international law has attracted significant scholarship in the English language.[1] Dr Penasthika’s monograph (‘the monograph’)[2] is one such work that deserves attention for its compelling and comprehensive account of choice of law in international commercial contracts in Indonesia. My review attempts to capture the methodology, summarise the contents, and give a verdict on the quality of this monograph.
Mbatha v. Cutting: Implications for Litigants of Indian Origin
Guest Post by Chytanya S. Agarwal*
I. Introduction
Rising cross-border migration of people and concomitant increase in lawsuits relating to matrimonial disputes between couples brings to the forefront the issue of conflict of jurisdictional laws (219th Law Commission Report, ¶1.1-¶1.2). Mbatha v. Cutting is one such recent case that grapples with conflict of laws pertaining to divorce and division of matrimonial property when the spouses are domiciled in separate jurisdictions. In this case, the Georgian Court of Appeal dealt with competing claims from a couple who married in New York and had their matrimonial domicile in South Africa. The wife, domiciled in Georgia, USA, argued for the application of the matrimonial property regime of South Africa – their only (though temporary) common matrimonial domicile. In determining the applicable law, the Court upheld the traditional approach, which favours lex situs for real property and lex domicilii for personal property.
News
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.
SICL: Workshop on Providing Information on Foreign Law to Courts on 26 November
As foreign law assumes an increasingly significant role in judicial practice, the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law is pleased to announce a Workshop on Providing Information on Foreign Law to Courts, which will take place in Lausanne on November 26.
Renowned experts, both individuals and institutions, will delve into practical challenges and share insights, comparing practices from various countries, including England, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and USA.
Presentations will be conducted in English, in German or in French.
For further information, please contact: marie-laure.lauria@isdc-dfjp.unil.ch
The program for the workshop is available below or can be accessed here.
INDIVIDUAL EXPERTS
9.30-11.00
Chair: Dr. Lukas Heckendorn, Deputy Director, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
- Experiences in Poland and Germany compared
Prof. Arkadiusz Wudarski, European University Viadrina Frankfurt
- A Common Law Experience
Prof. Franz Werro, University of Fribourg and Georgetown University
- French Experiences
Prof. Gustavo Cerqueira, Université Côte d’Azur
Discussion
11.00-11.30: Coffee break
INSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS
11.30-12.30
Chair: Dr. Ilaria Pretelli, Legal Adviser, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
- The German Approach: The Max Planck Guidelines
Jan Peter Schmidt, Priv.-Doz., Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg
- The Swiss Approach: experience of SICL
Lukas Heckendorn Urscheler, Deputy Director, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
Discussion
12.30-13-30 : Lunch
BARCAMP
13.30-16.00
Moderator: Prof. Nadjma Yassari, Director, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
A Barcamp session is an open and interactive format that encourages collaboration and idea-sharing. Since all participants join every session, the process is highly collaborative, ensuring focused, inclusive, and enriching discussions for everyone involved.
- Proposing Topics: Any participant can suggest a topic, which will be guided by a moderator.
- Moderated Discussions: A designated moderator ensures the session stays focused and that everyone has the chance to contribute.
- Flexible Structure: Sessions can take the form of a short presentation, group discussion, or collaborative brainstorming.
- Open Exchange: Everyone is encouraged to actively contribute their ideas, perspectives, and questions.
- Shared Learning: The goal is to exchange knowledge, explore new approaches, and learn from each other.
16.00: closure of event