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New rules for extra-territorial jurisdiction in Western Australia
The rules regarding service outside the jurisdiction are about to change for the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
In a March notice to practitioners, the Chief Justice informed the profession that the Supreme Court Amendment Rules 2024 (WA) (Amendment Rules) were published on the WA legislation website on 26 March 2024.
The Amendment Rules amend the Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA) (RSC). The primary change is the replacement of the current RSC Order 10 (Service outside the jurisdiction) while amending other relevant rules, including some within Order 11 (Service of foreign process) and Order 11A (Service under the Hague Convention).
The combined effect of the changes is to align the Court’s approach to that which has been applicable in the other State Supreme Courts for some years.
The changes will take effect on 9 April 2024. Read more
International tech litigation reaches the next level: collective actions against TikTok and Google
Written by Xandra Kramer (Erasmus University Rotterdam/Utrecht University) & Eduardo Silva de Freitas (Erasmus University Rotterdam), members of the Vici project Affordable Access to Justice, financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), www.euciviljustice.eu.
Introduction
We have reported on the Dutch WAMCA procedure for collective actions in a number of previous blogposts. This collective action procedure was introduced on 1 January 2020, enabling claims for damages, and has since resulted in a stream of (interim) judgments addressing different aspects in the preliminary stages of the procedure. This includes questions on the admissibility and funding requirements, some of which are also of importance as examples for the rolling out of the Representative Action Directive for consumers in other Member States. It also poses very interesting questions of private international law, as in particular the collective actions for damages against tech giants are usually international cases. We refer in particular to earlier blogposts on international jurisdiction in the privacy case against TikTok and the referral to the CJEU regarding international jurisdiction under the Brussels I-bis Regulation in the competition case against Apple.
Turning Point: China First Recognizes Japanese Bankruptcy Decision
This post is written by Guodong Du and Meng Yu and published at China Justice Observer. It is reproduced here by kind permission of the authors.
Key takeaways:
- In September 2023, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People’s Court ruled to recognize the Tokyo District Court’s decision to commence civil rehabilitation proceedings and the order appointing the supervisor ((2021) Hu 03 Xie Wai Ren No.1).
- This marks not only the first time that China has recognized a Japanese court’s decision in a bankruptcy procedure, but also the first time that China has recognized a Japanese judgment.
- The case establishes a legal precedent for cross-border bankruptcy decisions, demonstrating that prior non-recognition patterns between China and Japan in civil and commercial judgments may not apply in such cross-border scenarios.
- While not resolving the broader recognition challenges between the two nations, this acknowledgment sends a positive signal from the Chinese court, hinting at potential future breakthroughs and fostering hope for improved legal cooperation.
News
[OUT NOW] Yeshniyazov and Abdel Mottaleb on Kazakhstan, in International Encyclopaedia of Laws – Private International Law (Kluwer Law International)
Private international law in post-Soviet Central Asian countries is clearly underrepresented in the literature, despite the fact that countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have fairly detailed legislation on international jurisdiction, applicable law, and the enforcement of foreign judgments. (For a general overview of Kazakhstan, see the entry on the country in J. Basedow et al. (eds), Encyclopedia of Private International Law, Vol. III (Edward Elgar), p. 2229, and the English translation of the relevant provisions in Vol. IV, p. 3358.) Read more
Making private law resilient: The role of private litigation in a democracy – PhD scholarship at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
Axel Halfmeier (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany) has kindly shared the following advertisement for a 3-year PhD scholarship with us, which will be part of a research project on ‘Making private law resilient: The role of private litigation in a democracy’.
The research project will investigate the role of private litigation in a democracy, in particular collective litigation, public interest actions or strategic litigation. There is an ongoing discussion about these phenomena and whether they support deliberative democracy by empowering citizens or are anti-democratic in the sense that they transfer excessive power to the judiciary in political questions. To answer this question, normative (legal doctrine, legal theory, political theory) but also empirical approaches are possible. The project can also focus on specific areas of private law, such as media and data protection law, climate litigation, capital markets or tort law in general. The exact study design will be discussed with a view to the interests and qualifications of the candidate.
Application deadline is October 1st, 2025.
Further information on the ‘Embracing Transformation’ scholarships can be found here.
Further information on the specific research project on ‘Democratic Resilience’ is available here.
Questions may be directed to Axel Halfmeier.