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U.S. Supreme Court Renders Personal Jurisdiction Decision
This post is by Maggie Gardner, a professor of law at Cornell Law School. It is cross-posted at Transnational Litigation Blog.
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday upheld the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s corporate registration statute, even though it requires out-of-state corporations registering to do business within the state to consent to all-purpose (general) personal jurisdiction. The result in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. re-opens the door to suing foreign companies in U.S. courts over disputes that arise in other countries. It may also have significant repercussions for personal jurisdiction doctrine more broadly. Read more
The New Saudi Civil Transaction Act and its Potential Impact on Private International Law in Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has recently enacted a new Civil Transactions Law (Royal Decree No. M/199, dated June 16, 2023). The law will enter into force on December 16, 2023, 180 days after its enactment (hereinafter referred to as “the new law”). This law has been rightly described as “groundbreaking” because, prior to the enactment of the new law, there has been no codification of civil law in the Kingdom, and civil law issues have traditionally been governed by the classical rules of Islamic Sharia according to the teachings of the prevailing school of fiqh (religio-legal jurisprudence) in the Kingdom (Hanbali School). Like most of the civil law codifications in the region, the new law focuses mainly on the so-called “patrimonial law,” i.e., property rights and obligations (contractual and non-contractual). Family relations and successions are dealt with in a separate law, which was previously enacted in 2022 and entered into force the same year (Personal Status Act, Royal Decree No. M/73 of 9 March 2022, entered into force on June 18, 2022).
Book Review: The UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
This book review was written by Begüm Kilimcioglu, PhD researcher, Research Groups Law & Development and Personal Rights & Property Rights, University of Antwerp
Barnali Choudbury, The UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights- A Commentary, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023
The endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) in 2011 represents a milestone for business and human rights as the principles successfully achieved to put the duties of different actors involved in (possible) human rights abuses on the international agenda. The UNGPs provide a non-binding yet authoritative framework for a three-pillared scheme to identify and contextualize the responsibilities with regard to business and human rights: the State’s responsibility to protect, businesses’ responsibility to respect, and facilitating access to remedy. However, although the impact of the principles can be described as ground-breaking, they have also been criticized for their vague and generic language which provides for a leeway for certain actors to circumvent their responsibilities (see Andreas Rasche & Sandra Waddock, Surya Deva, Florian Wettstein).Therefore, it is important to determine and clarify the content of the principles to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. In this light, this commentary on the UNGPs which examines all the principles one-by-one through the inputs of various prominent scholars, academics, experts and practitioners is indeed a reference guide to when working on corporate social responsibility.
News
English-language Master Program at Humboldt University Berlin
Humboldt University Berlin is launching an English-language LL.M. program!
The program will start in October 2025 and aims to attract graduates from all over the world with strong foundational knowledge in their respective legal system and at least one year of professional experience. Applications for the program will be possible from 1 to 31 March 2025.
More information is available on this flyer and online.
For any questions, please contact int.rewi@hu-berlin.de.
Book on PIL and Global Trends (in Croatian)
Following the conference held previously this year (reported here), the book on Private International Law and Global Trends (Medunarodno privatno pravo i globalni trendovi) has been published by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, HAZU) within the series Modernisation of Law edited by the academic and professor Jaksa Barbic.
The book includes the following contributions (all in Croatian, while the titles are translated for the convenience of the readers of this blog):
Jaksa Barbic
Editorial
Ines Medic, University of Split, Faculty of Law
Challenges of globalization of private international law for national judiciary
Ivana Kunda, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law
Have frontier digital technologies surpassed the boundaries of private international law?
Mirela Zupan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paula Poretti, Jura Golub, University of J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, Faculty of Law
Foreign public documents in the digital age
Danijela Vrbljanac, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law
Breach of personal data in private international law
Tena Hosko, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law
Protection of workers in private international law
Dora Zgrabljic Rotar, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law
The effect of the Hague Judgments Convention of 2019 on the recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions in the Republic of Croatia
The book is presented at the HAZU official webisite, while it can be bought for a symbolic price at stores such as here.
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.