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Conflict of Laws Panel at the AALS Conference in New Orleans, Jan 4, 2019

The American Association of Law Schools will hold its annual conference in New Orleans this year, from January 2-6. In this conference, the meeting of the Conflict of Laws Interest Group will be on Friday January 4, 8:30-10:15. (Yes, early.) The topic is the new Hague Judgments Convention (the draft Convention is here.) Speakers will include Louise Ellen Teitz (Rhode Island University) with a view from the Hague, Trey Childress (Pepperdine/State Dept) with a view from the State Department, and John Coyle (UNC) with a view from academia. I will chair. The remarks will be published later in the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, but if you are at the AALS Conference, please do come and discuss there!

Luxemburg, 22 January 2019: Conference on Third-Party Effects of Assignments of Claims

On 22 January 2019, the Arendt House (Luxembourg) will host a conference organised by The Luxembourg Association of Law Graudates of the University of Louvain (UCL) and the Law Review Le droit des affaires – Het ondernemingsrecht (DAOR) on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to the third-party effects of assignments of claims.

The conference will be chaired by Prof. Marie-Elodie Angel (University Paris Est Créteil, UPEC). Speakers, who will discuss assignment of claims, security rights and securitisation, include Prof. Denis Philippe (Philippe & Partners; University of Louvai), Grégory Minne (Arendt & Medernach; University of Luxembourg) and Jean-Paul Spang (Kleyr Grasso; University of Luxembourg).

The conference will be in French without translation into English.

Details are available here.

Draft Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-Link under the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters is available on the HCCH website

The Draft Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-Link under the Evidence Convention has been submitted for the approval of the HCCH governance body (i.e. the Council on General Affairs and Policy of the Hague Conference on Private International Law), which will meet in March 2019.

This Guide analyses developments in relation to the use of video-link in the taking of evidence under the Evidence Convention, including references to internal law and other international agreements. It also outlines good practices to be followed and reflects additional information provided by Contracting Parties in their respective Country Profiles.

In my personal opinion, the most striking conclusion was that responding States to the Country Profiles are almost evenly divided as to whether evidence may be taken directly by video-link by means of a Letter of Request (under Chapter I of the Evidence Convention). In other words, there is no clear consensus on whether the requesting court can take evidence directly in the Requested State by video-link under Chapter I of the Evidence Convention (e.g. take testimony from a witness by videoconference). Some see legal obstacles whereas others do not. The Convention was after all negotiated in the late sixties. A question may arise as to whether an international treaty is needed to address particularly this issue and include the necessary safeguards for video-link taking of evidence.