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Choice of law rules and statutory interpretation in the Ruby Princess Case in Australia
Written by Seung Chan Rhee and Alan Zheng
Suppose a company sells tickets for cruises to/from Australia. The passengers hail from Australia, and other countries. The contracts contain an exclusive foreign jurisdiction clause nominating a non-Australian jurisdiction. The company is incorporated in Bermuda. Cruises are only temporarily in Australian territorial waters.
German Federal Court of Justice: Article 26 Brussels Ia Regulation Applies to Non-EU Defendants
By Moses Wiepen, Legal Trainee at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm, Germany
In its decision of 21 July 2023 (V ZR 112/22), the German Federal Court of Justice confirmed that Art. 26 Brussels Ia Regulation applies regardless of the defendant’s domicile. The case in question involved an art collector filing suit against a Canadian trust that manages the estate of a Jew who was persecuted by the German Nazi regime. The defendant published a wanted notice in an online Lost Art database for a painting that the plaintiff bought in 1999. The plaintiff considers this as a violation of his property right.
This week begins the Special Commission on the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Child Protection Convention
Written by Mayela Celis
The eighth meeting of the Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Child Protection Convention will be held from 10 to 17 October 2023 in The Hague, the Netherlands. For more information, click here.
One of the key documents prepared for the meeting is the Global Report – Statistical study of applications made in 2021 under the 1980 Child Abduction Convention, where crucial information has been gathered about the application of this Convention during the year 2021. However, these figures were perhaps affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as indicated in the Addendum of the document (see paragraphs 157-167, pp. 33-34). Because it refers to a time period in the midst of lockdowns and travel restrictions, it is not unrealistic to say that the figures of the year 2021 should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, the overall return rate was the lowest ever recorded at 39% (it was 45% in 2015). The percentage of the combined sole and multiple reasons for judicial refusals in 2021 was 46% as regards the grave risk exception (it was 25% in 2015). The overall average time taken to reach a final outcome from the receipt of the application by the Central Authority in 2021 was 207 days (it was 164 days in 2015). While statistics are always useful to understand a social phenomenon, one may only wonder why a statistical study was conducted with regard to applications during such an unusual year – apart from the fact that a Special Commission meeting is taking place and needs recent statistics -, as it will unlikely reflect realistic trends (but it can certainly satisfy a curious mind).
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Cycle de conférences: La refonte du règlement Bruxelles I Bis
Starting 30 November 2023, the French Cour de cassation is going to host a lecture series on the ongoing discussion of Brussels Ia reform under the direction of Marie-Elodie Ancel (Université Paris-Panthéon Assas) and Pascal de Vareilles-Sommières (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).
The programme of the first session – and the video stream! – can be found here.
18th Regional PIL Conference on 17 November 2023 at the University of Niš, Serbia
This post has been written by Sanja Marjanovic (Faculty of Law, University of Niš, Serbia) and Uglješa Grušic (UCL).
The 18th Regional Private International Law Conference will take place on 17 November 2023 at the Faculty of Law, University of Niš, Serbia, with the support of the Deutche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). The theme of the Conference is Private International Law and International Organizations – Achievements and Challenges.
Pax Moot 2024 – Petar Šarcevic Round: case is out!
The Pax Moot case for 2024 is out! This year’s round is called Petar Šarcevic, and the competition will take place in Ljubljana from 24 to 26 April 2024.
Read all about MyStream and kidfluencer Giulia here: https://www.paxmoot.eu/case.
Further information and the time line is available on the Paxmoot website.