Views
Colonialism and German Private International Law – Introduction to a Post Series
In March 2023 I gave a talk at the conference of the German Society of International Law. The conference had the title “Colonial Continuities in International Law“ and my presentation focused on “Continuation of colonialism in contemporary international law? – Foundations, structures, methods from the perspective of PIL“. Thus, I was exploring those foundations, basic structures, and fundamental methods of mainly German Private International Law (PIL) and whether and how they have been influenced by colonialism.
French Cour de cassation rules (again) on duty of domestic courts to apply European rules of conflict on their own motion
In the Airmeex case (Civ. 1re 27 septembre 2023, n°22-15.146, available here), the French Cour de cassation (première chambre civile) had the opportunity to rule on the duty of domestic courts to apply European rules of conflict on their own motion. The decision is a great opportunity to discuss the French approach to the authority of conflict-of-laws rules.Postmodernism in Singapore private international law: foreign judgments in the common law
Guest post by Professor Yeo Tiong Min, SC (honoris causa), Yong Pung How Chair Professor of Law, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp (formerly known as Merck & Co, Inc) v Merck KGaA (formerly known as E Merck) [2021] 1 SLR 1102, [2021] SGCA 14 (“Merck”), noted previously, is a landmark case in Singapore private international law, being a decision of a full bench of the Court of Appeal setting out for the first time in Singapore law the limits of transnational issue estoppel. It was also the beginning of the deconstruction of the common law on the legal effect to be given to foreign judgments. Without ruling on the issue, the court was not convinced by the obligation theory as the rationale for the recognition of foreign in personam judgments under the common law, preferring instead to rest the law on the rationales of transnational comity and reciprocal respect among courts of independent jurisdictions. There was no occasion to depart from the traditional rules of recognition of in personam judgments in that case, and the court did not do so. However, the shift in the rationale suggested that changes could be forthcoming. While this sort of underlying movements have generally led to more expansive recognition of foreign judgments (eg, in Canada’s recognition of foreign judgments from courts with real and substantial connection to the underlying dispute), the indications in the case appeared to signal a restrictive direction, with the contemplation of a possible reciprocity requirement as a necessary condition for recognition of a foreign judgment, and a possible defence where the foreign court had made an error of Singapore domestic law.
News
Asser Institute Conference: Adapting Private International Law in an Era of Uncertainty
Announcement prepared by Eduardo Silva de Freitas (Asser Institute and Erasmus University Rotterdam)
The T.M.C. Asser Institute is organising the conference “Adapting Private International Law in an Era of Uncertainty” as part of its 60 Years Series. The event will take place in The Hague (The Netherlands) on Friday, 24 October 2025, and will gather academics, practitioners, and early career researchers who will address current topics in Private International Law, including developments in the digital age and the protection of weaker parties.
The programme is available by clicking here: asser-institute-60-years-series_final.pdf
To register for the conference, please visit: T.M.C. Asser Instituut Registration Form
For more information you can contact the organisers at: E.Silva.de.Freitas@asser.nl or V.Lazic@asser.nl
New book and webinar Sustaining Access to Justice – 5 September
In June the volume “Sustaining Access to Justice: New Avenues for Costs and Funding” was published in the Civil Justice Systems series of Hart Publishing (2025). The book is edited by Xandra Kramer, Masood Ahmed, Adriani Dori and Maria Carlota Ucín. This edited volume results from a conference held at Erasmus University Rotterdam, as part of the Vici project on Affordable Access to Justice funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). It contains contributions on access to justice themes, in particular costs and funding of litigation, by key experts across Europe, Latin America and Asia. More information, including the table of contents is available at the Bloomsbury website here.
The book explores the dynamic landscape of legal costs and financing from three perspectives: regulatory frameworks in public and private funding; new trends and challenges in contemporary legal financing; and the transformative potential of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and online dispute resolution (ODR) procedures to streamline civil justice processes and expand access to justice.
By addressing the intersectionality of legal, economic, political, market and social dynamics, the book aims to provide an encompassing understanding of the inherent complexity of costs and funding of litigation, and their implications for access to justice.
A seminar on the ocassion of launching the book will take place on 5 September 2025, from 10-12.15 CET.
Program
10.00 Introduction Xandra Kramer, Masood Ahmed, Carlota Ucin, Adriani Dori
10.15 Jacek Garstka (European Commission) – EC perspective on the access to justice and the role of litigation funding
10.25 Maria Jose Azar-Baud – Trends in Funding of Collective Litigation
10.35 Alexandre Biard – Enforcing Consumer Rights: Costs and Funding
10.50 Discussion
11.10 Eduardo Silva de Freitas – Justice for a Price: Funders, Fees and the RAD
11.20 Marcel Wegmüller – ESG and Litigation Funding: A Practitioner’s View
11.35 Adrian Cordina – Regulating Litigation Funding: A Law and Economics View
11.45 Stefaan Voet/Masood Ahmed – Beyond Litigation: Cost-Effective Strategies for ADR and ODR
12.00 Discussion and Conclusion
More information and (free) registration here.
Webinar: Beyond State Borders, Beyond the Situs Rule? Private International Law Issues of Resource Extraction in Antarctica, the Deep Seabed, and Outer Space
The Aberdeen Centre for Private International Law & Transnational Governance (CPILTG) will be hosting a webinar by Professor Caroline Rapatz (University of Kiel, Germany) on 20 August 2025, 11am – 12pm noon.
More information is available here.