Views
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: first judgment on international child abduction
Guest post by Janaína Albuquerque, International Lawyer and Mediator
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has just published their first ever judgment on an international child abduction case in Córdoba v. Paraguay, which concerns the illicit removal of a child who was habitually resident in Argentina. The applicant and left-behind parent, Mr. Arnaldo Javier Córdoba, claimed that Paraguay violated his human rights by failing to enforce the return order and ensuring the maintenance of contact with his son. At the time of the abduction, the child was about to reach 2 years of age and the taking parent relocated, without the father’s consent, to Paraguay.
Moroccan Supreme Court on the HCCH 1996 Child Protection Convention
Among all Arab and Muslim-majority countries, Morocco stands out as the only State to have ratified seven (7) HCCH Conventions. This number of ratifications, comparable to that of other prominent countries such as United States or Japan, speaks volumes about Morocco’s commitment to being an integral part of the global network of jurisdictions benefiting from the work of the HCCH on the harmonisation of private international and fostering mutual legal cooperation. The decisions of the Moroccan Supreme Court also reflect these efforts as the Court has shown its willingness to oversight the proper application of the HCCH Conventions (on the application of the 1980 HCCH Convention, see here). The Supreme Court Ruling No. 71 of 7 February 2023 briefly commented on here is another notable example related to the application of the 1996 HCCH Child Protection Convention. The case is also particularly interesting because it concerns the establishment of a kafala under Moroccan law for the purpose of relocating the child in another Contracting State (France in casu).
The New Zealand Court of Appeal on the cross-border application of New Zealand consumer and fair trading legislation
The New Zealand Court of Appeal has just released a judgment on the cross-border application of New Zealand consumer and fair trading legislation (Body Corporate Number DPS 91535 v 3A Composites GmbH [2023] NZCA 647). The Court held that local consumer legislation – in the form of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) – applies to foreign manufacturers. It also clarified that fair trading legislation – in the form of the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) – applies to representations made to recipients in New Zealand. The decision is of particular interest to New Zealand consumers and manufacturers of goods that are supplied in New Zealand, as well as traders advertising their products to New Zealanders. More generally, the judgment provides a useful analysis of the interrelationship between statutory interpretation and choice of law, and lends weight to the proposition that product liability is properly governed by the law of the place of supply (or injury).
News
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.
ZEuP – Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht 3/2025
A new issue of ZEuP – Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht is now available and includes contributions on EU private law, comparative law and legal history, legal unification, private international law, and individual European private law regimes. The full table of content can be accessed here: https://rsw.beck.de/zeitschriften/zeup. 
The following contributions might be of particular interest for the readers of this blog:
- Pacta Sunt Servanda’s Soliloquy Amidst Sanctions: The Impact of EU Sanctions on Contractual Performance in Arbitration Proceedings
Helmut Ortner, Veronika Korom and Marion on the Impact of EU Sanctions on Contractual Performance in Arbitration Proceedings: EU sanctions against Russia and Russia’s countermeasures have significantly disrupted trade, supply chains, and contractual relations, sparking disputes frequently resolved through arbitration. European legal systems provide a range of mechanisms—including force majeure, impossibility, frustration, and hardship—to address sanctions-related performance impediments. Despite doctrinal divergences, these frameworks tend to converge on practical outcomes. To mitigate risks and increase legal certainty, parties are well-advised to incorporate tailored clauses in their contracts. - Eigentumsvorbehalte in grenzüberschreitenden Warenkaufverträgen mit englischen Käufern
Insa Stephanie Jarass on retention of title clauses in contracts with English buyers: In PST Energy 7 Shipping LLC v OW Bunker Malta Ltd (The Res Cogitans) [2016] UKSC 23, the Supreme Court held that the Sale of Goods Act 1979 no longer applies to certain con-tracts containing retention of title clauses which had previously always been categorised as contracts for the sale of goods. This article analyses the legal implications of this decision for contracts for the supply of goods to Eng-land. In addition to the legal uncertainties that have always surrounded the validity in rem of retention of title clauses under English law, the decision adds a new level of complex-ity at the contractual level that requires par-ticular attention when drafting international contracts. - Die europäische vis attractiva concursus – Altbekanntes, Neues und Ungeklärtes zu Reichweite, Kompetenzkonflikten und materieller Sperrwirkung
Fabian Kratzlmeier comments on the decision by the ECJ in C-394/22, addressing the law applicable in the context of insolvency proceedings.