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PIL and (De)coloniality: For a Case-by-Case Approach of the Application of Postcolonial Law in European States
Written by Sandrine Brachotte who obtained a PhD. in Law at Sciences Po, Paris and is a Guest Lecturer at UCLouvain (Saint-Louis, Brussels).
1. PIL and (De)coloniality in Europe
This post follows Susanne Gössl’s blog post series on ‘Colonialism and German PIL’ (especially s. 3 of post (1)) and offers a French perspective of the issue of PIL and (de)coloniality – not especially focused on French PIL but based on a francophone article to be published soon in the law and anthropology journal Droit et Culture. This article, called ‘For a decolonisation of law in the global era: analysis of the application of postcolonial law in European states’, is addressed to non-PIL-specialist scholars but builds on a European debate about PIL and (de)coloniality that has been nourished by scholars like Ralf Michaels, Horatia Muir Watt, Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, as well as by Maria Ochoa, Roxana Banu, and Nicole Štýbnarová, notably at the occasion of the 2022 Edinburgh conference (reported about on this blog, where I had the chance the share a panel with them in relation to my PhD dissertation (see a short presentation on the EAPIL blog)).
The Dubai Supreme Court on the Enforcement of Canadian (Ontario) Enforcement Judgment
Can an enforcement judgment issued by a foreign court be recognized and enforced in another jurisdiction? This is a fundamental question concerning the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The answer appears to be relatively straightforward: “No”. Foreign enforcement judgments are not eligible to be recognized and enforced as they are not decisions on the merits (see in relation with the HCCH 2019 Convention, F Garcimartín and G Saumier, Explanatory Report (HCCH 2020) para. 95, p. 73; W Hau “Judgments, Recognition, Enforcement” in M Weller et al. (eds.), The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Cornerstones, Prospects, Outlooks (Hart 2023) 25). This is usually referred to as the “prohibition of double exequatur” or, following the French adage: “exequatur sur exequatur ne vaut”. This question was recently presented to the Dubai Supreme Court (DSC), and its decision in the Appeal No. 1556 of 16 January 2024 offers some useful insights into the status foreign enforcement (exequatur) decisions in the UAE.
Austrian Supreme Court Rules on the Validity of a Jurisdiction Clause Based on a General Reference to Terms of Purchase on a Website
By Biset Sena Günes, Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg
Recently, on 25 October 2023, the Austrian Supreme Court (‘OGH’) [2 Ob 179/23x, BeckRS 2023, 33709] ruled on whether a jurisdiction clause included in the terms of purchase (‘ToP’) was valid when a written contract made reference to the website containing the ToP but did not provide the corresponding internet link. The Court held that such a clause does not meet the formal requirements laid down under Article 25 of the Brussels I (recast) Regulation and, hence, is invalid. The judgment is undoubtedly of practical relevance for the conclusion of international commercial contracts that make reference to digitally available general terms and conditions (‘GTCs’), and it is an important follow-up to the decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) in the cases of El Majdoub (C-322/14, available here) and Tilman (C-358/21, available here).
News
Call for Abstracts for Emerging Scholars: Digitalisation of Justice, University of Groningen, 29 May 2026
Dr. Benedikt Schmitz (University of Groningen), the organiser of the upcoming symposium ‘Digitalisation of Justice: Perspectives from Germany and the Netherlands’, has kindly shared this Call for Abstracts for emerging scholars with us.
Save the date: 11th Journal of Private International Law Conference, 1–3 April 2027 in Zurich
With the 10th Journal of Private International Law Conference successfully concluded, preparations for the next, 11th Journal of Private International Law Conference in Zurich are already underway. 
Please save the date: 1–3 April 2027.
The conference organizers Tanja Domej (University of Zurich) and Christiane von Bary (University of Zurich), and the editors of the Journal, Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling) and Jonathan Harris (King’s College London), are looking forward to welcoming you in Switzerland!
ZVglRWiss – Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft 3/2025
ZVglRWiss – Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft 3/2025
A new issue of ZVglRWiss – Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft is now available and includes contributions on EU private law, comparative law, private international law, and individual European private law regimes.
The full table of content can be accessed here.