Tag Archive for: AAPrIL

Call for papers: Australasian Association of Private International Law inaugural conference, Brisbane, Australia, 16-17 April 2025

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The inaugural conference of the Australasian Association of Private International Law will be held from Wednesday 16 to Thursday 17 April at the Ship Inn conference centre, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, sponsored by Griffith Law School.

We are pleased to invite the submission of paper proposals for the conference, on any aspect of private international law, broadly understood.  This includes issues of jurisdiction, choice of law, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (including how they relate to cross-border issues within a federation), and all areas of private law that raise cross-border and transnational issues.

Paper proposals should be made on this form by Wednesday 29 January 2025. We also welcome panel proposals; please email aapril2025conference@gmail.com if you have a proposal for a panel. Proposed presenters on any panel will be required to submit paper proposals.

We welcome anyone interested in private international law, including from the judiciary, legal practice, government, and the academy, from any jurisdiction.  Attendees, including presenters, will be required to pay a registration fee. A conference dinner will be held on the evening of Wednesday 16 April, at an additional cost.

Report on the launch event of the Australasian Association of Private International Law

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On Thursday 5 December 2024, a group of private international lawyers gathered in Melbourne and online for the launch of the Australasian Association of Private International Law (AAPrIL).

AAPrIL was founded in 2024 by lawyers and academics in Australia and New Zealand who are engaged in private international law. AAPrIL’s aim is to bring together people committed to furthering understanding of private international law in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region.

The launch was held at the offices of Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Melbourne. After networking and drinks, the formalities were opened by Cara North, Corrs Special Counsel and AAPrIL Treasurer, who would be known to many following the blog for her work on the HCCH Judgments Project. Cara introduced Jack Wass, New Zealand barrister and AAPRIL’s New Zealand Vice-President, who is co-author of The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand and who was Master of Ceremonies.

The event featured addresses from two of the most influential lawyers in private international law issues from either side of the Tasman Sea.

The Honourable Dr Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of New South Wales, gave a comprehensive pre-recorded address, speaking to the importance of the discipline and the growing number of judgments dealing with cross-border issues in Australia. His Honour has been deeply engaged in private international law for decades; he his author of Forum Shopping and Venue in Transnational Litigation and a co-author of Nygh’s Conflict of Laws in Australia, and acted as counsel in many of Australia’s most significant private international law cases until his appointment to the New South Wales Supreme Court.  Chief Justice Bell is the inaugural Patron of AAPrIL.

The Honourable David Goddard, Judge of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, then delivered a live online address that also spoke to the importance of the discipline. His Honour advocated for the continued modernisation of domestic laws to harmonise approaches to private international law problems between legal systems, encouraging governments to adopt instruments of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH).  Justice Goddard is perfectly placed to speak to the subject: he was the Chair of the Diplomatic Session of the HCCH that adopted the 2019 HCCH Judgments Convention, Vice-President of the Diplomatic Session that adopted the 2005 Choice of Court Convention, and a member of the drafting committee for that Convention. Read more

Tomorrow’s AAPrIL seminar: Benjamin Haward on The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Adoption and interpretation in Australia

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Join us online tomorrow for a free seminar on the CISG in Australia, delivered by Dr Benjamin Hayward.

Abstract

Australia adopted the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) – a treaty intended to harmonise cross-border sale of goods law – in 1989. Australia gives the treaty local effect via a range of State, Territory, and Commonwealth Acts. A problem has arisen, however, with respect to the wording of that legislation. Some Australian courts consider that the treaty only applies, on a provision-by-provision basis, where it is inconsistent with local law. According to international understandings, however, the CISG is intended to displace local law to its subject-matter extent when it applies.

With reference to Australia’s statutory interpretation rules, and the legislative histories preceding the CISG’s adoption in Australia, this seminar identifies a parliamentary intention to apply the CISG in full in Australia. It therefore identifies that Australia intended to adopt the CISG in a manner consistent with its internationally understood effect. This seminar also examines the nature of Australia’s CISG cases to-date, and identifies how future courts can better engage with the treaty in order to realise its objectives of supporting international trade. Read more