Tag Archive for: Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa

Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa

Editors:

Dr Chukwuma Okoli, Dr Eghosa O. Ekhator, Professor Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Professor Ralf Michaels, Hans van Loon

Originally sourced from Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law post on 22 July 2025, with slight amedments.

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Recall, on 14 October 2024, we invited submissions to The Journal of Sustainable Development and Policy for a special issue focusing on “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa.”

Make today matter! Under this motto, legal scholars from all over the world gathered at the University of Pretoria on July 8, 2025 to take part in the conference “Sustainable Development and Transnational Law in Africa”. The event was jointly organized by the Law Schools Global League and Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law with a view to fostering academic exchange across continents on today’s most pressing challenges.

“It was fantastic to see the breadth and depth of work done in and on Africa within the new field of sustainable development and private international law. Thanks are due also to our co-organizers at the Law Schools Global League ant the University of Pretoria; it is so important to hold conferences like this one outside of Europe,” says Max Planck Institute’s Director Ralf Michaels.

The conference program consisted of four panel discussions (for a report, see ? here). The last two panels brought together five of the participants in a current project titled “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa”**:

Solomon Okorley (University of Johannesburg) spoke about International Child Abduction Jurisprudence in South Africa; Grihobou Roland Nombré (Thomas SANKARA University School of Law) discussed the implications of the rise of Nuclear Energy in Africa for Private International Law; Michael K. Quartey (University of Johannesburg) and Theophilus Edwin Coleman (University at Buffalo School of Law & University of Johannesburg) addressed Product Liability Disputes in Ghana from the perspective of sustainable development, and Panji Chirwa (University of Pretoria) looked at the Impact of the EU Directive 2024/1760 on African Sustainability Frameworks.

** The project “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa” forms the African component of the broader initiative “The Private Side of Transforming our World – UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law” (see ? here), led globally by Ralf Michaels (Max Planck Institute),  Hans Van Loon (previously Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International), and Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (University of Edinburgh). The African initiative is spearheaded by Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli (University of Birmingham), in partnership with Eghosa Ekhator (University of Derby) and the Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy (Afe Babalola University, Nigeria), and works closely with the global project leaders.

3rd Postgraduate Law Conference at the Centre for Private International Law and Transnational Governance

The 3rd Postgraduate Law Conference of the Centre for Private International Law is now open for registration.

The theme is “New Dimensions in Private International Law” and the conference will take place online on 6 June 2025 in the morning. Topics include commercial, family and maritime law, as well as law in the digital age and sustainability and corporate responsibility.

Extension of deadline (to 10 January 2025) for Call for Papers for Special Issue of the Journal of Sustainable Development and Policy on the theme, “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa”

Edited by: 

Dr Chukwuma Okoli, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Dr Eghosa O. Ekhator, University of Derby, United Kingdom

Professor Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Professor Ralf Michaels, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Germany

Hans van Loon, Netherlands 

OVERVIEW 

The Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy invites scholarly articles for publication in a special issue focusing on the theme “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa.” This is an area with limited scholarship in Africa, as most research has traditionally emphasized substantive laws, often neglecting the critical role of private international law in sustainable development. Interested researchers should consider themes such as the ones explored in Michaels/Ruiz Abou-Nigm/Van Loon (eds.) (2021): The Private Side of Transforming our World – UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law. Proposals should emphasise private international law and sustainable development issues that are of particular relevance to the African context. Read more