{"title":"Return travel and Covid-19 as a grave risk of harm in Hague Child Abduction Convention cases","authors":"E. O’Callaghan","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1971838","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1971838","url":null,"abstract":"Since February, 2020, courts have been faced with many novel arguments concerning the Covid-19 pandemic in return proceedings under the “grave risk exception” provided in Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention. This article presents an analysis of judgments delivered by courts internationally which concern arguments regarding the safety of international travel in return proceedings during the Covid-19 pandemic. While courts have largely taken a restrictive approach, important clarity has been provided regarding the risk of contracting Covid-19 as against the grave risk of harm, as well as other factors such as ensuring a prompt return despite practical impediments raised by Covid-19 and about quarantine requirements in the context of return orders. Given that the pandemic is ongoing, it is important to reflect on this case law and anticipate possible future issues.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46533906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Against renvoi in commercial law","authors":"Harry Stratton","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.2003528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.2003528","url":null,"abstract":"The doctrine of renvoi is rightly described as “a subject loved by academics, hated by students and ignored (when noticed) by practising lawyers (including judges)”. This article argues that the students have much the better of the argument. English commercial law has rightly rejected renvoi as a general rule, because it multiplies the expense and complexity of proceedings, while doing little to deter forum-shopping and enable enforcement. It should go even further to reject renvoi in questions of immovable property, because the special justification that this enables enforcement of English judgments against foreign land ignores the fact that title or possession of such land is generally not justiciable in English courts and such judgments will not be enforced irrespective of whether renvoi is applied.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47441449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Virtual Conference on Conflicts of Jurisdiction on 23 to 24 June 2022 and postponement of the biennial Journal of Private International Law Conference until 2023","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.2026571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.2026571","url":null,"abstract":"The Journal of Private International Law and the Singapore Management University will hold a virtual conference on 23 to 24 June 2022. The theme of the conference is Conflicts of Jurisdiction. The conference is designed to assist with the ongoing work of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on Jurisdiction. The speakers are leading private international law scholars and experts, many of whom are directly involved in the ongoing negotiations at the HCCH. Registration to attend the conference will open nearer the time.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42637921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The choice of foreign law in (predominantly) domestic contracts and the controversial quest for a genuine international element: potential for future judicial conflicts between the UK and the EU?","authors":"P. Ostendorf","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.2003957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.2003957","url":null,"abstract":"The valid choice of a (foreign) governing law in commercial contracts presupposes, pursuant to EU private international law, a genuine international element to the transaction in question. Given that the underlying rationale of this requirement stipulated in Article 3(3) of the Rome I Regulation has yet to be fully explored, the normative foundations as to the properties that a genuine international element must possess remain unsettled. The particularly low threshold applied by more recent English case law in favour of almost unfettered party autonomy in choice of law at first glance avoids legal uncertainty. However, such a liberal interpretation not only robs Article 3(3) Rome I Regulation almost entirely of its meaning but also appears to be rooted in a basic misunderstanding of both the function and rationale of Article 3(3) Rome I Regulation in the overall system of EU private international law. Consequently, legal tensions with courts based in EU member states maintaining a more restrictive approach may become inevitable in the future due to Brexit.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44833146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The overview of private international law in Nigeria","authors":"C. Ojiegbe","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1971819","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1971819","url":null,"abstract":"As an emerging economy, Nigeria attracts foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment as well as commercial parties and sovereign States engaged in private transactions thereby increasing the possibility of cross-border disputes, which would often require the use of private international law (“PIL”) principles to resolve them. PIL concerns relationships involving foreign elements that transcend national boundaries. It determines issues of jurisdiction, choice of law and the recognition and enforcement of decisions as well as issues that may arise when foreign private laws interact with the laws of the forum in which legal action is brought in matters of civil and commercial law or family law. In Nigeria, the significance of PIL is seen not only in international transactions involving foreign elements but also within inter-State transactions and disputes as Nigeria is a federation consisting of 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, with a separate jurisdiction and laws for each State’s courts as established in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. Indeed, as Nigeria is a federation, the same general PIL approach used in international matters should equally apply to intra-State matters. However, some Nigerian lawyers, academics and judges often seem to struggle with the concept of PIL: for example, in some cases, Nigerian judges have applied PIL principles to resolve Nigerian disputes that do not contain any foreign elements or involve intra-State matters. Due to Nigeria’s relationship to the United Kingdom and its membership of the Commonwealth, the common law foundations of Nigerian PIL, and some","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42410860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prorogation of jurisdiction and choice of law in EU family law: navigating through the labyrinth of rules","authors":"A. Limantė","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1953253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1953253","url":null,"abstract":"This article focuses on the scope of party autonomy in EU family regulations, especially in cases of marriage dissolution with an international element. Through the lens of a case study, the author analyses whether provisions allowing party autonomy in EU family regulations are consistent and wide enough to enable parties to find a solution that best fits their interests. The paper concludes that the advantages of party autonomy in private international family law outweigh the associated risks which should be mitigated by safeguarding measures.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43255336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"No turning back: information and communication technologies in international cooperation between authorities","authors":"María Mercedes Albornoz, Sebastián Paredes","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1950332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1950332","url":null,"abstract":"The usefulness of ICTs is on full display when it comes to international cooperation between authorities in civil and commercial litigation. The core international conventions on cross-border cooperation (currently in force) were drafted many decades ago, when the overwhelming growth of ICTs was unimaginable. Setting the focus on Latin America, where legal regional integration has not yet reached the level attained by the European Union, this article assesses whether the selected legal sources reject, tacitly accept, or encourage the use of ICTs in international cooperation. The analysis of international conventions, some soft law instruments and domestic PIL rules supports the argument that an adequate legal framework that accepts the use of ICTs in international cooperation is necessary. Indeed, there is no turning back from the use of technologies in this field, where modern and suitable regulation would strengthen legal certainty, of utmost importance for the parties involved in cross-border litigation.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43361363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Giacalone, Irene Abignente, Seyedeh Sajedeh Salehi
{"title":"Small in value, important in essence: lessons learnt from a decade of implementing the European Small Claims Procedure in Italy and Belgium","authors":"M. Giacalone, Irene Abignente, Seyedeh Sajedeh Salehi","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1953733","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1953733","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the extent to which the European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP) has served the main purpose of the EU legislature to establish a legal framework to improve access to justice for creditors of cross-border small claims through a simplified, expedited and inexpensive redress mechanism. This article first analyses the implementation of the ESCP in Italy and Belgium. These two countries were chosen because of the authors’ research on the Small Claims Analysis Net (SCAN) Project (The SCAN Project was initiated in 2018 as a two-year project with the fundamental aim of evaluating the efficiency of the European Small Claims Procedure within several EU Member States (France, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, and Lithuania), besides raising awareness of this procedure among consumers and other judicial stakeholders. For the conducted activities as part of the SCAN project, see http://www.scanproject.eu accessed on 24 February 2021). The second part of this article deals with the impact of this regulatory instrument on access to justice for citizens, in view of the principle of judicial efficiency. Finally, this article focuses on the possibility of using this instrument for collective redress, on the one hand, and linking this procedure to online dispute resolution, on the other.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43797997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Internationalism in New Zealand conflict of laws","authors":"Richard L. Garnett","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1924423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1924423","url":null,"abstract":"Internationalism has long been regarded as an important goal of any national conflict of laws system. The three main branches of the subject – jurisdiction, choice of law and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments – should be developed in a manner sympathetic to the needs of international trade and interaction and allow for recognition of foreign interests. In exceptional cases, however, local public policy should also be available to protect private rights. Internationalism is a major theme in the recent book, The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand. This article assesses the state of internationalism in New Zealand conflict of laws and the contribution of the book to the issue.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48779171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Party autonomy, venue risk and jurisdiction agreements – the Singapore position reappraised","authors":"L. Ang","doi":"10.1080/17441048.2021.1953256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2021.1953256","url":null,"abstract":"Party autonomy is the defining principle of private international law today. Notwithstanding its broad acceptance, what does party autonomy mean in the context of jurisdiction agreements? The lack of commercial certainty in how the agreement to “submit” to the jurisdiction of the courts in the chosen forum will be interpreted and enforced by the courts defeats the very purpose of party autonomy itself, which is the management of venue risk by commercial parties in entering into cross-border transactions. In light of recent developments, the Singapore court has blurred the distinction between exclusive and non-exclusive jurisdiction agreements by holding that the same requirement of “strong cause” applies if a party reneges on its agreement to “submit”. This is premised on the same strict contractual analysis and enforcement of both types of agreements. It is against this background that the approach of the Singapore courts in determining the exercise of their own jurisdiction under the common law will be reappraised, along with a comparison with the practice of the English courts.","PeriodicalId":44028,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Private International Law","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47283825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}