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The programme of the XLIII Seminar of the Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law (AMEDIP) is now available here. As previously announced, the XLIII Seminar will take place on 19-20 November 2020 for the first time online.

Among the topics to be discussed are the 1996 HCCH Child Protection Convention, the 1980 HCCH Child Abduction Convention, the 2019 HCCH Judgments Convention, the 2005 HCCH Choice of Court Convention, the HCCH Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-link, Human rights and PIL, the brand new T-MEC / US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), digital justice, COVID-19, and alternative dispute resolution.

The meeting will be held via Zoom.

Access details:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5554563931?pwd=WE9uemJpeWpXQUo1elRPVjRMV0tvdz09
ID: 555 456 3931
Password:  00000

It will also be transmitted live via AMEDIP’s Facebook page.

Participation is free of charge. The language of the seminar will be Spanish.

For more information, see AMEDIP’s website.

 

The European Parliament released today a study on “40 years of the Hague Convention on child abduction – legal and societal changes in the rights of a child” and another one on “The Child Perspective in the Context of the 1980 Hague Convention”.

They are attached to this post.

40-years-of-the-hague-convention-on-child-abduction-legal-and-societal-changes-in-the-rights-of-a-childDownload the-child-perspective-in-the-context-of-the-1980-hague-conventionDownload

The International Commercial Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Paris (France) delivered a few days ago (3 Novemberr 2020) a decision (RG 19/17529) on the law applicable to insurance with questions involving lois d’application immediate and ordre public.

Summary: “The ICCP-CA, which was seized on referral after a proceeding before the French Cour de cassation, held that the dispute concerning the conditions of the guarantee applicable under an insurance contract concluded between an insurance company and a company both governed by Polish law should be subject to Polish law, pursuant to the general rules of private international law on contractual obligations applicable in this case (§§ 51 to 60). The court dismissed the claim to set aside this law in favor of French law, on the basis of both French mandatory provisions (§ 44 to 48) and French international public policy (§ 61 to 68)”.

The decision is attached to this post.

3-novembre-2020-ccip-ca-rg-1917529Download

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Bordeaux, 7 janvier 2020

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Papeete, 29 septembre 2020

Tribunal judiciaire de Clermont-Ferrand, 29 septembre 2020

Tribunal pour enfants d'Angers, 29 septembre 2020

Cour d'appel de Versailles, 16 octobre 2020

Tribunal judiciaire de Marseille, 21 octobre 2020

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Paris, 26 mai 2020

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Papeete, 28 mai 2020

Banco San Juan Internacional Inc v Petroleos De Venezuela SA [2020] EWHC 2937 (Comm) is a lengthy judgment which I report here for its discussion of Rome I Article 9’s provisions on overriding mandatory laws /lois de police. The discussion is similar to the consideration of A9 in Lamesa Investments, to which reference is made.

The Claims comprise two substantial claims in debt by claimant BSJI, a bank incorporated in Puerto Rico, against defendant PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil and gas company.  PDVSA arue inter alia that payment obligations fall to be performed in the US and contends that US sanctions ought to be regarded as part of the order public (sic) of US law. It is said these are a central component of US foreign policy and its political and economic aims as regards Venezuela. It is argued that the terms of the Executive Orders themselves make clear that they are reactions to perceived political and human rights injustices in Venezuela and describe this as “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States“.

However Article 9(3) Rome I comes with a sizeable amount of discretion: ‘Effect may be given to the overriding mandatory provisions of the law of the country where the obligations arising out of the contract have to be or have been performed, in so far as those overriding mandatory provisions render the performance of the contract unlawful. In considering whether to give effect to those provisions, regard shall be had to their nature and purpose and to the consequences of their application or non-application.’

At 118 Cockerill J decides not to use the discretion for the same reason she had earlier dismissed application of the Ralli Bros principle. That rule was recently discussed in Colt v SGG. (As summarised here by Mrs Justice Cockerill at 77) it ‘provides that an obligation under an English law contract is invalid and unenforceable, or suspended in the case of a payment obligation, insofar as the contract requires performance in a place where it is unlawful under the law of that required place of performance.’ And at 79: ‘The doctrine therefore offers a narrow gateway: the performance of the contract must necessarily involve the performance of an act illegal at the place of performance. Subject to the Foster v Driscoll principle [also discussed in Colt and of no relevance here, GAVC], it is no use if the contract could be performed some other way which is legal; and it is no use if the illegal act has to be performed somewhere else’ and at 84 ‘it is only illegality at the place of performance which is apt to provide an excuse under the Ralli Bros doctrine; it also makes clear that the party relying on the doctrine will in general not be excused if he could have done something to bring about valid performance and failed to do so.’ 

The lex contractus is English law which already has the Ralli Bros rule. At 120 Cockerill J suggest that if the court in question has no equivalent rule of law, Article 9(3) will have a significant impact. But not if the lex contractus is English law.

I have to give this some further thought and I am not sure it would make much difference in practice but could it not be said that A9(3) Rome I exhaustively regulates the use of overriding mandatory law to frustrate a contract? This would mean that where Rome I applies, Ralli Bros and even Foster v Driscoll must not apply and must not be entertained. That is a question of some relevance, even after Brexit albeit with a complication: for to the extent (see discussions elsewhere) the Rome Convention re-applies to the UK post Brexit, that Convention’s Article 7 rule on mandatory rules ordinarly applies – albeit the UK have entered a reservation viz A7(1) on which see also here. That article gives  a lot of freedom for the forum to apply mandatory laws of many more States than the lex loci solutionis [Article 7(1) Rome Convention: ‘ When applying under this Convention the law of a country, effect may be given to the mandatory rules of the law of another country with which the situation has a close connection, if and in so far as, under the law of the latter country, those rules must be applied whatever the law applicable to the contract. In considering whether to give effect to these mandatory rules, regard shall be had to their nature and purpose and to the consequences of their application or non-application’].

At the very least an exhaustive role for A9 Rome I (and again in future for UK courts, potentially A7 Rome Convention; but see the note on reservation) would require from the judge a different engagement of the issues than under Ralli Bros. Again, whether indeed, and per Cockerill J’s suggestion here (she applies both Ralli Bros and A9)  in the case of England that would make much difference in outcome is uncertain. Update 6 November 10:20 AM: see prof Dickinson’s impromptu contribution to the issue here.

Geert.

(Handbook of) European Private International Law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 3, Heading 3.2.8, Heading 3.2.8.3.

3rd ed. forthcoming February 2021.

Alfonso Luis Calvo Caravaca (University Carlos III, Madrid) and Javier Carrascosa González (University of Murcia) are the author of a treatise on private international law, in Spanish, titled Tratado de Derecho Internacional Privado.

The three-volume work, published by Tirant lo Blanch, aims to provide an updated, systematic and comprehensive account of the discipline.

Private international law is presented through the analysis of legal rules, case law and scholarly writings, with more than 7.500 references to judicial decisions. The book provides an in-depth insight into European and Spanish private international law in force both for practitioners and students. It illustrates private international law in an accessible way by showing its rules ‘in motion’, i.e., as they actually work.

On 26 October 2020, Saint Kitts and Nevis acceded to the HCCH Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which will enter into force for Saint Kitts and Nevis on 1 February 2021.

Source: https://www.hcch.net/en/news-archive/details/?varevent=765

Cet arrêt rappelle que les lois relatives à la prescription de l’action publique sont applicables immédiatement à la répression des infractions commises avant leur entrée en vigueur, lorsque les prescriptions ne sont pas acquises.

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La violation du secret professionnel ne porte directement préjudice qu’à l’intérêt général et à l’auteur de ces confidences. En conséquence, l’action civile du médecin qui, en sa qualité d’employeur, est indirectement victime d’une violation du secret professionnel par son salarié, est irrecevable.

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Professor Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling), Dr Mihail Danov (University of Exeter) and Dr Jayne Holliday (University of Stirling) are delighted to be able to host the final AHRC funded Research Network workshop in partnership with the Journal of Private International Law.

• Online Workshop via Microsoft teams
• The Link to the event will be provided shortly.
• The workshop is over two days, Thursday 26th November and Friday 27th November

Please note that you are welcome to attend as much or as little of the workshop as you are able.

Programme for Thursday 26 November 2020

Chair – Professor Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling and co-editor of the Journal of Private International Law)

10.00-10.30 The Opportunities of Brexit for the development of Private International Law in the Commonwealth

Speaker – Professor Reid Mortensen (University of South Queensland)

10.30-10.45 Questions and discussion

10.45-11.15 Some Reflections to be drawn from the Pilot Study and Future Research Project/s

Speaker – Dr Mihail Danov (University of Exeter)

11.15-11.30 Questions and Discussion

11.30-11.45 Coffee Break

Chair – Dr Jayne Holliday (University of Stirling)

11.45-12.15 Connecting Factors in Private International Law – a global perspective

Speakers – Professor Susanne Goessl (University of Kiel) and Dr Ruth Lamont (University of Manchester)

12.15-12.30 Questions and Discussion

12.30-14.00 Lunch break

Chair – Dr Mihail Danov

14.00-14.45 Pluses and minuses of the UK being a party to the Lugano Convention after Brexit

Speaker – Professor Fausto Pocar (University of Milan)

14.45-15.00 Questions and discussion

Programme for Friday 27 November 2020

Chair – Professor Jonathan Harris QC (King’s College London, co-editor of the Journal of Private International Law and Serle Court)

10.30-10.50 Keynote speech by Lord Mance former UK Supreme Court Judge

10.50-11.15 Questions and Discussion and Comments by the Chair

11.15-11.45 Resolving Conflicts of Jurisdiction after Brexit at a global level

Speaker – Dr Ardavan Arzandeh (University of Bristol and soon to be National University of Singapore)

11.45-12.00 Questions and Discussion

Chair – Dr Jayne Holliday

12.00-12.30 The Hague Adults Convention 2000 and the role of the UK and the EU in the Hague Conference after Brexit

Speaker – Professor Pietro Franzina (Catholic University, Milan)

12.30-12.45 Questions and Discussion

Lunch Break

Chair – Dr Mihail Danov

15.00-15.30 Private International Law of Arbitration – a global perspective and the impact of Brexit on arbitration in the UK

Speaker – Professor Giuditta Cordero-Moss (University of Oslo)

15.30-15.45 Questions and Discussion

15.45-16.15 The AHRC Research Network on Private International Law: Some reflections on the way ahead for global private international law.

Speaker – Professor Paul Beaumont

16.15-16.30 Questions and Discussion

Professor Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling), Dr Mihail Danov (University of Exeter) and Dr Jayne Holliday (University of Stirling) are delighted to be able to host the third of four public AHRC workshops on Private International Law after Brexit from global, European, Commonwealth and intra-UK perspective.

• Online Workshop via Microsoft teams
• The Link to the event will be provided shortly.
• The workshop is over two days, Thursday 19th November and Friday 20th November

Please note that you are welcome to attend as much or as little of the workshop as you are able.

Programme for 19 November 2020

14:00 – 14:10 – The Workshop and its Context

Professor Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling), AHRC Network on UK Private International Law post Brexit: Project Objectives and Workshop Aims

14:10 – 16:00 – Cross-Border Litigation: Specific Issues in some specific sectors

Chair: Alex Layton QC (King’s College London and Twenty Essex)

Dr Jenny Papettas (University of Birmingham), Cross-Border Motor Claims After Brexit

Professor Yvonne Baatz (Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London), Brexit and Cross-Border Maritime Disputes

Professor Rob Merkin QC (University of Exeter), Cross-Border Dispute Resolution – Insurance Sector: Brexit Implications

Tom Sprange QC (King & Spalding), High-Value Disputes: A US Law Firm’s Perspective on Brexit

Dr Mihail Danov (University of Exeter), Cross-Border Litigation: New Data, Initial Brexit Implications in England and Wales and Long-Term Policy Choices

Questions and discussion

 

Programme for 20 November 2020

10:00 – 12:00 Global and Commonwealth Perspectives on Private International Law in the UK after Brexit (not restricted to commercial law)

Chair: Professor Paul Beaumont

Professor Mary Keyes (Griffith University, Australia), How Brexit may affect Commonwealth PIL: A View from Australia

Dr Christophe Bernasconi (Secretary General of the Hague Conference), A Global Perspective from the HCCH – the global international institution on private international law

Iain Mackie (Macfarlanes), A London Law Firm Perspective on international and commonwealth litigation after Brexit

Questions and discussion

Break

13:30 – 15:00 – EU/EEA and Intra-UK Commercial PIL: Brexit Challenges and Opportunities

Chair: Professor Eva Lein (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

Alex Layton QC, Interim Remedies

Professor Barry Rodger (University of Strathclyde), Re-designing (or not) the UK landscape in relation to PIL: An Intra-UK perspective on Brexit

Lindsey Clegg (Freeths), Re-designing (or not) the UK landscape in relation to PIL: A Regional Law Firm Perspective on Brexit

Questions and discussion

20-minute break

15:20 – 16:50 – Brexit and Cross-Border Competition Litigation

Chair: Professor Barry Rodger

Omar Shah (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP), Brexit and Cross-Border Collective Redress

Nick Frey (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP), Brexit – A Defendant’s Perspective on Competition Litigation

Dr Mihail Danov, Cross-Border Competition Litigation: Brexit Opportunities?

Questions and discussion

16.50 – 17.15 Prof Paul Beaumont and Dr Mihail Danov, Concluding Remarks and Next Steps

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