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This guest post is written by Jie Zheng, Assistant Professor & Research Fellow, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics

 

On 12th September 2025, the 17th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress passed the Amendment to the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter “Chinese Arbitration Act”) to be effective from 1st March 2026[1], which was first adopted in 1994. Since its adoption, China has undergone enormous economic reforms and a more urgent need to align the legislation with international arbitration practices. There were only two minor revisions in 2009 and 2017 to fix technical inconsistencies with other procedural laws. In July 2021, the Ministry of Justice of China released a Draft Revision of the Arbitration Law for public consultation. [2] This was the first comprehensive reform since 1994. The draft was reviewed by the Sanding Committee of the National People’s Congress three times.

 

The first draft was reviewed by the Standing Committee of the NPC in November 2024, covering legal aspects of foreign-related arbitration reforms, improvement of the international reputation of Chinese arbitration, streamlining of procedure rules, and arbitration institutional reforms.[3] The second draft was reviewed in April 2025, focusing on the internal governance of arbitration institutions and the judicial support and review of arbitration.[4] The third draft review was completed on 12th September 2025 (the latest Amendment), adding rules on online arbitration and interim measures in the pre-arbitration stage, ensuring the investigation powers of the arbitral tribunal, and expanding the scope of ad hoc arbitration as outlined in the previous draft.[5]

 

I.              The urgent necessity of the amendment to the Chinese Arbitration Act

The current Chinese Arbitration Act has been effective since 1995. Back then, there were a few arbitration institutions, among which, CIETAC, CMAC are the most famous ones. According to the statistics, by August 2025, there are currently 285 arbitration institutions in China, taking over cases of parties from more than 100 nations or regions, involving financial disputes, e-commerce disputes, construction disputes, maritime disputes, intellectual property disputes, etc. [6]

 

Facing the global economic recession and anti-globalization trend, China has furthered its opening-up policies, including the initiation of its Belt and Road projects for foreign investment, establishing free trade zones and free trade ports to test advanced trade policies to be in alignment with the global trade practices. The amendment of the Chinese Arbitration Act is one of the necessary legislative reforms to promote the use of arbitration in international commercial disputes and enhance the attractiveness of foreign investment in China. The latest Amendment intends to serve for a high-quality and advanced level of opening-up, and create a business attractive environment to settle economic disputes. It includes Chinese characteristic features, together with foreign-related arbitration rules compatible with international practices.

 

II.           Major aspects of the latest Amendment to the Chinese Arbitration Act

• Arbitration institutional reforms

Legal nature of the arbitration institution in China

The term “arbitration institution” is applied to replace the old term “arbitration commission”. This shows the understanding of Chinese legislators towards the nature of arbitration institutions. The wording “arbitration commission” represented an administrative and bureaucratic feature, as they were established by the local government and business associations. Now, it is clearly stipulated in Article 13 of the amendment that arbitration institutions are charitable not-for-profit legal persons, stressing the independence of arbitration institutions.

 

The Amendment no longer distinguishes between domestic arbitration institutions and foreign-related arbitration institutions, as most arbitration institutions in China accept foreign-related arbitration disputes nowadays. Nevertheless, unlike in other jurisdictions where arbitration institutions are self-regulated under their statutes and supervised by judicial powers[7], in China, the arbitration institutions are still registered and supervised by the administrative department of justice pursuant to Article 14 and Article 26 of the Amendment.

 

Internal governance of arbitration institutions

The arbitration institution shall comprise one chairman, two vice chairmen, and seven to eleven members. There is an additional requirement on the qualifications of the members in Article 18 of the Amendment. Firstly, at least two-thirds of the members shall have expertise in law, trade and economics, and scientific technology. Secondly, the composition of the members should be adjusted every five years, and at least one-third of the members should be replaced to avoid conflict of interest.

 

• Support for online arbitration

Online arbitration has become a common practice in recent years in China.[8] Article 11 of the Amendment has confirmed the legality of online arbitration and the effectiveness of online arbitration. The parties may opt out of online arbitration if they do not agree.

 

• Arbitrators

Article 22 of the Amendment has excluded the double-heading of arbitrators who are prosecutors, judges, or any civil servants, who are restricted by law to act as arbitrators. It also welcomes foreign experts in law, trade and economics, maritime, and scientific technology to act as arbitrators.

 

Article 45 further requires the arbitrators to disclose any potential situations to the arbitration institutions in which a reasonable doubt could be cast on the independence or impartiality of the arbitrator.

 

Regarding the appointment of the third arbitrator in case of a three-member arbitral tribunal, Article 43 allows the parties can agree on different options: 1) the chief of the arbitration institution to appoint; 2) the parties to appoint themselves; 3) the already appointed two arbitrators to appoint.

 

• Interim measures in pre-arbitration proceedings

Article 39 of the Amendment has confirmed the possibility of the parties to apply for interim measures or injunctions before the initiation of the arbitration proceedings. The people’s court has the responsibility to proceed with the parties’ application.

 

• Arbitral tribunal’s extended powers

Article 55 empowers the arbitral tribunal’s power to collect evidence and request that relevant authorities assist. In the past, the arbitral tribunal had limited resources to collect evidence, except for requesting the parties to provide relevant evidence. With this latest amendment, the relevant authority has the duty to assist the arbitral tribunal if the evidence is hard to obtain by the arbitral tribunal.

 

• Setting aside and non-enforcement of arbitral awards

According to Article 72 of the latest Amendment to Chinese Arbitration Act, the time limit for applying for setting aside an arbitral award has been changed from 6 months to 3 months only. This is to enhance the efficiency of arbitration and avoid the party abusing the right of objection to delay the enforcement of arbitral awards.

 

During the enforcement stage, the respondent can invoke the same legal grounds of setting-aside the arbitral awards in Article 71 first paragraph to resist the enforcement of the arbitral awards. The Amendment has unified the legal grounds for setting-aside and non-enforcement applications of arbitral awards.

 

• Foreign-related Arbitration

Foreign-related arbitration refers to the two-track regime of arbitration in China, where domestic arbitration falls within a stricter judicial review over arbitral awards.[9] China traditionally uses a three-tiered approach to determine whether a dispute involves foreign-related elements: it looks at (1) who the parties are to the disputes, it assesses the (2) subject matter of the disputes, and looks at the (3) legal natures of the disputes.

Seat of arbitration

Before, Chinese Arbitration Act used the word “location of the arbitration commission” to determine the nationality of the arbitral awards. This point of view has been shifted by the judiciary towards the “seat theory” together with the development of case law.[10] In Article 81 of the Amendment, it is emphasized that the seat of arbitration should be chosen by the parties. In the absence of such choice in the arbitration agreement, the arbitration institutional rules should be used to determine the seat of arbitration. If there are no stipulations in the arbitration institutional rules regarding the seat of arbitration, the arbitral tribunal has the power to determine the seat of arbitration in accordance with the convenience principle. In the absence of the parties’ agreement, the applicable law to the arbitration proceedings and to the judicial review of arbitral awards should be the law of the seat of arbitration. The legislative bodies have confirmed the judicial practices supporting the seat theory and explored ways to ascertain the seat of arbitration.

 

Ad hoc arbitration

Article 82 of the Amendment allows parties in foreign-related maritime disputes, and parties from Free Trade Pilot Zones[11], Hainan Free Trade Port, and other regions approved by the Chinese government to choose ad hoc arbitration. The parties should nevertheless inform the Association of Chinese Arbitration about the parties’ names, seat of arbitration, the composition of the arbitral tribunal, and the arbitration rules, within three days after the establishment of the arbitral tribunal. The people’s courts should provide judicial support for the interim measures applied by the parties.

 

Foreign arbitration institutions welcomed in China’s FTZs

Article 86 of the Amendment supports foreign arbitrations to establish business entities in the free trade pilot zones, Hainan Free Trade Port, or other regions that are approved by the government in China. No further stipulations are made regarding the types of activities that such entities can engage in.

 

III.         Future alignment with international commercial arbitration practices: the way ahead

Compared with the 1994 Chinese Arbitration Act, the latest Amendment is an applaudable endeavor showing the determination of the Chinese government to modernize its arbitration laws and align with international practices. Nevertheless, in contrast to the draft amendment by the Ministry of Justice in 2021, the latest Amendment was a step backward.

 

First of all, the validity requirement of the arbitration agreement has not been amended. Considering that ad hoc arbitration is currently only allowed in a limited scope of practices, the requirement of a named arbitration institution has been kept. However, as perceived from the Longlide case[12], the validity requirement of a named arbitration institution also includes foreign ones.

 

Secondly, the Amendment did not change the competence-competence rules in the Chinese Arbitration Act. The court still has the primary role in determining the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, but it is worth mentioning that Article 31 of the Amendment has added the arbitral tribunal, together with the arbitration institution and the court, to be able to determine the jurisdiction of the tribunal in case the parties have objections against the validity of the arbitration agreement.

 

Thirdly, the tribunal still has no power to rule on parties’ applications for interim measures, which is left to the people’s court. Such an application must be passed from the arbitral tribunals to the courts.

 

Lastly, it’s a pity that ad hoc arbitration has a limited scope of application. It is restricted to maritime disputes and parties from FTZ-related areas, without further expansion to foreign-related arbitration.

 

As a conclusion, the Amendment demonstrates major advancement of the arbitration rules, but much can be done in the future with the economic development and international commercial practices proceeding in China.

[1] Amendment to the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China, President’s Order No. 54, <https://www.moj.gov.cn/pub/sfbgw/gwxw/xwyw/202509/t20250913_525029.html> accessed 15 September 2025.

[2] Ministry of Commerce, Draft Amendment to the Arbitration Law of the PRC for public consultation, < https://www.moj.gov.cn/pub/sfbgw/lfyjzj/lflfyjzj/202107/t20210730_432967.html> accessed 15 September 2025.

[3] He Rong, Minister of Ministry of Justice, Explanations on the Draft Amendment to the Arbitration Law of the PRC, < http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202509/t20250912_447719.html> accessed 15 September 2025.

[4] NPC, the Second Draft Amendment of the Arbitration Law of the PRC intends to further implement the foreign-related arbitration regime, < http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202504/t20250425_444888.html> accessed 15 September 2025.

[5] Xinhua Net, Amendment to Arbitration Law of the PRC, effective from 1st March 2026, < http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202509/t20250912_447759.html>. The full text of the Amendment can be accessed via < https://www.moj.gov.cn/pub/sfbgw/gwxw/xwyw/202509/t20250913_525029.html > accessed 15 September 2025.

[6] People’s Court Daily?Chief of the National People’s Congress Legislative Committee Civil Law Branch Answering Questions regarding the amendment of Chinese Arbitration Act,<https://www.zcia.cn/info/10990.html> accessed 15 September 2025.

[7] Such as ICC, SIAC, ICSID.

[8] See Online Arbitration Rules of various arbitration institutions, including CIETAC, Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, etc.

[9] See Article 71 and Article 83 of the Amendment to Chinese Arbitration Act.

[10] Brentwood Industries v. Guangdong Fa Anlong Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. (2015) Sui Zhong Fa Min Si Chu Zi No. 62. In this case, Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court rendered a judgment considering an arbitral award made by an ICC tribunal in Guangzhou as a foreign-related Chinese award that is subject to the enforcement regime under the Chinese Civil Procedure Law.

[11] China has approved 22 Free Trade Zones and 1 Free Trade Port (Hainan) across the country to experiment with new regulations and explore ways to improve business environment. See < https://investinchina.chinaservicesinfo.com/investspecials/chinapilotfreetrade/> accessed 17 September 2025.

[12]  Longlide Packaging Co Ltd v BP Agnati SRL [2013] Min Si Ta Zu Di 13 Hao.

An advanced article on conflict of laws for issue three of 2025 for Uniform Law Review was recently published.

Cayetana Santaolalla Montoya, “The challenges of blockchain arbitration from a private international law perspective”

This article aims to explore the emergence of blockchain arbitration and the legal challenges it poses from a private international law perspective. It examines the legal implications of this new type of arbitration and its feasibility under international regulatory frameworks (including the European Union, the USA, and the 1958 New York Convention), and it assesses leading decentralized justice platforms such as Kleros, Aragon, and Jur. The study highlights the fundamental differences between blockchain arbitration and traditional arbitration, identifying challenges such as the absence of a seat, the anonymity of parties and arbitrators, and the tension between decentralization and legal oversight. Finally, it explores future trends and proposes recommendations to adapt existing regulatory frameworks, concluding that, while blockchain arbitration will not replace classical arbitration in the short term, it could establish itself as a valuable complement to resolve disputes in the global digital economy.

Intersentia has recently published a new book by Michael Stürner (University of Konstanz), titled European Contract Law. This volume provides a comprehensive presentation of European contract law. It analyses the growing body of private law rules on an EU level and their interplay with domestic law and legal methodology. This includes new features in contract […]

As alluded to by Erik Sinander in his post on the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the CJEU in C‑600/23, Royal Football Club Seraing SA v. FIFA, et al. (“RFC Seraing”), the Court not only confirmed that the courts of EU Member States should have the possibility to review whether arbitral awards comport with EU public […]

The first view article of the third issue of the ICLQ for 2025 was published yesterday. It contains the following article on conflict of laws:

 

Ardavan Arzandeh, “Anti-Suit Injunctions in Support of Foreign Dispute-Resolution Clauses”

Courts in England ordinarily grant anti-suit injunctions when proceedings are (or will soon be) initiated in a foreign court in breach of clauses which subject disputes to the exclusive jurisdiction of courts, or refer them to arbitration, in England. Would they, however, grant such relief in support of foreign dispute-resolution clauses? In UniCredit Bank v RusChemAlliance, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom answered this question in the affirmative, thus expanding the English courts’ power to issue anti-suit injunctions. This article seeks to assess the likely extent of this expansion and the future implications it could have for the law on anti-suit injunctions in England. The article also examines the Supreme Court’s pronouncements on the other significant issue in the case concerning the law governing arbitration agreements and their potential effect following the enactment of the Arbitration Act 2025.

Readers of this blog who are keen on the theme of commercial courts might be interested in the recent report ‘An interim assessment during the start-up phase of the Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC)’. This document is authored by T. Geurts, Y.N. Overvelde & M.P.C. Scheepmaker. The authors conducted an empirical study for the Research and Data Centre (WODC), an independent knowledge agency of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security.

Along with the full report in Dutch, a summary in English and a helpful accompanying post are available online.

The report provides several insights, including information on the NCC’s caseload in the past years, the countries where the litigating parties were domiciled, and the legal practitioners’ familiarity with the NCC’s work. Furthermore, the authors reflect on the future perspectives of the NCC.

Earlier posts on commercial posts are available here, with further links.

EU Member States may not confer the authority of res judicata on an arbitral award over a sports dispute linked to an economic activity within the territory of the Union, unless the consistency of that award with the principles and provisions of EU law which form part of EU public policy has first been subject […]

As already announced on this blog, the next edition of the Winter School of the European Association of Private International Law will take place in Como from 2 to 6 February 2026. The general topic of the upcoming edition is Values in Private International Law. The teaching staff will consist of Laura Carpaneto (University of […]

Isabelle Jäger-Maillet, a family lawyer who also serves as the International Coordinator for the German Institute for Youth Services and Family Law in Heidelberg (DIJuF), kindly provided a presentation of her dissertation titled Fortentwicklung des grenzüberschreitenden Unterhaltsvorschussregresses, on the improvement of maintenance recovery by public bodies, recently published by Wolfgang Metzner Verlag. In European countries, […]

Gina Gioia, Jordi Nieva-Fenoll, and Seyedeh Sajedeh Salehi are inviting submissions for a Special Issue of the Italian-Spanish Journal of Procedural Law, which will be published under the title “From Gavel to Grid: Reimagining Civil Justice in the Digital Era”.

The details can be found in the attached Call for Papers.

We are happy to share the attached Call for Abstracts from the European Yearbook of International Economic Law for its 2026 volume, which will be dedicated on the “Reconstruction of International and European Economic Law”.

Abstracts can be submitted until 30 November 2025.

Legal Studies, the journal of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS), has published an interesting article by Jared Foong on a recent case from Singapore concerning the recognition of foreign solvent proceedings under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency. Although this article concerns a development under Singaporean law, it will be of interest to the […]

I have long argued – in articles, blog posts, and amicus briefs – that it violates due process to invoke a forum selection clause to obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant who was not a party to the agreement in which the clause appears. This position has not yet achieved universal acceptance. The state courts in New York, in particular, have repeatedly held that forum selection clauses can be used to assert personal jurisdiction over non-party defendants who are “closely related” to the parties or the transaction. In this blog post, I use a recent case—Bandari v. QED Connect Inc.—decided by Magistrate Judge Gary Stein (SDNY) to highlight some of the problems with the “closely related” test.

The dispute in Bandari grew out of a stock purchase agreement. The plaintiff, Jalandher Bandari, was a resident of Texas. He agreed to purchase shares in QED Connect, Inc., a New York holding company, from David Rumbold, a resident of Illinois. The sale was orchestrated by Nanny Katharina Bahnsen, the chief executive officer of QED and a resident of Colombia. There were three parties to the stock purchase agreement: Bandari, Rumbold, and QED. (Bahnsen signed the contract on behalf of QED.) The agreement contained an exclusive forum selection clause choosing the state and federal courts sitting in New York City.

Although Bandari tendered the purchase price (approximately $150,000), he never received the shares he was promised. When Bandari asked for his money back, Bahnsen made excuses and eventually stopped responding to his emails. Bandari subsequently brought a lawsuit in federal court in New York against QED, Rumbold, and Bahnsen. After none of the defendants appeared to defend the suit, Bandari moved for a default judgment.

The federal courts in New York will not grant a default judgment until they determine that personal jurisdiction exists. The court quickly concluded that it had personal jurisdiction over Rumbold and QED because they had signed the contract containing the New York forum selection clause. The court then went on to conclude—wrongly, in my view—that Bahnsen was also subject to personal jurisdiction in New York because she had negotiated the sale and signed the contract on behalf of QED:

A party to a contract with a forum-selection clause may invoke that clause to establish personal jurisdiction over a defendant that is not party to the contract but that is “closely aligned” with a party, or “closely related” to the contract dispute itself, such as corporate executive officers. As the CEO of QED and the individual who negotiated the transaction with Bandari and signed the Agreement on behalf of QED, Bahnsen is “closely related” to both a party to the Agreement and to the dispute. Thus, she is also bound by the forum selection clause.

This conclusion is inconsistent with basic principles of agency law; an agent is not a party to a contract that the agent signs on behalf of a disclosed principal. It is inconsistent with basic principles of contract law; a person may not be bound by an agreement without their express consent. And it is inconsistent with basic principles of personal jurisdiction; a person who lacks minimum contacts with the forum is not subject to personal jurisdiction unless she consents. Nevertheless, the court concluded that Bahnsen was subject to personal jurisdiction in New York because she was “closely related” to the parties and the transaction.

This conclusion is made all the more jarring by that fact that the court also held that Bandari had failed to state a valid claim for breach of contract against Bahnsen because she was not a party to the agreement. In the court’s words:

[A]lthough Bandari’s breach of contract claim is asserted against all three Defendants, there is no basis for a finding of contract liability as to Bahnsen. Bahnsen is not a party to the Agreement and she signed the Agreement solely on behalf of QED. It is well established that a corporate officer who signs a contract on behalf of the corporation cannot be held personally liable for the corporation’s breach, absent a showing that the officer was the alter ego of the corporation. The Complaint does not adequately plead an alter ego theory of liability against Bahnsen and hence it does not state a viable breach of contract claim against her.

The court held, in other words, that Bahnsen (1) was subject to personal jurisdiction in New York by operation of the forum selection clause, but (2) could not be held liable for breach of contract because she was not a party to the agreement containing the forum selection clause. The hand that authored the personal jurisdiction section of the opinion was seemingly unaware of what the hand that authored the breach of contract section of the opinion was doing.

One can, of course, reconcile these conflicting statements by taking the position that forum selection clauses are not subject to the usual rules of agency law, contract law, and personal jurisdiction. There are, however, constitutional problems with such an approach. Under this line of reasoning, a person residing in a foreign country (Colombia) is subject to personal jurisdiction in New York when she negotiates and signs a contract that contains a New York forum selection clause on behalf of the entity that employs her even though she is not the alter ego of the company and is not herself a party to the agreement. These actions are, in my view, insufficient to subject her to personal jurisdiction in New York.

Although the court declined to enter a default judgment against Bahnsen on the claim for breach of contract, it did enter a default judgment against her on the plaintiff’s claims for securities fraud and common law fraud. A contract to which she was not a party, therefore, paved the way for the assertion of jurisdiction and the imposition of liability. New York has long sought to attract litigation business from around the world. It has been largely successful in those efforts. If that state continues to assert personal jurisdiction over foreign executives merely because they negotiate and sign contracts in their corporate capacity, however, one wonders whether these executives may start directing the company’s attorneys to choose another jurisdiction.

[This post is cross-posted at Transnational Litigation Blog.]

We are delighted to share the Call for Papers for a virtual early-career conference on ‘Global Harm, Local Justice | The Future of Cross-Border Torts’, hosted by K.C. (Kirsten) Henckel and M.A.S. (Martin) Bulla from the University of Groningen on 6 February 2026.

Abstracts of 300–500 words must be submitted by 1 December 2025.

On 24 October 2025, a conference titled Adapting Private International Law in an Era of Uncertainty will be held at the Asser Institute in The Hague. The conference will begin with a welcome by Machiko Kanetake (Asser Institute) and the opening remarks by Vesna Lazić (Asser Institute and Utrecht University), followed by a keynote address […]

The second issue of the Chinese Journal of Transnational Law for 2025 was just published. It contains a special issue on “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Asia” with Ralf Michaels,  Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Hans van Loon as guest editors. It builds on The Private Side of Transforming our World – UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law.

Ralf Michaels, Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Hans van Loon, “Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Asia”

Since the publication of ‘The Private Side of Transforming our World – UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law’ in 2021, the importance of private international law for sustainable development is increasingly being recognised. The article describes the background to that project and surveys its subsequent reception and further development in scholarly literature. Moreover, it traces the need for, and trend towards, regionalization of the relevant research, including in Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. It can thus serve as introduction to the special issue on private international law and sustainable development in Asia.

Jiabao Zhou, “Private International Law as Foreign Relations Law? Orienting Chinese Private International Law Towards Sustainable Development”

The Chinese Foreign Relations Law (‘the FRL’) – a collection of rules legalizing China’s foreign policies – was enacted in 2023. While technically a set of policy goals and public law rules, it provides an opportunity to orient Chinese private international law (‘PIL’) towards sustainable development. Notably, the FRL connects Chinese PIL with sustainable development for the first time and revisits the conceptions of what is being understood as ‘domestic’ versus ‘foreign’, and ‘public’ versus ‘private’. This article explores how PIL can leverage this shift to accommodate sustainability as a normative value, foster positive interactions with foreign laws and courts, and develop a robust and tailored regulatory function. By doing so, Chinese PIL, as a form of foreign relations law, can expand its function beyond conflict resolution and develop a role in China’s foreign policy and global sustainability governance.

 

Ke Mu, “The Role of State-Owned Enterprises in the Pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals”

Business conduct and enterprises’ commitment to social responsibility have a far-reaching impact on corporate shareholders and external stakeholders, but they are not effectively aligned with the globally recognized agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The necessity and difficulty of studying state-owned enterprises’(SOEs) roles in corporate governance and the SDGs agenda stem from their unique position at the intersection of various legal sectors and their underrated status within the SDGs schemes and relevant studies. In particular, the issue of characterizing SOEs from the perspective of private international law is emblematic, raising doubts about whether to treat SOEs as private or state entities in international dispute resolution and how such categorization may affect their performance of sustainability obligations. A sovereign function test is routinely invoked for deciding whether state immunity applies to SOEs. This test proposes four criteria: (a) state ownership and control, (b) nature of the activities at issue, (c) principal purposes of the entities, and (d) specific purposes of the activities at issue. However, given the limitations of this test, an additional criterion can be added consisting in examining whether the SOEs could have carried out the same act – or could have seized the same property – without relying on state power. Zihao Fan, “Promoting Cities’ Sustainable Development vis Access to Justice: Observations on the Jurisdiction of Chinese Mainland” This article explores how transnational jurisdiction influences cities’ sustainable development in view of providing access to justice in SDG 16. While cities are often regarded as administrative units within a State, effective jurisdictional designs can promote transnational access to justice on city-level, providing efficiency, transparency and predictability, which in turn attracts people, capital and technology required to advance the sustainability objectives embodied in SDG 11. By analysing China’s jurisdictional framework, this article examines both general jurisdictional rules and special jurisdictional arrangements that impact cities. The revised monistic approach of the 2023 Civil Procedure Law indirectly affects cities by determining how foreign-related cases are allocated, while special jurisdictional arrangements, such as China International Commercial Courts and local International Commercial Courts, directly strengthen selected cities’ dispute resolution capabilities. Additionally, the evolution of China’s centralised jurisdiction system demonstrates the importance of adapting jurisdictional strategies to economic development and judicial expertise. Adeline Chong and Stefanie Schacherer, “Extra-territorial Liability and Enforcement: Finding Ways to Tackle Haze Pollution is Southeast Asia” Periodic transboundary haze pollution resulting from land fires in Southeast Asia poses significant sustainability challenges for the region. The majority of transboundary haze is attributed to peatland fires in Indonesia, with winds bringing haze pollution to other countries in the region. Attempts have been made to tackle this problem. At the public international law level, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement which entered into force in 2003. However, the lack of sanctions for breach and the adoption of the principle of non-interference between ASEAN member states meant that this agreement and other policy-oriented measures have had limited effect. In the hopes of ameliorating the problem, Singapore enacted the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014. This act, which is extraterritorial in scope, imposes criminal and civil liability on entities responsible for haze pollution which causes damage in Singapore. Nevertheless, practical issues still remain. This paper examines regional efforts to deal with the transboundary haze pollution problem. In particular, it accesses the Singapore Act from a private international law viewpoint, by considering jurisdictional, choice of law, and judgement enforcement issues. Lastly, suggestions are made as to concrete steps forward.

Bùi Th? Qu?nh Trang and Nguy?n Th? H?ng Trinh, “Exploring the Potential for Climate Change Litigation in Vietnam: A Forward-Looking Assessment”

Climate change litigation is increasingly recognized not just as a strategic tool but also as an effective method for advocating more robust climate change mitigation and adaptation targets and ensuring the enforcement of environmental laws by governments and private actors alike. In several developed countries, climate change litigation emerged, with typical cases setting precedents in other jurisdictions. In the context of Vietnam, a developing country with a unique communist legal system, climate change litigation presents a novel area of inquiry; thus, this study explores the nascent field of climate litigation, assessing its viability in Vietnamese judicial practices. Notably, the study suggests that in Vietnam’s typical jurisdiction, the vertical climate actions are less likely to materialize compared to horizontal cases. Furthermore, in these international horizontal litigations, the choice of law rules primarily mandate the application of local law.

Anselmo Reyes, “The Impartial Judge, Climate Change and the Conflict of Laws”

The article reflects on how an impartial judge might approach disputes involving environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, especially climate change. Section II expresses doubts about the efficacy of a purely private international law analysis in dealing with climate change litigation and suggests ways of addressing such concerns. Section III focuses on Asia and comments on the extent to which the observations in section II are applicable to the Asian context. Section IV offers tentative thoughts, in light of sections II and III, on how judges can and should conduct themselves in ESG disputes relating to climate change.

 

Zixuan Yang, “Providing Legal Identity for All: A Comparative Study of the Cross-Border Recognition of Personal Status in the European Union and Asian Regionalization”

In this paper, I argue that the civil registration and its distance from the private international law (PIL) pose peculiar challenges for achieving the goal of ‘Providing Legal Identity for All’ among the Asian intra-regional circular migrants. Civil registration of personal and family status combines public administration with private law. More public registration of personal status means more involvement of local public order and interest. Therefore, registration regulations are less attentive than PIL to the potential foreign-related legal situations. Hence, will greater public involvement in registration raise a conflict between the defence of ordre public and individuals’ aspirations to maintain their personal status? The territorial limits of administrative act have so far foreclosed the possibility of transnational civil registration. When it comes to the identity that does not fit into the domestic categories, questions arise whether and how to recognize them in the domestic legal system. This poses special burdens and additional costs for intra-regional circular migrants if their legal identity cannot be well defined and recognized in the several jurisdictions concerned, which is essentially contrary to the presumed erga omnes effect of individuals’ identity rights.

 

Stellina Jolly and  Prakriti Malla, “International Child Abduction Jurisprudence in India and Nepal: An Evaluation of Gender Consideration in the Attainment of SDG 5″

Despite the growing incidence of child abduction facilitated by the mobility and prevalence of non-resident marriages involving Indian and Nepalese citizens with foreign nationals, both India and Nepal have refrained from acceding to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Indian executive has vocally supported criticisms against the Abduction Convention, advocating for the inclusion of domestic violence as a basis for exception under the Abduction Convention and proposed domestic legislation. In contrast, the official position of Nepal remains undisclosed, with recent case law offering limited insight into its engagement with the Abduction Convention. Against this backdrop, the article scrutinizes the recognition of gender perspectives in statutory provisions and case law in India and Nepal concerning international child abduction. It should be noted that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which calls for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres – including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation – also includes addressing domestic violence in family spheres. This article, therefore, considers the inclusion of gender considerations within the realm of child abduction as a core consideration in the attainment of SDG 5.

 

Rong-Chwan Chen, “Taiwan’s Path Toward Sustainable Development Goal 5 in Private International Law”

Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) has different implications for countries. This paper explores Taiwan’s path toward SDG 5 and examines the legal environment surrounding this path. Taiwan’s unilateral implementation of UN conventions effectively bridges certain gaps between itself and the international community. Reforms in private international law and the legalization of same-sex marriage have further promoted gender equality from a conflict-of-laws perspective. The recognition of the exceptional validity of polygamous marriages illustrates the pursuit of justice in cross-border legal conflicts. It is observed that alternative applicable laws, ordre public, and overriding mandatory provisions serve as effective tools for states to advance SDG 5. Taiwan’s traditional rules on ancestor worship associations collide not only with modern legislation on estate succession but also with foreign laws when the membership disputes involve foreign elements. This paper argues that the nature of rules on estate succession should be distinguished from that of ancestor worship or family lineage, and that SDG 5 is helpful in modernizing the local customary rules on ancestor worship associations. It further suggests that the provisions on legal persons in the Choice of Law Act 2010 may be applied by analogy to determine the governing law for the membership of unincorporated ancestor worship associations.

 

Advocate General Norkus opined early July in Case C-485/24 Locatrans Sarl v ES. At issue is the application of the protective regime for lex contractus viz employees under the Rome Convention (applicable ratione temporis in the case at issue).

The facts of the case echo, but with distinctions, CJEU Weber, Koelzsch, and  Voogsgeerd, as well as Nogueira (Ryanair). The novelty of the question in current case is the period of work to be taken into account in determining which law is applicable if the employee has worked for his or her employer in two separate stages: first, in several States and next, during the period preceding the end of the employment relationship, on a permanent basis in a single State, which parties clearly intend to be the new place of habitual performance.

The opposing views are summarised (23):

Referring to the judgment in Weber, Locatrans and the Czech Government submit, inter alia, that where the employee carries out the same activities for his or her employer in more than one State, account must be taken of the whole duration of the employment relationship in order to identify the place where the person concerned habitually worked and, consequently, the law applicable in the absence of a choice made by the parties. For its part, the French Government considers that, that being the case, the most recent period of work could be taken into account in order to determine, in the light of all of the relevant circumstances, the existence of closer connections with another country. By contrast, ES maintains, as a preliminary point, that, despite the wording of the question referred for a preliminary ruling, he did not change his place of work during his employment relationship. He submits, therefore, that his situation is clearly distinguishable from that which gave rise to the judgment in Weber, where the worker had performed his duties successively in two different places of work. In any event, even if the judgment in Weber were to be held to be relevant to the present case, ES argues that reference must be made to the most recent period of work. For its part, the Commission maintains that, in a case such as that at issue in the main proceedings, in which the dispute concerns the termination of the contract and where the relevant facts for the purposes of coming to a judgment arise at the end of the contract, account must be taken of the most recent period of work.

(36) the core rule per Koelzsch is

‘the country in which the employee habitually carries out his [or her] work in performance of the contract’ is that in which or from which, in the light of all of the factors which characterise that activity, the employee performs the greater part of his or her obligations towards his or her employer’

In footnote the AG adds that what must be at the heart of the national court’s assessment is the activity of the worker and not that of the employer (for which he refers to the Handbook, much obliged and humbly noted).

Having summarised the relevant case-law, (51) the Opinion takes a decisive turn when the AG refers to the need to interpret the regime with stability in mind:

[I] would point out that, in so far as the employment relationship is a permanent one, the elements characterising that relationship, such as the performance of work, the place of performance of the work or the remuneration, may change. In particular, in a cross-border employment situation, the country where the employee ‘habitually carries out his [or her] work’ may also change depending on changes in objective circumstances. In other words, the law applicable in the absence of a choice made by the parties may change due to the very nature of the employment relationship, which continues over time. However, since one of the objectives of the Rome Convention is to fortify confidence in the stability of the relationship between the parties to the contract, a change in the applicable law resulting from changes in factual circumstances must also be the result of a clear intention on the part of the parties. That change must not affect legal relationships which arose prior to that change, so that, rationae temporis, the dispute remains governed by the law applicable at the time those circumstances arose (tempus regit actum). (footnotes omitted)

Tempus regit actum is a principle with direct appeal and application for procedural law, for issues of intertemporary law (scope of application ratione temporis, particularly of statute) and for formal validity in private international law. Its application for substantive provisions in private international law is less obvious (there are traces of it of course in Rome I’s Article 3(2) on voluntary change of applicable law, Article 11’s formal validity, and Article 13 incapacity).

For employment contracts, in my opinion the very first agreed “place from where the employee habitually carries out his work” must be seen as an implicit mutual choice of law, and any mutually agreed (or at least  transparent and uncontested) change in said place, as an implicit change in that choice of law. Article 3(2) must then be applied mutatis mutandis

The parties may at any time agree to subject the contract to a law other than that which previously governed it, whether as a result of an earlier choice made under this Article or of other provisions of this Regulation. Any change in the law to be applied that is made after the conclusion of the contract shall not prejudice its formal validity under Article 11 or adversely affect the rights of third parties.

(52) the AG follows a similar approach focused on deciding what it is the parties are actually litigating about, to then fix the lex causae applicable to the claim, to the relevant, mutually agreed, place of habitual employment in force at the time:

In the light of the foregoing, the essential question is what is, in the present case, the relevant criterion for determining, in concreto, the point in time at which the subject matter of the dispute arose in order to identify the place where the employee habitually carried out his work and, consequently, the law applicable in the absence of a choice made by the parties.

(54) the AG like the Commission identifies the nature of the claim as one in which the employee’s dispute concerns the termination of the contract. The facts relevant to the determination of that dispute in casu it seems arise at the end of that contract, hence the most recent period of employment (with fixed place of employment in France) should be taken into account to determine the lex causae. (57) Gleichlauf is mentioned as one of the reasons for suggesting so.

If followed by the CJEU, a sophisticated litigant could of course abuse this approach to formulate their claim in such a way as to lead to an attractive applicable law. However as a general rule the approach seems a solid one to me.

Geert.

EU Private International Law, 4th ed 2024, 3.39 ff.

Opinion Norkus AG this morningFavor laboris in Rome Convention, applicable lawPlace of habitual place of employment must focus on most recent period if place has become fixed, by mutual agreementC‑485/24 Locatrans curia.europa.eu/juris/docume… (citjng ia your truly – sincerely humbled)

— Geert Van Calster (@gavclaw.bsky.social) 2025-07-03T11:57:31.029Z

This post was written by Sara Migliorini and João Ilhão Moreira, who both teach at the Faculty of Law of the University of Macau. It builds on article they co-authored, titled Clashing Frameworks: the EU AI Act and Arbitration, just published on the European Journal of Risk Regulation. The EU AI Act (hereinafter, the “Act” […]

The third issue of the Journal of Private International Law was published today. It contains the following articles

Andrew Tettenborn, “English conflicts law at sea – the transfer and creation of proprietary interests in ships”

Surprisingly, the law applicable to the creation and transfer of proprietary interests in ships remains remarkably obscure as a matter of the English conflict of laws. In this article an attempt is made to investigate the relevant authorities and to reconcile them. The conclusion is that, subject to exceptions, English courts will recognise transfers if they are effective under any one or more of (1) the lex situs, (2) the law of the registry and (3) (in the case of equitable interests) English law.

 

Gerard McCormack, “Hands up for UK joining the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 but lukewarm on the UK returning to the Lugano Convention 2007”

This article considers the relative merits of the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 and the Lugano Convention 2007 for the UK in the post-Brexit era viewed primarily from the extent of the insolvency exceptions in both Conventions (and in the Hague Choice of Court Convention 2005) as they apply to UK schemes of arrangement and UK restructuring plans for companies. The article briefly takes account of some broader issues relating to arbitration and exclusive choice of court agreements, primarily through the lens of The Prestige litigation, before reaching a conclusion in favour of the UK having become a Party to the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 in 2025 and against the UK rejoining the Lugano Convention 2007.

 

Guangjian Tu and Tiezheng Yang., “The doctrine of public policy in Chinese courts’ choice of law in the modern age”

It is generally agreed that in private international law the doctrine of public policy plays a fundamentally important role in the application of foreign law and can work as a safety valve. This doctrine has also been reflected in Chinese legislation as in many other jurisdictions. However, the application of this doctrine in Chinese courts is inconsistent, which could not only lead to uncertainty but also jeopardise justice. This article examines how the doctrine of public policy has been applied in choice of law in Chinese courts since 2010 when the new Chinese choice of law codification was made. It finds that there are basically four main types of cases in which Chinese courts have applied the doctrine of public policy to exclude the application of foreign laws. After detailed analysis and reflection, it is suggested that this doctrine continue to be applied for some of those cases but not for others.

Katja Karjalainen, “Acquiring a child abroad and paths to parenthood in Finland: The difference between private adoptions and international surrogacy arrangements”

The article delves into issues of legal tourism and global justice. By referencing the Hague Adoption Convention as well as Finnish legal approaches and case law with respect to the confirmation of a child-parent relationship following private intercountry adoptions and international surrogacy arrangements (ISAs), the article elaborates on the problematics of recognition. Doubts with respect to ethical and commercial aspects of arrangements and the deprivation of rights of vulnerable individuals have been presented with respect to both cases. The article shows the paradox between the legal approaches in these two cases that both entail an independent endeavour to get a child abroad. In doing so, the article underlines how the regulatory framework built up by the Hague Adoption Convention for the area of intercountry adoptions creates more space for global justice and collective interests than non-regulation, but may, in some cases, be detrimental to individual rights and interests. Non-regulation of ISAs underlines individual rights and interests and at the same time erodes domestic legal norms.The article delves into issues of legal tourism and global justice. By referencing the Hague Adoption Convention as well as Finnish legal approaches and case law with respect to the confirmation of a child-parent relationship following private intercountry adoptions and international surrogacy arrangements (ISAs), the article elaborates on the problematics of recognition. Doubts with respect to ethical and commercial aspects of arrangements and the deprivation of rights of vulnerable individuals have been presented with respect to both cases. The article shows the paradox between the legal approaches in these two cases that both entail an independent endeavour to get a child abroad. In doing so, the article underlines how the regulatory framework built up by the Hague Adoption Convention for the area of intercountry adoptions creates more space for global justice and collective interests than non-regulation, but may, in some cases, be detrimental to individual rights and interests. Non-regulation of ISAs underlines individual rights and interests and at the same time erodes domestic legal norms.

 

Maria Hook, “Are “extraterritorial” consumer laws anti-internationalist?”

This article asks whether extraterritorial consumer laws, defined as laws that create a risk of regulatory overlap, are anti-internationalist. Drawing on New Zealand law as a case study, the article argues that extraterritorial consumer laws may recognise intersecting but legitimate regulatory interests. If the plaintiff gets to choose the law, indirectly or directly, there is an appropriate process for identifying the applicable law based on the principle of favor laesi. In this sense, extraterritorial consumer laws do not just give effect to local interests, to be balanced with competing internationalist concerns. Rather, they themselves may reflect an internationalist approach to private international law, even if the approach is not universally adopted. The article then explores potential implications of this argument for the court’s analysis of the applicable law and jurisdiction. Courts may be more willing to embrace an extraterritorial interpretation of consumer laws, and to lean into the plaintiff’s ability to rely on foreign law despite local law also being applicable in principle (as has happened in New Zealand). Courts may also treat the plaintiff’s choice of forum with deference when they decide whether to exercise jurisdiction on the basis of the doctrine of forum (non) conveniens.

 

Aleksandrs Fillers, “Venue in the Brussels Ia Regulation”

Anybody who has even superficial knowledge of EU private international law has heard about its cornerstone – the Brussels Ia Regulation. Typically, the major issue when dealing with the said regulation is to determine which Member State can hear the dispute. However, the Brussels Ia Regulation has a second layer. In addition to rules of international jurisdiction, the Regulation, as interpreted by the CJEU, contains venue rules that determine which specific court can hear a case. This issue is far less known to courts and practitioners and often glossed over by scholars. The article aims to provide a comprehensive study of venue rules in the Brussels Ia Regulation.

A conference will take place in Wrocław, on 17-18 September 2025, under the title Simplifying Cross-Border Judicial Videoconferencing in Europe. The event, part of the SimpliVi Project, is organized by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice (Project Coordinator) in collaboration with Court of Appeal Wrocław (Project Partner and Conference Host). Those interested in attending the […]