On 13 September 2022, the French Société de législation comparée will hold a conference on ascertainment of foreign law under the French Draft Code of Private International Law. The full programme of the conference can be found here.
The speakers will discuss the provisions of the draft code on ex officio application and proof of foreign law, which were presented on this blog here.
The new provisions are an attempt to reform proof of foreign law before French courts by seeking inspiration from foreign models, in particular models which involve academic institutions to report to the court on the content of foreign law and models which allow cross examination of expert witnesses on foreign law.
The conference could have been a great opportunity to confront the new provisions with foreign models which do rely on academic institutions or cross examine witnesses in court, but most unfortunately virtually all speakers are French academics and practitioners (the only exception being the director of the Swiss institute of comparative law).
The conference will take place 60 boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg, 75007 Paris, from 5 until 7:30 pm. Attendance is free, but registration is required at emmanuelle.bouvier@legiscompare.com.
Thank you for sharing this information with the readers of the blog.
It should be noted that this conference is part of a cycle devoted to foreign law. Several events have thus taken place in Paris since 2016, with numerous publications. The comparative approach has given rise to many developments which can be consulted in the work entitled “La connaissance du droit étranger, à la recherche d’instruments de coopération adaptés – Etudes de droit international privé comparé”, dir. G. Cerqueira et N. Nord, éd. Société de légsilation comparée, 2020, https://legiscompare.fr/ecommerce/fr/colloques/872-la-connaissance-du-droit-etranger-a-la-recherche-d-instruments-de-cooperation-adaptes.html”
In addition, many participants will once again share their knowledge of the solutions adopted by foreign systems in this area, some of which they practice on a daily basis. This is for example the case for me in my capacity as Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status.
I hope that you will join us at this event. It would be a pleasure and an honor for us and an opportunity to discuss the foreign law regime in detail.