New Danish Textbook on Private International Law

Johan Tufte-Kristensen (Copenhagen University) and Mustafa Sert (Gorrissen Federspiel law firm) have authored a new Danish textbook titled International privatret (Private International Law). The book focuses exclusively on choice of law issues, omitting procedural aspects such as jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments. It offers a comprehensive overview of choice of law issues from a Danish perspective.

Spanning 316 pages, the book is organized into seven parts and 18 chapters. It begins with an introduction in Part I. Chapter 1 explores the rationales, ideas, and methodologies of private international law, while Chapter 2 provides a historical overview, tracing the field’s roots from non-legal religious concepts in ancient civilizations to its development as a legal discipline in Denmark.

Part II (Chapters 3 and 4) covers general issues. Chapter 3 discusses classical choice-of-law methodologies, including characterization, substitution, and the application of foreign law. Chapter 4 addresses the limits of choice of law, focusing on procedural boundaries, public policy considerations, and evasion of laws.

Part III delves into family law, spanning five chapters. Chapter 5 covers personal law, Chapter 6 focuses on children’s rights, Chapter 7 examines marriage, Chapter 8 discusses matrimonial property, and Chapter 9 explores succession law.

Commercial law dominates Parts IV to VII. Part IV (Chapter 10) addresses company law. Part V (Chapters 11–13) focuses on contracts. Chapter 11 highlights Denmark’s unique position within the EU, applying the 1980 Rome Convention instead of the Rome I Regulation. Chapter 12 discusses choice of law for general contracts, while Chapter 13 surveys specific contracts such as consumer, transport, and arbitration agreements.

Part VI examines non-contractual obligations, mirroring the structure of Part V. Chapter 14 discusses general issues regarding choice of law for non-contractual obligations, Chapter 15 explores connecting principles and factors, and Chapter 16 addresses specific areas like product liability and intellectual property.

Finally, Part VII concludes with Chapters 17 and 18, focusing on property law and creditor protection. Whereas other EU member states are bound by the Rome II Regulation for non-contractual obligations, Denmark is not. The authors emphasize that the choice of law rules in the Rome II Regulation cannot generally be made applicable by analogy in Denmark (p. 243). This conclusion can be compared to the contrary position taken in Norwegian private international law, where the Supreme Court repeatedly has stated that the Rome II Regulation shall be made applicable by analogy for issues where there are no explicit Norwegian conflict of law rules (see e.g. my blog post of 1 July 2024, “Norwegian Supreme Court on the Law Applicable to Traffic Accidents”). Instead of applying the lex loci damni rule (which is the general rule set out in Article 4.1 of the Rome II Regulation), Denmark traditionally relied on the lex loci delicti as its general rule for non-contractual matters but has gradually adopted a centre of gravity test for establishing the law applicable to non-contractual matters (p. 253).

The ambitious work by Tufte-Kristensen and Sert provides an excellent survey of Danish private international law. As Denmark does not apply the EU private international law regulations like other EU member states, such an overview is both valuable and thought-provoking. The book’s clear and logical structure makes it a useful resource for practitioners and scholars alike. For anyone interested in private international law and proficient in a Scandinavian language, International privatret is an essential addition to their library.