Yearbook of Private International Law: Volume 26
The latest volume of the Yearbook of Private International Law is out. Edited by Andrea Bonomi and Ilaria Pretelli, it is the first volume of the Yearbook published by Brill.
The volume consists of six sections: the usual “Doctrine” section; a section on choice of court agreements; a section on court decisions; a section exploring the case law of several EU Member States regarding Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 on matters of succession (the European Succession Regulation); a section on the “COVID-19 Impact on International Family Law”; two “National Reports” (from Mongolia and Bangladesh, respectively); and the the presentation of two monographs in the “Forum” section.
The Doctrine section comes with four contributions: Paving the Way for an Internationalist Representation of Private International Law Today, by Pascal de Vareilles-Sommieres; The Law Applicable to Third-Party Effects of the Assignment of Claims – The travaux préparatoires for an EU Regulation, by Francesca C. Villata; New Private International Law Rules in the Law of Persons in Germany – Gender and Names, by Christiane von Bary; and Cross-border Service of Documents via Social Media “Notifications” in Global and EU Private International Law, by Stefano Dominelli.
Here’s how the editors of the Yearbook present the section in their foreword:
The volume’s Doctrine section opens with a foundational contribution exploring an internationalist conception of private international law, inviting us to reconsider the theoretical underpinnings of our discipline. This reflective approach sets the tone for a volume that addresses both emerging challenges and enduring questions in cross-border legal relations. The same section delves into the complexities of modern commercial relationships through a detailed analysis of the law applicable to third-party effects of assignment of claims. In the context of civil law, the Doctrine section highlights how contemporary social developments are reflected in the new German private international law rules concerning gender and names, revealing how evolving concepts of personal identity impact transnational relations. Finally, the section examines cross-border service of documents via notices on social media, illustrating how digital communication may transform traditional procedural mechanisms.
The following are the three essays included n the section devoted to choice of court agreements: Delineating EU Law from Member State Law – The Latest from the CJEU on Choice of Court Agreements (Inkreal, Lastre, Maersk), by Matthias Weller; A Swiss Federal Court Decision on Jurisdiction Clauses and Multiple Defendants, by Tanja Domej; The Law Governing Forum-Selection Clauses in International Commercial Contracts – Interpretation and Enforcement in Light of Choice-of-Law Provisions, by Lyssa Maria Brito.
The “Court decisions” section features an article by Johan Meeusen entitled The Interaction between Freedom of Establishment and Corporate Conflict of Laws in the European Union – The CJEU’s Edil Work 2 Judgment, and an article by Etienne Pataut on Selling Citizenship – A Challenge for Europe
A Commentary on the CJEU’s Decision in Commission v Malta.
As stated in the editors’ foreword, this volume of the Yearbook
also completes … the extensive overview of the application of the European Succession Regulation by the national courts of the Member States, inaugurated last year. After covering the case law of fifteen Member States in the previous volume, this year’s section presents judicial decisions from eight additional Member States, providing a comprehensive picture of the interpretative challenges that the Regulation continues to generate in its practical implementation.
The States covered are Belgium, France and the Nethrlands (all three by Patrick Wautelet), Finland (Iina Tornberg and Katja Karjalainen), France (Patrick Wautelet), Latvia (Inga Kačevska), Lithuania (Eglė Čaplinskienė), Malta (Paul Cachia), and Romania (Ioana Olaru).
The three contributions in the specialised section on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international family law (International Issues of Surrogacy during the Pandemic and the War in Ukraine, by Bohdana Ostrovska; The Effects of the Pandemic on Cross-border Parental Relations and in Child Return Proceedings, by Regiane Pereira; The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on International Child Abduction – An Analysis of the Grave Risk Exception and the Prompt Enforcement of the Return Order, by Thiago Lindolpho Chaves) are presented as follows in the foreword:
[the contributions] examine, on the one hand, how those extraordinary circumstances affected surrogacy arrangements in Ukraine during the war, and, on the other hand, how they interfered with the functioning of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, particularly with respect to the application of the grave risk exception. This section illustrates how contemporary humanitarian crises are placing unprecedented strain on international legal frameworks. It illustrates the farreaching consequences of the breakdown of these frameworks, which affect cross-border legal relations, family structures, and commercial arrangements across continents. Reflecting on contemporary challenges, it is clear that the unprecedented disruptions to the international legal order caused by armed conflicts and humanitarian crises worldwide pose a serious threat to established international law. The scale and nature of the civilian casualties and destruction witnessed in Gaza have raised fundamental questions about the continued effectiveness of international humanitarian law. These events compel us to examine whether current legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms fulfil the post-Holocaust commitment enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. The ongoing armed conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza directly challenge the legal architecture designed both to prevent the use of force as a means to settle international disputes and the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians.
The national reports are by Tamir Boldbaatar and Batzorig Enkhbold (Child Protection in Mongolia in the Context of the HCCH 1993 Adoption Convention), and by Mohammed Rakib-ul-Hassan (Beyond Judicial Patchwork – The Urgency of a Comprehensive Statute for Private International Law in Bangladesh).
Finally, the forum is concerned with the monographs of N. Kansu Okyay (Hybrid Dispute Resolution Clauses in International Law) and Manuel José Segovia González (Cross-border Insolvency Cooperation Agreements – Elements for a Contract Theory of Joint Jurisdiction).
Further information can be found here.