On 16 June 2026, Stockholm University will host a release seminar for Scandinavian Studies in Law, Volume 72: ThePoliticisation of Private International Law.

As previously reported on the blog, Stockholm University hosted a Nordic conference last June on the politicisation of private international law. The conference presentations, together with several additional contributions, have now been collected in a volume of Scandinavian Studies in Law edited by Lydia Lundstedt, Erik Sinander and Jaan Paju.

The book will be freely available online at Scandinavian Studies in Law. Already, the table of contents is available here and the foreword is available here.

The back-cover text of the volume reads as follows:

Private international law (PIL) has long cultivated a self-image of disciplined modesty. It presents itself as technique: a set of coordinating rules identifying jurisdiction, applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, while remaining ostensibly indifferent to the substantive merits of competing legal orders. This self-understanding has always been partly accurate and partly aspirational. The classical ambition of PIL is not to eliminate difference but to manage it by facilitating cross-border commerce and family relations without imposing uniformity. Yet the environment in which PIL operates has changed. Migration, global supply chains, strategic litigation, digitalisation, climate-related harms, regulatory competition, and renewed geopolitical antagonisms increasingly challenge the traditional role of PIL, and call for a renewed assessment of its functions in a globalised and polarised world.

This volume of Scandinavian Studies in Law originates from the Nordic Group of Private International Law’s conference in Stockholm in 2025 on “The Politicisation of Private International Law.” Bringing together Nordic scholars from diverse perspectives, the volume explores how political, economic, and societal transformations shape contemporary PIL through six thematic sections.

At the release seminar, some of the contributors will briefly present their most important conclusions. A programme for the seminar can be read here.

Both in-person and online participation are free of charge, although physical seats are limited. Registration can be completed here.

A dedicated website for the Comparative Procedural Law and Justice (CPLJ) project has been launched.

Started in September 2020 by the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law led by Burkhard Hess with support from the Luxembourg Research Fund FNR, in January 2024 the CPLJ project and the Institute were transferred to the University of Luxembourg, which now coordinates the project until its completion. The CPLJ project studied comparative civil procedural law and civil dispute resolution systems globally, focusing on cultural contexts and effective approaches. Key areas included the impact of technology, alternative dispute resolution, access to justice, collective litigation, and the need for transparency and independence in justice systems.

The website provides information and references about the project, but it also includes a Publication section dedicated to hosting contributions corresponding to various parts of the project.

The French Ministry of Justice has launched a series of podcasts titled Droit vers l’Europe, presenting key-aspects of EU Judicial Cooperation in civil and commercial matters (in French) for judges and legal practioners.

The objective is to improve their understanding of EU instruments of private international law and thus facilitate their application in cross-border cases.

The introduction of the series reads as follows:

You are a legal professional and you are confronted with a European problem in a family, civil or commercial case? “Droit vers l’Europe” gives you the keys to apply the instruments of EU judicial cooperation. In each episode, an expert sheds light on a specific issue. This podcast will enable you to develop the right practices in the implementation of EU regulations.

The main topics of the series include the following regulations: Brussels I bis Regulation; European order for payment; European account preservation order; Taking of evidence and Service of documents; Circulation of authentic instruments; Handling of international successions; Brussels II bis Regulation and its recast; Applicable law to matrimonial property regimes of international couples; Applicable law to divorce and legal separation; Recovery of maintenance claims; Access to legal aid in cross-border cases.

The initiative is co-funded by the EU.

More information is available here.

A new version of the Insolvency Registers Interconnection search interface is now available on the e-Justice Portal.

Background

The EU-wide interconnection of national insolvency registers (IRI 2.0) has been developed in accordance with article 25 of the Regulation (EU) 2015/848 on insolvency proceedings across EU borders. EU Member States are required to publish relevant information on cross-border insolvency cases in a publicly accessible online register (see here) and these registers shall be interconnected via the European e-Justice Portal.

The decentralised system allows searches for insolvent debtors, either natural or legal persons, within the EU Member States registers that completed the implementation according to the Insolvency Regulation. It aims at ensuring that creditors and national courts receive relevant information and at preventing parallel proceedings to be opened within the EU.

New Version

Since 1 September 2021, the new system has replaced the current version based on voluntary participation under the insolvency Registers Interconnection search (IRI 1.0) and applicable in the following Member States: Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Romania (see here).

The new system applies (for now) in the following Member States: Belgium, Estonia, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Germany (see here).

More information here.

The European Group of Private International Law, also known as GEDIP (Groupe européen de droit international privé), has just launched a new website.

Created in 1991, GEDIP aims to study the interactions of private international law and European law in the broad sense. It is a place for the exchange of information and ideas for scientific and academic purposes, bringing together a small number of colleagues, mainly from Universities in various Member States of the European Union. The Group, chaired by Catherine Kessedjian, holds an annual three-day meeting at the invitation of a member.

The new website, which is bilingual (English and French), provides for easier and more comprehensive access to information regarding the Group’s activities, namely the documents adopted by the Group over the years and the papers drafted by individual members in preparation of the meetings.

Searches within the Group’s rich collection can be made by meeting and by topic.

The new website, like the previous one, also includes a list of acts and conventions (or projects) related to the European Union which include provisions of private international law.