Agrégateur de flux

La Cour européenne des droits de l’homme estime que, pour condamner les journalistes, les juridictions internes se sont prononcées par des motifs pertinents et suffisants, sans excéder leur marge d’appréciation, et ont ainsi pu considérer que l’ingérence dans leur droit à la liberté d’expression était nécessaire, dans une société démocratique, à la protection de la réputation et des droits d’autrui.  

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The University of Edinburgh is looking to fill a new position in Global Law – which is understood to include private international law. More here.

Loredas
Libre circulation des personnes
Aménagement du temps de travail : les employeurs domestiques doivent mettre en place un système permettant de mesurer la durée du temps de travail journalier de chaque employé de maison

Caisse d’allocations familiales des Hauts-de-Seine
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Un État membre ne peut exclure du bénéfice d’allocations familiales le travailleur étranger dont les enfants, nés dans un pays tiers, ne justifient pas être entrés régulièrement sur son territoire

Ford Italia
Environnement et consommateurs
Responsabilité du fait des produits défectueux : un fournisseur peut être considéré comme producteur si son nom coïncide avec la marque apposée sur le produit par le fabricant

Kaduna
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Protection temporaire pour les personnes déplacées en provenance d’Ukraine : un État membre qui a étendu cette protection à certaines catégories de personnes, au-delà de ce que requiert le droit de l’Union, peut leur retirer ladite protection sans attendre la fin de la protection temporaire accordée en vertu du droit de l’Union

Halmer Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft
Libre circulation des capitaux
La participation d’investisseurs purement financiers dans une société d’avocats peut être interdite

Tudmur
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Politique d’asile : la suspension unilatérale des mesures de transferts de demandeurs d’asile par un État membre responsable ne justifie pas à elle seule le constat de défaillances systémiques

The latest issue of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly (Volume 73, Issue 4) features two short articles on private international law. Maria Hook, The Purpose of the Gateways for Service out of the Jurisdiction, pp 1023-1044 This article argues that the purpose of the English gateways for service out of the jurisdiction is to identify a […]

Une action introduite dans un État membre contre une société, tendant au paiement de marchandises livrées, bien qu’elle ne fasse état ni de la procédure d’insolvabilité antérieurement ouverte contre cette société dans un autre État membre ni du fait que la créance a déjà été déclarée dans la masse de l’insolvabilité, ne constitue pas une action dérivant directement de la procédure d’insolvabilité et s’y insérant étroitement. Par conséquent, elle ne relève pas de la compétence exclusive du tribunal de la procédure d’insolvabilité.

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Le délai imposé à la cour d’appel afin de statuer sur le recours contre une décision reconnaissant le caractère exécutoire, sur le territoire français, d’une condamnation prononcée par un État membre de l’Union européenne n’est assorti d’aucune sanction. 

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Mironovich Shor / Conseil
Relations extérieures
Déstabilisation de la Moldavie : le Tribunal confirme les mesures restrictives adoptées contre M. Shor et Mme Tauber pour l'organisation de manifestations violentes

TP / Commission
Marché publics
Pour exclure une société des procédures de passation de marchés publics et d’octroi de subventions de l’Union, l’ordonnateur doit évaluer le comportement de l’opérateur mis en cause de manière concrète et individualisée

The latest issue of the Cambridge Law Journal (Volume 83, Issue 2) features one article on private international law. Ardavan Arzandeh, Interpreting Multiple Dispute-Resolution Clauses in Cross-Border Contracts, p. 244-273 Cross-border contracts often contain a clause which purports to reflect the parties’ intention regarding how disputes arising from their agreement should be resolved. Some such […]

The latest volume (Volume 4) of the Ius Comparatum series, which includes the general reports as well as the national and special reports from the General Congresses and Thematic Congresses of the International Academy of Comparative Law, along with other publications related to the Academy’s activities, has been published. This volume focuses on the Localization of Damage in Private International Law, edited by Prof. Olivera Boskovic (Université Paris Cité).

The book addresses the complex issue of the localization of damage in private international law, a challenge that has long puzzled legal scholars and practitioners. This comparative work brings together contributions from different jurisdictions to address the many issues raised, as outlined in the book’s blurb below:

 

Localisation in private international law of torts is a notoriously difficult question. How do you localize financial or moral damage? What about latent damage? Should damage in the context of cyber-torts be localized differently? The great variety of tortious actions gives rise to endless difficulties ranging from banal situations involving material damage to climate change. Trying to find suitable solutions requires answering many difficult questions, such as the very definition of damage within the meaning of private international law rules, the influence of various considerations such as foreseeability, protection of the claimant, and the remedy sought. The contributions in this volume address these questions and more from the perspectives of 17 different countries, from Austria to Venezuela.

 

The table of content features the following contributions:

 

PART 1 – General Report

La Localisation du Dommage en Droit International Prive?, Rapport Général 3

Olivera Boskovic

 

PART 2 – National Reports

Austria 71

Florian Heindler

Canada (common law) 96

Joost Blom

China 134

Zhengxin Huo and Zheng Sophia Tang

Colombia 147

Daniel Rojas-Tamayo

Czech Republic 160

Monika Pauknerová and Magdalena Pfeiffer

France 190

Par Ludovic Pailler

Germany 213

Wolfgang Wurmnest and Benedikt Wössner

Hungary 260

Tamás Szabados

Italy 275

Angelo Davì

Japan 334

Naoshi Takasugi

Poland 361

Micha? Wojewoda and Marcin Kostwi?ski

Romania 388

Serban-Alexandru St?nescu, Teodora-Maria Bantas-V?duva and Ana-Maria Dimofte

Quebec 423

Naivi Chikoc Barreda

Turkey 452

Cemile Demir Gökyayla and Candan Yasan Tepeta?

United Kingdom 476

Sirko Harder

United States 515

Patrick J. Borchers

Venezuela 530

Claudia Madrid Martíne

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne précise les limites du pouvoir d’appréciation dont dispose l’administration de l’Union européenne lors de l’exécution d’un arrêt annulant une décision adoptée dans le cadre d’une procédure disciplinaire. 

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On Thursday, January 23, 2025, at 5 pm, the Société de législation comparée will present the Box Set Le droit étranger – Études de droit international privé comparé. The event will take place in 28 rue Saint-Guillaume – Amphitheater, 1st floor, 75007 Paris. Everybody is welcome to attend.

On the Box Set: Over the past ten years, the Société de législation comparée has conducted a series of collective studies on the theoretical, methodological, and practical issues related to accessing, understanding, and implementing foreign law. These issues are highly relevant today. Foreign law is playing an increasingly significant role in practice—not only for judges, of course, but also for other practitioners such as notaries, civil registrars, and lawyers. In France and elsewhere, when judges, notaries, or civil registrars are required to apply foreign law, understanding and implementing an unfamiliar legal system present numerous challenges. These challenges are even more daunting given that the treatment of foreign law retains a profoundly national dimension, despite the growing unification of conflict-of-law rules in Europe and in Americas.

The studies conducted by the Société de législation comparée aim to go beyond conventional analyses. By exploring the positive law of various countries and regions, they shed light on grey areas, shortcomings, and contradictions — abundant in what constitutes the very essence of Private International Law. Now gathered in a single volume they provide academics and practitioners with a comprehensive overview of the reflections carried out by jurists from diverse backgrounds on the most pressing issues in this often-neglected area of conflict of laws, along with their proposals to ensure the most accurate establishment of foreign law content.

The texts were compiled by Gustavo Cerqueira, professor at Université Côte d’Azur, and Nicolas Nord, Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status.

The European Judicial Network (EJN) in civil and commercial matters, set up in 2001 on the model of the European Judicial Network in criminal matters, aims at strengthening cross-border cooperation between national courts of EU Member States, including legal practitioners. Therefore, it supports the effective implementation of private international law instruments in the EU jurisdiction. […]

by Arvin LUO Fuzhong, Doctoral Candidate at Tsinghua University, Visiting Research Associate at HKU, LL.M. (Cornell), Bachelor of Laws (ZUEL).*

The doctrine of forum non conveniens is an important principle in civil procedure laws and frequently applied by courts in many legal systems, especially those of common law countries. According to this principle, when courts exercise their discretionary power to determine whether to exercise jurisdiction over the factual circumstances of a case, they primarily consider issues of efficiency and fairness to find the most appropriate forum to settle the dispute. If the acceptance of a case would lead to inefficient outcomes and consequences that are contrary to justice, the court may refuse to exercise jurisdiction on the grounds that it is not the appropriate forum.

Unrealized by many international scholars and practitioners,[1] China has been adopting (formally or informally) the doctrine of forum non conveniens for more than 30 years, first through a few court judgments, then provided in judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme People’s Court of PRC (“SPC”), which is binding for all Chinese courts, and finalized in the 2024 Civil Procedure Law of PRC. This article introduces the history of Chinese law adopting the doctrine of forum non conveniens in the past years, and the development of China’s law revision in 2023.

I. Judicial Practice Before Legislation or Judicial Interpretation

Chinese courts first applied the doctrine of forum non conveniens in a series of cases in the 1990s. For instance, in Jiahua International Limited, Ruixiang Limited v. Yongqiao Enterprise Limited, Zhongqiao National Goods Investment in 1995,[2] the SPC deemed it inappropriate for the original trial court to accept the case, though the connection factors are sufficient to establish jurisdiction, solely based on the appellants having representative offices and attachable property in the court’s location, thus dismissing the two plaintiffs’ lawsuits against the two defendants. Furthermore, in the case of Sumitomo Bank v. Xinhua Real Estate Limited in 1999,[3] the Supreme People’s Court explicitly applied the doctrine of forum non conveniens as a stand rule for the first time, though lacking any provision in Chinese laws back then: since both parties to the case were legal persons registered in Hong Kong, the place of signing and performance of the involved agreement was in Hong Kong, and the parties chose Hong Kong law as the governing law for the agreement, the Supreme People’s Court, considering the convenience of litigation, ruled that it was more appropriate for the Hong Kong court to have jurisdiction, and the Guangdong Provincial Higher People’s Court should not accept the case.

From these two early judicial practices, it can be seen that the courts correctly focused on whether the court was “appropriate” or suitable to accept the case, just as many foreign courts did, and seeing the “convenience” requirement in the doctrine of forum non conveniens as only one side of the coin. However, later legislation and academics misunderstood forum non conveniens, many Chinese scholars and practitioners did not realize the point is to determine whether the court is “appropriate” for the case mainly because of its name contains “conveniens”, but saw it as a tool to find whether other courts will be more “convenient” or economically efficient for the courts, ignored the fairness and justice requirements in this doctrine.[4]

II. Judicial Interpretations issued by the Supreme People’s Court of PRC

In Article 11 of the 2005 Minutes of the Second National Foreign-related Commercial and Maritime Trial Work Conference,[5] SPC provided seven conditions for applying forum non conveniens, focusing on whether the Chinese court would face “significant difficulties in determining facts and applying laws” and whether a foreign court would be more “convenient” for the trial. In 2014, the SPC issued the Interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the PRC,[6] which outlined six conditions for applying forum non conveniens in Article 532,[7] essentially consistent with Article 11 of the 2005 Minutes, still focusing on the convenience of the court in hearing the case rather than its appropriateness.

Such a provision on forum non conveniens caused four problems in practice.

First, based on the provisions of Article 532(4) of the 2014 Interpretations, once a case involves the interests of the Chinese state, citizens, legal persons, or other organizations, the court will rule to exercise jurisdiction over the case. The court over-applies this clause to justify its jurisdiction, without comparing the appropriateness (sometimes even nor the convenience) of Chinese courts with foreign courts, and even if the parties to the case are Chinese nationals or the facts are connected to China, the court tends to rule that it has jurisdiction over the case.

Secondly, due to the lack of clear explanation of the term “convenience” in the 2014 Interpretations, the court’s standards were vague when interpreting and applying forum non conveniens. There are cases where the court arbitrarily determines that it is “inconvenient” to hear the case because the applicable law is foreign law and the facts of the case occurred abroad, thus rejecting jurisdiction.[8] This approach not only fails to argue the appropriateness of foreign court jurisdiction but also unduly restricts one’s own jurisdiction. Different courts may apply this provision with a scope of discretion either too broad or way too narrow , hence failing to achieve the legislative purpose of “having the most appropriate court exercise jurisdiction”.

Thirdly, no matter whether in common law jurisdictions or civil law jurisdictions, when applying the doctrines of forum non conveniens or lis pendens, the foreign courts upholding the jurisdiction is an important consideration for domestic courts to reject the exercise of one’s own jurisdiction. However, Chinese courts have repeatedly exercised jurisdiction over cases even when foreign courts have already taken the cases or even delivered judgments, causing parallel litigation and multiple judgments.[9]

Finally, when the legal requirements in Article 532 of the 2014 Interpretations is met, the absolute rejection of the lawsuit is too rigid and inflexible , leaving no room for the court’s discretion in different cases. If the foreign court refuses to exercise jurisdiction, the parties who were rejected by Chinese courts must re-file the lawsuits, which may lead to an increase in costs and a significantly delay of justice.

III. The Development in the 2024 Civil Procedure Law of PRC

In response to the problems in practice, the Civil Procedure Law of the PRC which came into effect on 1 January 2024, introduced forum non conveniens in Articles 281 and 282.[10] Article 281 is about to find the more convenient court to hear the case, and Article 282 proposes five conditions for the application of forum non conveniens, which to some extent resolves the previous practical dilemmas and responds to the criticisms from the academia.

First, Article 282(1) of the 2024 Civil Procedure Law of PRC restricts the determination of “convenience” to cases where “it is evidently inconvenient for a people’s court to try the case and for a party to participate in legal proceedings since basic facts of disputes in the case do not occur within the territory of the People’s Republic of China”, avoiding the situation where courts determine that the doctrine of forum non conveniens should be applied merely because the parties agree to apply foreign law or there is evidence situated or disputes occurred abroad, thereby excessively narrowing jurisdiction.

Secondly, the new law deleted the over-broad exclusion standard in Article 532 (4) of the 2014 Interpretations by stating that “the national interest, or the interest of any citizen, legal person or any other organization of the People’s Republic of China”, instead, Article 282 (4) provides that “not involving the sovereignty, security, or public interest of the People’s Republic of China”, avoiding the situation where Chinese courts exercise jurisdiction merely because the parties are of Chinese nationality or the case facts are connected with China, and narrowing the exclusion from vague “national interest” to clearer “national sovereignty, security, or public interest”, thus better balancing the “fairness” requirements within the doctrine of forum non conveniens.

Lastly, Article 282 paragraph 2 adds that after the Chinese court applied the forum non conveniens exception to dismiss the action, if the foreign court refuses to exercise jurisdiction or does not take necessary measures to hear the case or does not conclude the case within a reasonable period, the Chinese court shall accept the case, safeguarding the procedural rights of the parties. This new provision resolves the problem reflected in Article 532 of the 2014 Interpretations and relevant practice where the party can only start over the action before the people’s court.

IV. Conclusion

Generally speaking, the 2024 Civil Procedure Law of PRC represents a successful improvement, it shows the balance of fairness and convenience in the new rules and serves the requirements of forum non conveniens. However, it still has room for further refinement to align more closely with the original intent of forum non conveniens.

On the one hand, in most common law jurisdictions, the fairness requirement of finding the most appropriate forum also includes the potential for oppressive or vexatious litigation, abuse of judicial process, or “real injustice” to the parties if the case is heard by the domestic court, rather than public interest provided in Article 282(4). A better approach seeks to identify the most appropriate forum for achieving justice in every single case.

On the other hand, due to the misunderstanding of finding the most “convenient” forum, even though Articles 281 and 282 consider both convenience and fairness requirements, they fail to synthesize these aspects into a single requirement of “appropriateness”. This leads to a fragmented consideration of “convenience” and “fairness” by the courts when applying the provisions, rather than understanding them as two sides of the same coin in the service of finding the most appropriate forum.

 

* Arvin LUO Fuzhong, Doctoral Candidate at Tsinghua University, Visiting Research Associate at HKU, LL.M. (Cornell), Bachelor of Laws (ZUEL). The author can be contacted via [arvinluo@outlook.com]. I extend the gratitude to Prof. Dr. Dr. CHEN Weizuo from Tsinghua University for his insightful observation regarding the misconception surrounding forum non conveniens in Chinese legislation, Prof. Dr. Matthias Weller and Prof. Dr. iur. Matthias Lehmann for their extraordinary lectures in the Hague Courses in Hong Kong and their guidance for me to draft this essay, and Mr. Achim Czubaiko for his detailed and thorough advice.

[1] The latest article regarding the forum non conveniens in Chinese law is published in 2024, gave a description of the development from judicial practice to legal provisions, but lacked theoretical analysis and comment on the reasons and consequences of the transformation of such development. Before that, only 2 articles were devoted to the practice of forum non conveniens in China until 2014. See Liang Zhao, Forum Non Conveniens in China: From Judicial Practice to Law, 11 The Chinese Journal of Comparative Law 1 (2024); Chenglin Liu, Escaping Liability via Forum Non Conveniens: ConocoPhillips’s Oil Spill in China, 17 U. PA. J.L. & Soc. CHANGE 137 (2014); Courtney L. Gould, China as a Suitable Alternative Forum in a Forum Non Conveniens Motion, 3 TSINGHUA CHINA L. REV. 59 (Fall 2010).

[2] Supreme People’s Court (1995) Jing Zhong Zi No. 138 Civil Ruling.

[3] Supreme People’s Court (1999) Jing Zhong Zi No. 194 Civil Ruling.

[4] Chinese theories and laws translated forum non conveniens as “Bu Fang Bian Fa Yuan”, which means “a court that is not convenient to settle the dispute”. Prof. Dr. Dr. CHEN Weizuo insists that it should be named as “Fei Shi Dang Fa Yuan”, which means “a court that is not appropriate to settle the dispute”.

[5] Fa Fa [2025] No. 26.

[6] Fa Shi [2015] No. 5.

[7] The number of which later changed to Article 530 after the judicial interpretation was revised in 2022, but the content remained unchanged. Article 532 stipulated that: “Where a foreign-related civil case falls under all the following circumstances, the people’s court may render a ruling to dismiss the plaintiff’s action, and inform the plaintiff to institute an action in a more convenient foreign court. (1) The defendant raises a claim that the case shall be subject to the jurisdiction of a more convenient foreign court, or raises an objection to jurisdiction. (2) The parties do not have an agreement specifying the jurisdiction of a court of the People’s Republic of China. (3) The case does not fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of a court of the People’s Republic of China. (4) The case does not involve the national interest, or the interest of any citizen, legal person or any other organization of the People’s Republic of China. (5) The people’s court has great difficulties in the determination of facts and the application of laws since major facts of disputes in a case do not occur within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, and the laws of the People’s Republic of China do not apply to the case. (6) The foreign court has jurisdiction over the case and it is more convenient for it to try the case.”

[8] Schott Solar Holdings Ltd. v. Schott Solar Investment Ltd., Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court Civil (Commercial) First Instance No. S17, 2014.

[9] See e.g. Chen Huanbin et al. v. Chen Weibin et al., Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court (2015) Civil (Commercial) Final No. 6718; Value Financial Services Ltd. v. Century Venture Ltd.& Beijing De Shi Law Firm, Supreme People’ Court (2014) Civil Final No. 29.

[10]  Article 281 provides that: “After a people’s court accepts a case in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article, if a party applies to the people’s court in writing for suspending the proceedings on the ground that the foreign court has accepted the case prior to the people’s court, the people’s court may render a ruling to suspend the proceedings, except under any of the following circumstances: (1) The parties, by an agreement, choose a people’s court to exercise jurisdiction, or the dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of a people’s court. (2) It is evidently more convenient for a people’s court to try the case.

If a foreign court fails to take necessary measures to try the case or fails to conclude the case within a reasonable time limit, the people’s court shall resume proceedings upon the written application of the party.

If an effective judgment or ruling rendered by a foreign court has been recognized, in whole or in part, by a people’s court, and the party institutes an action against the recognized part in the people’s court, the people’s court shall rule not to accept the action, or render a ruling to dismiss the action if the action has been accepted.”

 

Article 282 provides that: “Where the defendant raises any objection to jurisdiction concerning a foreign-related civil case accepted by a people’s court under all the following circumstances, the people’s court may rule to dismiss the action and inform the plaintiff to institute an action in a more convenient foreign court: (1) It is evidently inconvenient for a people’s court to try the case and for a party to participate in legal proceedings since basic facts of disputes in the case do not occur within the territory of the People’s Republic of China. (2) The parties do not have an agreement choosing a people’s court to exercise jurisdiction. (3) The case does not fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of a people’s court. (4) The case does not involve the sovereignty, security, or public interest of the People’s Republic of China. (5) It is more convenient for a foreign court to try the case.

If a party institutes a new action in a people’s court since the foreign court refuses to exercise jurisdiction over the dispute, fails to take necessary measures to try the case, or fails to conclude the case within a reasonable period after a people’s court renders a ruling to dismiss the action, the people’s court shall accept the action.”

Help draft a white paper on Addressing Conflict of Laws and Facilitating Digital Product Passports (DPPs) in Cross-border Value Chains to achieve legal coordination and establish traceability in global trade law. The White Paper aims to be published by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), which is a subsidiary, intergovernmental body of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and serves as a focal point within the United Nations Economic and Social Council for trade facilitation recommendations and electronic business standards.

Aligned with regional and global initiatives, the White Paper seeks to address conflict of laws and foster legal harmonization essential for the implementation of DPPs across borders. The white paper will also ensure that DPPs comply with international standards, promoting interoperability and supporting a globally consistent approach. It will focus on the critical raw materials to EV batteries value chain, but will have broad implications on other industries.

The proposed White Paper will (1) present the status quo of conflict of laws in existing national and international laws relating to the implementation of DPPs, and (2) propose solutions for legal coordination and facilitate trade, especially:

 

1. Analyzing initial uptake of DPPs by industry stakeholders and anticipated impact;
2. Coordinating diversified national laws for cross-border data transfer involved in DPPs;
3. Obtaining mutual recognition of ESG certificates whose data are required by DPPs;
4. Promoting Interoperability between different DPPs; and
5. Incorporating the UN Transparency Protocol and other UN/CEFACT industry standards/good practices into international and national trade laws to address legal conflicts in the adoption of DPPs.

In your EOI, please provide your name/position/association/email contact, indicate your expertise, and choose the ways to participate (multiple choice):

1. Participate as an active contributor in the working group to draft the White Paper (The group will typically have a one-hour meeting every two-three weeks from January to May 2025),
2. Participate as an observer in the working group to draft the White Paper,
3. Participate in research interviews, and
4. Any other ways that you think you can contribute.

Please refer for UN/CEFACT Critical Raw Materials project website (Get involved with the White Paper)

This is not a paid job.

Deadline to express your EOI is Friday 17 January 2025. Please email your EOI to the project lead Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang (Jeanne.huang@sydney.edu.au) and forward your email to her research assistant Raven Yang (raven.yang@sydney.edu.au).