Hans van Loon has been at the forefront of private international law for well over a quarter of a century. Since joining the Hague Conference on Private International Law in 1978, van Loon has presided over remarkable growth of the organization and significant changes to how it operates. He has been involved in the development of nine Hague Conventions. In his time as Secretary General, he has seen the organization's membership grow from 44 to 72 Members (with more than 60 non-Member States now party to at least one Hague Convention), which has turned the Hague Conference into a veritable world organization. The continued relevance of the Hague Conference in the 21st century owes much to the commitment of van Loon to private international law and his awareness of its role in a broader social context. This festschrift is a collection of contributions from friends and colleagues who have shared the negotiating table with Hans van Loon at various diplomatic sessions, collaborated with him on seminars and academic pursuits around the globe, and worked alongside him at the Permanent Bureau. Its pages are testament to a long and respected career, as well as to the meaningful relationships that Hans van Loon has developed along the way with academics, judges, practitioners, and government officials from various legal backgrounds.

A runner-up for the 2018 Chadwick Alger Prize, International Studies Association's International Organization Section, this provocative reassessment of the rule of law in world politics examines how and why governments use and manipulate international law in foreign policy.

This book provides a comprehensive explanation of what the right to a fair trial means in practice under international law. Focus on factual scenarios that practitioners may, it brings together sources and cases that define the right to a fair trial in criminal proceedings.

International law is not merely a set of rules or processes, but is a professional activity practised by a diversity of figures, including scholars, judges, counsel, teachers, legal advisers and activists. Individuals may, in different contexts, play more than one of these roles, and the interactions between them are illuminating of the nature of international law itself. This collection of innovative, multidisciplinary and self-reflective essays reveals a bilateral process whereby, on the one hand, the professionalisation of international law informs discourses about the law, and, on the other hand, discourses about the law inform the professionalisation of the discipline. Intended to promote a dialogue between practice and scholarship, this book is a must-read for all those engaged in the profession of international law.

Private international law has long been understood as a doctrinal and technical body of law, without interesting theoretical foundations or implications. By systematically exploring the rich array of philosophical topics that are part of the fabric of private international law, Philosophical Foundations of Private International Law fills a significant and long-standing void in the legal and philosophical literature. The contributions to this volume are testimony to the significant potential for interaction between philosophy and private international law. Some aim to expand and rethink classical jurisprudential theories by focusing on law beyond the state and on the recognition of foreign law and judgments in domestic courts. Others bring legal and moral theories to bear on traditional debates in private international law, such as legal pluralism, transnational justice, the interpretation of foreign legal policies, and the boundaries of the legal system. Several engage with the history of both private international law and legal and political philosophy. They point to missed opportunities when philosophers ignored law's transnational dimensions, or when private international law scholars failed to position their theories within broader philosophical schools of thought. Some seek to complete past attempts to articulate the philosophical dimensions of private international law that were never carried through. Thought-provoking and topical, this volume displays the varied themes cutting through the disciplines of private international law and philosophy.

This book centres on the ways in which the concept of imperativeness has found expression in private international law (PIL) and discusses “imperative norms”, and “imperativeness” as their intrinsic quality, examining the rules or principles that protect fundamental interests and/or the values of a state so as to require their application at any cost and without exceptions. Discussing imperative norms in PIL means referring to international public policy and overriding mandatory rules: in this book the origins, content, scope and effects of both these forms of imperativeness are analyzed in depth. This is a subject deserving further study, considering that very divergent opinions are still emerging within academia and case law regarding the differences between international public policy and overriding mandatory rules as well as with regard to their way of functioning. By using an approach mainly based on an analysis of the case law of the CJEU and of the courts of the various European countries, the book delves into the origin of imperativeness since Roman law, explains how imperative norms have evolved in the different conceptions of private international law, and clarifies the foundation of the differences between international public policy and overriding mandatory rules and how these concepts are used in EU Regulations on PIL (and in the practice related to these sources of law). Finally, the work discusses the influence of EU and public international law sources on the concept of imperativeness within the legal systems of European countries and whether a minimum content of imperativeness – mainly aimed at ensuring the protection of fundamental human rights in transnational relationships – between these countries has emerged. The book will prove an essential tool for academics with an interest in the analysis of these general concepts and practitioners having to deal with the functioning of imperative norms in litigation cases and in the drafting of international contracts. Giovanni Zarra is Assistant professor of international law and private international law and transnational litigation in the Department of Law of the Federico II University of Naples.

This helpful book will equip the lawyer – whether notary, barrister or solicitor – with the legal information necessary to understand what an authentic instrument is (and what it is not), what it can (and what it cannot) be used to do in the course of contentious or noncontentions legal proceedings. The book takes a two part approach. Part one focuses on an explanation of the nature of the foreign legal concept of an authentic instrument, setting out the modes of creation, typical domestic evidentiary effects and the typical domestic options to challenge such authentic instruments. Part two then examines and analyses authentic instruments under specific European Union private international law regulations, focusing on the different cross-border legal effects allowed and procedures that apply to each such. Rigorous, authoritative and comprehensive, this will be an invaluable tool to all practitioners in the field.

This book provides a substantial overview of the discipline of private international law viewed from a global perspective. The guide is divided into 4 key sections. Theory Institutional and Conceptual Framework Issues Civil and Commercial Law (apart from Family Law) Family Law Each chapter is written by a leading expert(s). The chapters address specific areas/aspects of private international law and consider the existing global solutions and the possibilities of improving/creating them. Where appropriate, the chapters are co-authored by experts from different legal perspectives in order to achieve as balanced a picture as possible. The range of contributions includes authors from Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. An essential resource for academics, practitioners and students alike.

Beth Simmons demonstrates through a combination of statistical analysis and case studies that the ratification of treaties generally leads to better human rights practices. She argues that international human rights law should get more practical and rhetorical support from the international community as a supplement to broader efforts to address conflict, development, and democratization.

This book explores the theory and practice of judicial jurisdiction within the field of private international law. It offers a revised look at values justifying the power of courts to hear and decide cross-border disputes, and demonstrates that a re-conceptualisation of jurisdiction is needed. Rather than deriving from territorial power of states, jurisdiction in civil and commercial cross-border matters ought to be driven by party autonomy. This autonomy can be limited by certain considerations of equality and critical state sovereign interests. The book applies this normative view to the existing rules of jurisdiction in the European Union and the Russian Federation. These regimes are chosen due to their unique positions towards values in private international law and contrasting societal norms that generate and accommodate these values. Notwithstanding disparate cultural and political ideas, these regimes reveal a surprising level of consistency when it comes to enforcement of party autonomy. There is, nevertheless, room for improvement. The book demonstrates to scholars, policy makers and lawmakers that jurisdiction should be re-centred around the interests of private actors, and proposes ways to improve the current rules.