Private international law is normally discussed in terms of rules applied in litigation involving parties from more than one State. Those same rules are fundamentally important, however, to those who plan crossborder commercial transactions with a desire to avoid having a dispute arise — or at least to place a party in the best position possible if a dispute does arise. This makes rules regarding jurisdiction, applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments vitally important contract negotiations. It also makes the consideration of transactional interests important when developing new rules of private international law. These lectures examine rules of jurisdiction and rules of recognition and enforcement of judgments in the United States and the European Union, considering their similarities, their differences, and how they affect the transaction planning process.

Private international law is normally discussed in terms of rules applied in litigation involving parties from more than one State. Those same rules are fundamentally important, however, to those who plan crossborder commercial transactions with a desire to avoid having a dispute arise — or at least to place a party in the best position possible if a dispute does arise. This makes rules regarding jurisdiction, applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments vitally important to contract negotiations. It also makes the consideration of transactional interests important when developing new rules of private international law. These lectures examine rules of jurisdiction and rules of recognition and enforcement of judgments in the United States and the European Union, considering their similarities, their differences, and how they affect the transaction planning process.

Pan-Africanism offers a unique vantage point to study Africa’s encounters with international law : first, as a continent whose political entities were excluded from the scope of application of the Eurocentric version of international law that was applied among the self-styled club of “civilized nations” ; second, through the emergence of African States as subjects of international law willing to contribute to the reform and further development of the law as a universal interstate normative system; and third, as members of the OAU and the AU acting collectively to generate innovative principles and rules, which, though applicable only in the context of intra-African relations, either go beyond those existing at the universal level or complement them by broadening their scope. This study examines those encounters through the various stages in the evolution of Pan-Africanism from a diaspora-based movement, engaged in the struggle for the emancipation of the peoples of the continent, to groupings of independent States and intergovernmental organizations which continue to promote African unity and influence the development of international law to make it more reflective of diverse legal traditions and values.

The first essay of this volume is written by Hans van Loon, who was the Secretary-General of The Hague Conference of Private International Law (HCCH) from 30 June 1996 to 30 June 2013, and who steered the Conference during a time of global expansion and transformation. He has been a forerunner in the formulation of modern private international law through multilateral treaties and was involved in the development of nine Hague Conventions, as well as the revision of the Statute of the Hague Conference. The continued relevance of the Hague Conference in the 21st century is in large part due to his commitment to the field of private international law and his awareness of its role in a broader social context. In recent years, private international law has become intertwined with public international law. Van Loon's essay on "At the Cross-Roads of Public and Private International Law - The Hague Conference on Private International [and its Work]" evidences that the system of modern international law is inseparable from private international law. One of the most highly qualified figures in international marine environment law is Prof. Bimal N. Patel, Director and Professor of Public International Law, Gujarat National Law University in India. The protection and preservation of the marine environment has been the subject of global and regional cooperation within the framework of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other multilateral treaties thereof. Prof. Patel's essay on "Marine Environment Law and Practice of China, India, Japan and Korea" provides a timely study of the material sources of international marine environmental law. Prof. Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann has been a pioneer in formulating the material part of international economic law in each of its developmental stage. His essays display remarkable intellectual vitality, illustrating his new initiatives in the subject of international economic law. He was first invited to lecture at the Xiamen summer programme in 2006, on "New Dimensions of International Economic Law", and he was again invited to deliver a lecture on "Methodological Problems in International Trade, Investment and Health Law and Adjudication" at the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of Xiamen Academy in 2015. With his practical experience with the World Trade Organization (WTO), and teaching and research at the European University Institute in Florence, Prof. Petersmann has not only promoted and illuminated public international economic law, he is also one of a group of highly qualified scholars who have been writing and collaborating with others in order to lay the foundation of modern international economic law.

This book looks at the question of extending the reach of the Brussels Ia Regulation to defendants not domiciled in an EU Member State. The Regulation, the centrepiece of the EU framework on civil procedure, is widely recognised as one of the most successful legal instruments on judicial cooperation. To provide a basis for the discussion of its possible extension, this volume takes a closer look at the national rules that currently govern the question of jurisdiction over non-EU defendants in each Member State through 17 national reports. The insights gained from them are summarised in a comparative report and critically discussed in further contributions, which look at the question both from a European and from a wider global perspective. Private international lawyers will be keen to read the findings and conclusions, which will also be of interest to practitioners and policy makers.

The Guide on the New York Convention provides an insight on the application of the Convention by State courts.