Part 1 General and Special Reports, 3 The Provenance of the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pertegás Marta
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Legal Domain ◽  
First Time

This chapter examines the institutional provenance of the Hague Principles from mandate to adoption, which can be traced back to 2006. At a meeting of the Council on General Affairs and Policy of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) that year, the Secretariat of the HCCH was tasked with preparing a feasibility study on the development of an instrument concerning choice of law in international contracts. However, this was not the first time that the HCCH included the topic of international (commercial) contracts on its agenda. Earlier work carried out by the HCCH in this legal domain share similar objectives with the Hague Principles, that is, the consolidation of party autonomy in the private international law of contracts. In sketching the recent and more remote origins of the Principles, the chapter describes the most salient phases in the development of the Hague Principles between 2006 and 2015. It then places this instrument in the broader context of the HCCH’s contribution to party autonomy in international contracts.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.1 Africa: Coordinated by Jan L Neels and Eesa A Fredericks, 14 Ethiopia: Ethiopian Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gebremeskel Fekadu Petros
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Federal Supreme

This chapter reflects on Ethiopian perspectives on the Hague Principles. Ethiopia does not have a codified law regulating matters of private international law, nor is there detailed case law from which one could derive key principles of the subject. While the shortage of private international law in Ethiopia is evident, the problem is most severe in the area of applicable law. In relation to party autonomy in choice of law, the Federal Supreme Court’s Cassation Division has handed down some interesting decisions, and these indeed have the force of law in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the approach of the Ethiopian courts in respect of party autonomy is not very developed and clear, including in the field of international commercial contracts. While it would be prudent for Ethiopian courts to refer to the Hague Principles as persuasive authority, this requires awareness of the existence of the Hague Principles. In the long term, the Hague Principles will surely find their way into Ethiopian law.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.1 Africa: Coordinated by Jan L Neels and Eesa A Fredericks, 18 Tunisia: Tunisian Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elbalti Béligh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
The Hague ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Clear Solution

This chapter focuses on Tunisian perspectives on the Hague Principles. The main source of private international law in Tunisia is the 1998 Code of private international law (CPIL). Tunisia has not signed any convention on choice of law in international contractual matters. However, it is worth mentioning that, in the field of international arbitration, some conventions to which Tunisia is party include an express reference to party autonomy. As a matter of principle, Tunisian courts are bound only by Tunisian law and other international instruments duly ratified by Tunisia. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon that Tunisian courts refer to foreign laws, international conventions not ratified by Tunisia, model laws, foreign case law, or even foreign legal literature when such reference is deemed persuasive. Therefore, it can be safely said that nothing prevents Tunisian courts from referring to the persuasive authority of the Hague Principles. This would be the case if the parties invoked the Principles in support of their arguments in the case where a clear solution is lacking under Tunisian law.

International Approaches as Plausible Solutions to Resolve the Battle of Forms under the Indian Law of Contract

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Saloni Khanderia
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Indian Law ◽  
Standard Terms

The Indian court’s rigid application of the last-shot rule to resolve the problem of the battle of forms among conflicting standard terms in domestic disputes has resulted in unreasonableness and has fostered the conclusion of contracts in bad faith. Likewise, although there is substantial evidence to prove the existence of party autonomy in the choice of law and jurisdiction under Indian private international law, its courts have failed to delineate a coherent solution for “battles” arising on these aspects. The paper thus examines the plausibility of employing the solutions prescribed by the unidroit’s Principles on International Commercial Contracts and the Hague Conference on Private International Law’s Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts on the subject, as gap-fillers to interpret, supplement or develop the Indian national and private international law.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.2 Asia: Coordinated by Yuko Nishitani and Béligh Elbalti, 38 Taiwan: Taiwanese Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsai Hua-Kai
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
International Law ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Domestic Law

This chapter highlights Taiwanese perspectives on the Hague Principles. The Act Governing the Choice of Law in Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements is the primary source of choice of law rules in Taiwan’s private international law (Taiwanese PIL Act). Party autonomy is set up as a prioritized connecting factor for the choice of law rules on contracts under the Taiwanese PIL Act. Due to the fact that Taiwan is not a Member State to most of the international organizations such as the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the source of Taiwan’s private international law is mainly domestic law. Being a non-binding instrument, the Hague Principles can be taken into consideration in Taiwan as an informal source of choice of law rules on contracts. However, the Hague Principles do not provide for rules determining the applicable law in the absence of the parties’ choice. Article 20 of the Taiwanese PIL Act is, in this respect, more comprehensive. Nonetheless, the Hague Principles may be used to interpret, supplement, and further develop rules only to Article 20(1) concerning party autonomy and the limitation on that autonomy such as public policy.

Part 1 General and Special Reports, 2 The Story of Party Autonomy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Symeonides Symeon C
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Basic Principle ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Hague ◽  
International Rule ◽  
Historical Origins

This chapter discusses the principle of party autonomy. The term ‘party autonomy’ as used in this book is a shorthand expression for the notion that parties to a multistate contract should be allowed, within certain parameters and limitations, to agree in advance on which law will govern the contract. This notion is now considered a universal principle of private international law (PIL) or conflicts law. In 2015, the year in which the Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts, only eleven of the 161 countries surveyed did not adhere to this principle. It has been characterized as ‘perhaps the most widely accepted private international rule of our time’, a ‘fundamental right’, and an ‘irresistible’ principle that belongs to ‘the common core’ of nearly all legal systems. Naturally, there are significant variations from one legal system to the next about not only the exact scope, modalities, parameters, and limitations of this principle, but also about its theoretical source and justification. The chapter then traces the historical origins and subsequent evolution of the basic principle.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.2 Asia: Coordinated by Yuko Nishitani and Béligh Elbalti, 20 Bahrain: Bahraini Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elbalti Béligh ◽  
Shaaban Hosam Osama
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
General Application ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
General Article ◽  
The Hague

This chapter assesses Bahraini perspectives on the Hague Principles. In Bahrain, private international law rules are mainly found in domestic legislation. The main legislative text in this regard is the Act No 6/2015 on Conflict of Law in Civil and Commercial Matters involving a Foreign Element (the 2015 Act). The Act includes a number of rules of general application, among which is Article 4 on party autonomy in addition to some other rules relating to choice of law in contractual matters in general (Article 17) or applicable to special types of contracts and other juristic acts. It can be safely said that nothing in principle prevents the Bahraini courts from referring to the Hague Principles as a persuasive authority nor from using its solutions in the interpretation or the development of the applicable rules and principles of private international law in Bahrain. This is particularly true knowing that many of the solutions adopted by the 2015 Act are particularly consistent with the Hague Principles’ solutions.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.1 Africa: Coordinated by Jan L Neels and Eesa A Fredericks, 10 Angola and Mozambique: Angolan and Mozambican Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dias Rui ◽  
Nordmeier Carl Friedrich
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Law ◽  
Procedure Codes

This chapter explores Angolan and Mozambican perspectives on the Hague Principles. The rules of Angolan and Mozambican civil law, and with them private international law, currently in force correspond to the Portuguese rules as they stood in 1975. As to private international law, the 1966 Portuguese Civil Code (hereafter CC) contains a codification of this field of the law in Articles 15 to 65. Meanwhile, rules on international civil procedure are to be found in the Angolan and the Mozambican Civil Procedure Codes. They concern, inter alia, international jurisdiction and the enforcement of foreign judgments. Party autonomy is recognized as the principal connecting factor for contractual relationships (Art 41(1) CC). Nevertheless, the choice of law is not unlimited: it is necessary that either some of the elements of the contract having relevance in private international law are connected with the law chosen, or that the choice of the applicable law corresponds to a serious interest. It is clear from this backdrop that a set of rules, such as the Hague Principles, which present themselves as an embodiment of current best practices is well placed to help interpret, supplement, or develop the choice of law rules of the 1966 Civil Code.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.6 North America: Coordinated by Geneviève Saumier, 67 Canada: Canadian Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saumier Geneviève
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Level Of Detail ◽  
The Other ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Civil Code Of Quebec ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Canadian Provinces

This chapter examines Canadian perspectives on the Hague Principles. Canada is a federal state, with legislative competence over constitutionally designated fields divided between the federal and provincial level. Although private international law is not a listed field of competence, all three areas of private international law—jurisdiction, choice of law, and enforcement of foreign judgments—fall within the provincial competences over civil procedure or private law. The general provincial competence over choice of law means that each of the ten Canadian provinces could, theoretically, develop distinct regimes. In reality, however, the division is apparent only between Quebec and the other nine provinces. Indeed, Quebec is the only province within Canada to have a comprehensive codification of its private international law, which was adopted as part of the new Civil Code of Quebec in 1991. There is, therefore, a sharp contrast regarding the level of detail associated with the applicable regime in Quebec versus the rest of the country. Despite this, it remains accurate to say that, throughout Canada, the rules governing choice of law in contract, in particular party autonomy, are largely congruent with the Hague Principles.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.3 Australasia: Coordinated by Brooke Marshall, 42 New Zealand: New Zealand Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hook Maria
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
International Law ◽  
General Position ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Legislative Reform ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines the choice of law rules that determine the law applicable to international contracts in New Zealand, comparing them to the Hague Principles. Private international law in New Zealand is still largely a common law subject, and the choice of law rules on international commercial contracts are no exception. The general position, which has been inherited from English common law, is that parties may choose the law applicable to their contract, and that the law with the closest and most real connection applies in the absence of choice. There are currently no plans in New Zealand for legislative reform, so the task of interpreting and developing the choice of law rules continues to fall to the courts. When performing this task, New Zealand courts have traditionally turned to English case law for assistance. But they may be willing, in future, to widen their scope of inquiry, given that the English rules have long since been Europeanized. It is conceivable, in this context, that the Hague Principles may be treated as a source of persuasive authority, provided they are consistent with the general principles or policies underlying the New Zealand rules.

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