Class 2 Flashcards
(14 cards)
What does PIL entail?
PIL = regulating Transboundary Conflicts, focus on jurisdiction of the courts, the applicable law in that court & the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments
PIL is in essence a system to bring transboundary conflicts to the right forum and resolve them.
PIL Essence = Jurisdiction (JUR), applicable law (AL)
& recognition and enforcement (R&E).
Different types of PIL
The Trinity of Private International Law
Jurisdiction
Applicable Law
Recognition & Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
A tale of two x two jurisdictions
Private International Law arguably has two types of
jurisdictions (first 2 jurisdictions):
The classic ‘jurisdiction’ of the courts (bevoegdheid)
jurisdiction can however also be defined ‘an area or community wherein a specific set of rules is in place and enforced and which has a certain normative authority’ (rechtsmacht)
A State is thus of course a jurisdiction – the main one, but not the
only one.
This jurisdiction can be based on territory or on persons (tribes, religion, nationality, city, …)!
- Territorial or personal jurisdiction (second 2 jurisdictions)
Multi-jurisdictional world
Legal pluralism is indirectly still a bit the norm, but more as an exception on the general national jurisdiction = the legal systems taught at university.
Everybody de facto lives in multiple jurisdictions at the same time
For BE: municipality, province, region, federal State, EU, international
But in general the State jurisdiction = the main jurisdiction
Existence of many special jurisdictions: ‘an area or community wherein a specific set of rules is in place and enforced and which has a certain normative authority’. i.e. (semi-) autonomous unique carve-outs or areas of exception of the regular State jurisdiction, such as Gibraltar, Mount Athos, SBA in Cyprus, Sharia-courts in Greece and Armenian church courts in Iran (+ NEOM one day?)
Private international law = how to solve the ‘clash of jurisdictions’ when they involve a territorial international State border, i.e. when they cross the official line in the sand.
But internal conflicts of law have same dynamic and principles (ex. Ostbelgien- question)
Not always easy to pull apart (tribal marriages West-Africa & State-borders)
Transboundary Special Jurisdictions
Sometimes international state borders do not exist and there is a transboundary law. Israel Palestine and Jordan share religious laws which ‘transcend’ the borders of the states.
In Jordanië hebben erkende religieuze gemeenschappen (zoals de Grieks-Orthodoxe Kerk) eigen bevoegdheid over familierecht.
Deze bevoegdheid overstijgt staatsgrenzen en illustreert hoe persoonlijke jurisdictie religieus van aard kan zijn en tegelijk territoriale grenzen kan overschrijden.
Er is hier dus geen klassieke koppeling tussen grondgebied, soevereiniteit en rechtsmacht. Dit ondermijnt het Westers staatsmodel.
Which jurisdiction is used in all of the PIL instruments?
Jurisdiction is that of the court, but PIL instruments do cover when different legal systems (i.e. jurisdictions) collide.
Uit wat en waarvoor is PIL ontstaan?
PIL is historisch gegroeid uit de noodzaak om conflicten tussen verschillende lokale en persoonlijke rechtssystemen op te lossen.
Het Belgische systeem steunt vandaag op drie pijlers:
1. Internationale verdragen (bv. Haagse Conventies)
2. EU-recht (Brussel I bis, Rome I en II)
3. Nationaal recht (WIPR - Wetboek IPR)
Personal Jurisdiction & Extraterritoriality (1)
Personal jurisdiction (or personality of laws) based on one’s nation/city/region/tribe or religion. “One shall be judged according to his own laws”
Age-old Practice (Karum of Assyrians, Pharaonic Egypt – Naucratis, qadis in Imperial China, Ancient Rome (praetor peregrinus) and Greece, …)
–> Quasi-universal principle and often used for foreign traders
First recorded European ‘consular court’, i.e. a ‘court abroad’
presumably the Amalfi consul-judge in Naples in 1190.
Thereafter common practice throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
‘Mixed tribunals or courts’ for mixed (commercial) cases.
–> Plurality of laws was the norm for most of history
Oorspronkelijk werd recht toegepast op basis van iemands persoonlijke achtergrond (nationaliteit, religie, afkomst).
Dit leidde tot consulaire rechtbanken en gemengde handelsrechtbanken, vaak voor vreemdelingen.
Dit systeem is de voorloper van het huidige PIL, waarbij rechtspluralisme de norm was.
Intercustomary Law (2)
Cities/regions/… had their own laws, which often followed
citizens when they left their home city/region.
Intercustomary law = solving conflicts between ‘costums’
Example a ‘burgher’ (citizen) from Ypres has moved to Ghent and lives there and buys a property later too. He then dies. Which city court has jurisdiction over the inheritance and which city laws are applicable?
Also: actor forum sequitur rei = forum of the defendant was already in use to some extent (today art. 4 Brussels I Recast)
In de middeleeuwen bestond er geen uniform recht. Elke stad of regio had zijn eigen gebruiken (costumen).
Intercustomair recht regelde conflicten tussen deze lokale rechtsstelsels.
Vroeg voorbeeld van PIL-principes, met o.a. het forum van de verweerder (“actor sequitur forum rei”) – een regel die vandaag nog terugkomt in Brussel I bis.
Bruges – one of the birthplaces of PIL? (3)
Major city of international trade in Middle Ages (especially 13- 15th centuries)
Multiple different ‘nations’ had houses/consuls there (Lucca, Firenze, Venice, Genua, Aragon, Portugal, Germans (Oosterlingen/Hanze),Catalonia, Basques ..)
Many were granted the right to adjudicate cases amongst their own nationals (i.e. consular courts) by the Count of Flanders, but of course also many ‘mixed’ cases.
Northern-Italy and the origins of PIL (4)
Similar problems in Northern-Italy with their ‘statutory conflicts’ due to burgeoning ‘international trade’
Development of universities and studies of roman law from 13th century onwards => first ‘PIL’ scholar is Bartolus (main principles)
“if a citizen of Bologna be sued in Modena, he is not to be judged according to the statutes of Modena, to which he is not subject.”
The Middle East, Silk Road & PIL (4)
Millet
an ‘independent court’ for personal status matters for the different confessional communities:
Ecclesiastical (=church) courts
Sharia courts
Rabbinate courts
Questions mainly relating to marriage, inheritance, … (personal status)
Travelling judges
different law schools of islam
The Capitulations (5)
The Capitulations: Legal Enclaves in the Ottoman Empire
- The capitulations were treaties between the Ottoman Empire and various European powers starting in the 16th century.
- Under these agreements, European nationals living or trading in the Ottoman Empire were exempt from local laws and could be tried by their own consular courts.
- This effectively allowed European powers to create legal enclaves within Ottoman territory—zones governed by foreign law.
- These capitulations were originally granted to encourage trade but became a tool of legal and political influence, especially as Ottoman sovereignty weakened.
- Importantly, the arrangement was sometimes reciprocal:
In rare cases, the Ottoman Empire could establish similar legal privileges in Europe, such as having consular representation and limited jurisdiction (e.g. in Marseille).
Capitulations allowed foreign powers to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction—a major early example of how legal pluralism and international law intersected with empire and trade.
In practice: European trading enclaves with their own courts under different laws than the surrounding city/area.
Sometimes bilateral (!)
Extraterritoriality (6)
Personal jurisdiction largely evolves into extraterritoriality over time
Extraterritoriality was often focused in a specific area, as granted by the local
sovereign
Extraterritoriality often ‘weaponized’ for (early) (semi) colonialism/imperialism
concessions (+- 19th century onwards)
Not exclusively western powers
