European Parliament: Resolution on Corporate Due Diligence and Corporate Accountability

On 11 February 2021, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament had adopted a Report and a draft Resolution on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability. On 10 March 2021 the European Parliament adopted the Resolution by a large majority. The Parliament’s proposals to amend the Brussels Ia and Rome II Regulations, however, did not survive. For a discussion of these proposals, see the blog posts by Jan von Hein, Chris Tomale, Giesela Rühl, Eduardo Álvarez-Armas and Geert van Calster. 

Israel Signs Choice of Court  and Judgments Conventions

On 3 March 2021, Israel signed two Hague Conventions, namely the 2005 Choice of Court Convention and the 2019 Judgments Convention. The 2005 Choice of Court Convention, which currently binds 31 States and the EU, will enter into force for Israel once it deposits an instrument of accession or ratification. The 2019 Judgments Convention is not yet in force; Israel is the third signatory to the Convention.

Thailand Becomes HCCH Member, El Salvador Applies for Membership

On 3 March 2021, Thailand became the 88^th Member of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) and El Salvador applied for membership. Following a six-month voting period and provided a majority of votes have been cast in its favour, El Salvador will be invited to become a Member.

Good Old-fashioned Print: IPRax

Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 2/2021: Abstracts

The illustration shows Robert Boyle’s collection of essays (2nd Edition, London 1669).

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Nomination of Arbitrators

On 13 May 2020, Germany nominated four new arbitrators and conciliators under Annex VII and Annex V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, respectively.

All four are academics:

• Rüdiger Wolfrum, Heidelberg University,  who served as a judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea from 1996 to 2017 and as president of the court from 2005 to 2008;
• Silja Vöneky, Freiburg University, who obtained her doctoral and post-doc qualifiactions in Heidelberg under the supervision of Rüdiger Wolfrum;
• Alexander Proelß, Hamburg University, who in addition to various academic positions, was a clerk  (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) to Judge Udo Di Fabio at the Federal Constututional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht).
• Nele Matz-Lück, Kiel University, who also was Wolfrum’s doctoral student and worked with him a  post-doc. Like Alexander Proelß, she clerked for Udo di Fabio.