Cases and Materials on Comparative Private International Law; From Civil Law and Common Law Traditions; Volume I - Judicial Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Cases

In the mid-1800s, private international law was part of that department of international law "which treats of the selection to be made in each action between various national jurisdictions and laws". Before the mid-1800s, all of international law (including private international law) had been "The Law of Nations.", which had been a subject of formal study for centuries. In the early 1900s, scholars carved out, as a separate field of study, the total of the legal principles that apply between sovereign states, and notably between such states and public international organizations, which came to be called Public International Law. Another name for this subject frequently used in Canada, Australia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom is Conflict of Laws. Although that name denotes only the problems concerning foreign and domestic laws having provisions that potentially collide, its use is believed to have started because the subjects also covers jurisdiction, judgments and choice of law between the states of the former and the three separate judicial and private law units of the latter and because those applications are not entirely "international". Along the same lines, courts and legal writers in the USA often refer to the jurisdiction, judgments and laws of other states of the USA as "foreign", while for an adjective in the international context they sometimes use "alien". Private international law studies may touch on every category of private law and sometimes on public international law; however, their primary focus is on (1) jurisdiction of local civil courts over foreign persons, (2) recognition and enforcement of civil money judgments from foreign countries, and (3) potential application of foreign law in local litigation. Use of the word "Comparative" in this casebook indicates that it deals mostly with national law. Volume 1 provides illustrative texts from legislation and reports of judicial decisions, together with references to additional materials concerning the first two topics, while Volume II does the same as the third topic. Both volumes concern civil and commercial matters. Succession from decedents, property law, family relationships and business organization are major areas of Private International Law that cannot be covered in the short time and space available. Also, we have shortened some of the officially reported judicial decisions by omitting text that is not clearly pertinent to the study. The author-editors have attempted to indicate what portions have been omitted and to indicate their own separate commentary and references by placing them in shaded areas.  Table of Cases Appearing in this Volume: Beals v. Saldanha                                                   153 Gasser Gmbh v. MISAT Srl                                        135 Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. California                      88 Insurance Corp. of Ireland, Ltd.v. Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinee                                            2 International Shoe Co. v. Washington                         65 Kernan v. Kurz-Hastings, Inc.                                    69 Lubbe v. Cape Plc                                                   21 Maharane of Baroda v. Wildenstein                             9 McDonald v. Mabee                                                 7 Morguard Investments Ltd. v. De Savoye                    118 Owens Bank Ltd. v. Bracco                                       216 & 226 Owusu v. Jackson                                                   34 PT Pan Indonesia Bank Ltd Tbk v. Marconi Communications International                                    50 Schibsby v. Westenholz                                           42 Societe du Gaz de Paris v. Societe Anonyme de Navigation "Les Armateurs Français"                           15 Wilson v. Servier Canada Inc.                                   130 Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum                                 75 Table of Contents: I.   Jurisdiction to Adjudicate in Personam II.  Personal Jurisdiction over Persons Outside the Territory III. Parallel Litigation and Lis Pendens IV. Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments