Private international law and international civil procedure in Latin America
Jürgen Samtleben, former head of the Institute’s department on Latin America, has authored numerous articles over the years on private international law and international civil procedure in Latin America. These contributions have now been updated and systematically organized into a single volume, thereby offering a unique overview of the conflict of laws in Latin American countries. The collection of articles is supplemented by a comprehensive volume containing the relevant statutory materials in their original language as well as in German translation.
In his work, Samtleben first gives a comparative overview of the development of private international law in Latin America, which was previously shaped by the territoriality principle but now mostly leans toward the principle of habitual residence. He then analyses the modern codifications from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela as well as the partial legislative reforms undertaken in Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cuba, Nicaragua and Paraguay. Also included in his inquiry are countries that have only a fragmentary conflict-of-laws regime, such as Bolivia, El Salvador and Honduras. A particularly lengthy section of the work is dedicated to the legal situation in Brazil, where all previous efforts at a modern PIL codification have failed; here, the author depicts the prevailing practice on the basis of case law.
The volume is supplemented by a compilation of the relevant legal sources, presented in both their original language as well as in German translation. Unlike conventional collections of such legal materials, the selection is not limited to those provisions specifically enacted as PIL legislation, since these regulations will typically not comprise the entirety of the legislation governing the topic. Accordingly, also included are relevant procedural law provisions as well as those statutes on family law, company law, bankruptcy law and arbitration – and other special fields – that have equal importance for both academics and practitioners.
Dr. Jürgen Samtleben first studied Romanistik (Romance languages and literature) and music before later studying law in Hamburg und São Paulo. In 1978 he earned his doctoral degree from the Law Faculty of the University of Hamburg. From 1971 until 2002 he was responsible for the Latin America desk at the Institute. In addition to this position, he undertook numerous research stays in Latin America, where he also taught as a guest lecturer at multiple universities.
Image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
