Jie (Jeanne) Huang (University of Sydney Law School): Can Private Parties Contract out of the Hague Service Convention?

About the Speaker:

Jie (Jeanne) Huang is an Associate Professor and co-director of the Asian and Pacific Law Center at the University of Sydney Law School in Australia. Jeanne’s research focuses on the intersection of public and private international law. She has published on the American Journal of International Law and European Journal of International Law.

About the topic:

Treaties are concluded by states but often impose rights and obligations upon private parties. Can private parties contract out of a treaty including states’ oppositions without explicit permissions granted by the treaty? The complexity between private parties, states, and treaties are reflected in recent cases and unsettled debates regarding the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters of November 15, 1965 (“HSC”). The HSC contains a large number of oppositions imposed by 62 Member States including China, India, Singapore, and Germany. Combining public and private international law, this paper aims to explore the correlative relationship between party autonomy and state sovereignty in treaty applications using the HSC as an example.

About the virtual workshop series:

The virtual workshop series “Current Research in Private International Law” is organised by Ralf Michaels and Philomena Hindermann. The series features guest speakers and Institute staff members who present and discuss their work on current developments and research topics in private international law. The workshops are geared to scholars who are researching in the field of private international law, but attendance is open to all individuals having an academic interest (including doctoral candidates and students).