Private International Law Festival 2026: “The End of the Rule-Based International Order? –Implications for Private International Law“
- Start: Sep 24, 2026
- End: Sep 25, 2026
- Location: University of Edinburgh Law School
On 24-25 September 2026, the University of Edinburgh Law School and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, generously supported by the Lindemann Foundation, will cohost the second PrILFest at Edinburgh University’s splendid Playfair Library in Edinburgh.
The Private International Law Festival is a celebration of the vitality of contemporary private international law research. Bringing together established and emerging voices, the PrILFest will showcase thriving scholarship, emerging themes, and new research enquiries that open fresh questions, new imaginaries and narratives for the field. Join us for a collegial space for scholarly exchange and future-oriented conversations on where PrIL research is heading next.
Registration is open until 28 August 2026, please register here.
Programme
Thursday 24 September
| 08:30 – 9:00 | Registration |
| 09:00 – 9:15 | Welcome Address Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, University of Edinburgh and Ralf Michaels, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht |
| 09:15 – 10:45 | The Geopolitical Turn Chair: Roxana Banu, University of Oxford
|
| 10:45 – 11:15 | Coffee break |
| 11:15 – 12:30 | Inter-Associations Panel: Global Trade in Times of Disruption Chair: Hans van Loon, University of Edinburgh
|
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch break |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | BREAKOUT SESSIONS |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee break |
| 15:30 – 17:00 | The Ukraine War Chair: Kasey McCall-Smith, University of Edinburgh Beatriz Añoveros Terradas, Universitat de Barcelona Rethinking the Functions of European Private International Law in Times of War: Lessons from Ukraine Aude Fiorini / Peter McEleavy, University of Dundee Habitual Residence and the Internationally Displaced Children of Ukraine: Where Facts and Politics Collide Bettina Rentsch, Freie Universität Berlin Use of Force and Private International Law: A Matter of Time Piotr Rodziewicz, Uniwersytet Wrocławski The Influence of IHL and ECHR on Private International Law —Private Considerations and the Role of Private International Law Based on the Judgment of 25.6.2024 of ECtHR in Ukraine v. Russia, re Crimea |
| 19:00 | Ceilidh Party The Biscuit Factory, Leith, EH6 5NP (Registered participants only) |
Friday 25 September
| 09:00 – 10:00 | Panel Discussion: Ideas of World Order Chair: Stéphanie Francq Panellists: Andrew Lang, University of Edinburgh Alex Mills, University College London Horatia Muir Watt, Sciences Po |
| 10:00 – 11:30 | Order and Dis-Order Chair: Carlos M. Vázquez, Georgetown University Laura Carpaneto, Università di Genova / Thalia Krüger, Universiteit Antwerpen and University of Johannesburg Towards a Comprehensive Rule-Based International Order for Multinational Corporations Stellina Jolly, South Asian University Climate Litigation Beyond the Rule-Based Order: Reimagining Private International Law Through Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) Biset Sena Güneş / Dharmita Prasad, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht The Evolving Role of Corrective Mechanisms in Private International Law in a Shifting Global Order Veerle Van Den Eeckhout, Universiteit Antwerpen and CJEU Adapting PIL in an Era of Uncertainty. Rethinking Protection for Weaker Parties. A few observations, with a focus on boundary conditions, preconditions and caveats |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Coffee break |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Sanctions, Global Finance and Politicisation Chair: Francisco Quintana, University of Edinburgh Anastasios Lafaras, Havard Law School Sanctions in International Commercial Arbitration: Navigating Between Scylla and Charybdis Gülüm Özçelik, Bilkent Üniversitesi Effects of Economic Sanctions on International Commercial Arbitration Eduardo Silva de Freitas, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and T.M.C. Asser Institute Mariana after Magnitsky: How Global Sanctions and Litigation Funding Politicise Private International Law |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch break |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | BREAKOUT SESSIONS |
| 15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee break |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Final Round Table: Breakdown of the Rules-Based International Order – What Role for Private International Law? Panellists:
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| 17:30 | Closing Remarks |
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Thursday 24 September
Session 1 – Human Rights, Democracy and Vulnerable Parties
Chair: Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, University of Edinburgh
- Shambhavi Gour, Amity University Haryana
Invisible Victims, Invisible Conflicts: Towards a Victim-Centric Private International Law in a Post-Rule-Based World - Victoria Garin, European University Institute
How Private International Law Imagines Life Across Borders - Francesca Maoli, Università Telematica San Raffaele
The Role of PIL in Navigating Global Challenges and the Constraints in Democratic Participation: The Case of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) - Patricia Orejudo Pietro de los Mozos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Deconstructing the Neutrality Myth: Private International Law as a Battlefield for LGBTIQ+ Rights
Session 2 – Neutrality, Values and Theories
Chair: Ralf Michaels, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
- Ömer Erkut Bulut, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi
The Twilight of the Savignian Ideal of Neutrality: Private International Law in the Age of Geopolitical Fracture - Joanna Langille, University of Western Ontario International
Trade Law and the MFN Principle - Işıl Tekdoğan Bahçıvan, Ankara Üniversitesi
From Neutrality to Value Jovan Živanović, Miskolci Egyetem PIL as Metadiscourse
Session 3 – Geopolitical Fragmentation, Jurisdiction and Injunctions
Chair: Johanna Hoekstra, University of Edinburgh
- Claudio Bozzi, Deakin Law School
Trade and National Security in the Age of Weaponised Interdependence - Olesia Chizheva, Independent Researcher
When Choice of Law Becomes a Weapon: Sanctions, Contractual PIL, and the Limits of Party Autonomy - Sitong Li, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Evaluation of Anti-Arbitration Injunctions: The Fragmented Legal Authorities - Jieying Liang, Durham University
Antisuit Injunctions
Session 4 – Intellectual Property, Soft Law and Multinational Corporations
Chair: tbc
- Ayşe Kübra Altiparmak Elmas, Anadolu Üniversitesi
IP Protection in a Post-Order World: Can Private International Law Fill the Void? - Ana Cecilia Sotelo Aguilar, IP lawyer and Patents consultant
The End of the Rule-Based Order or the Rise of Soft Law? An Intellectual Property Law Perspective from the Andean Community - Regina Šťastová, Institute of State and Law of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
The Externalisation of European Union Trade Regulations and its Impact on Private International Law - Jianan Wei, Sapienza Università di Roma
Soft Law and Multinational Corporations
Session 5 – The Political Economy of Cross-Border Financial Regulation
Chair: Dharmita Prasad, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
- Ligia Catherine Arias-Barrera, Universidad Externado de Colombia
From Rule-Based Order to Legislative Patchwork: Sovereign Debt Governance and the Re-Politicalisation of Private International Law - Andrés F. Durán Rodríguez, Universidad Mayor
From Coordination to Enforcement: Private International Law in an Era of Fiscal Power and Fragmentation - Tao Wu, Zhujiang College of South China Agricultural University
Friction and Harmony: Private International Law and EU-China Green Fiscal Tools in an Age of Conflict - Katsiaryna Zimnokh, Université de Strasbourg
Conflict of Laws Seen Through the Indeterminacy Thesis
Session 6 – Sustainability, Climate Litigation and Regulation
Chair: Iona McEntee, University of Edinburgh
- Patrick Schaefer, Judge, New Mexico
Public Regulation Commission From Private Ordering to Public Risk Engineering: Private International Law in North Sea Renewable Energy Financing - Lara Schmidt, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
The EU as Global Fashion Sustainability Regulator - Julia Wachowicz, Universität Wien
Geopolitics of Sustainability: The End of Neutral Private International Law? - Andrew Walters, University of Aberdeen
AI in Civil Nuclear Energy: Private International Law at the Frontier of Technological Governance
Session 7 – Islamic Law, Legal Pluralism and Personal Status
Chair: Nora Jaber, University of Edinburgh
- Katiyani Juneja, Centre of Excellence on AI for Human Security / Shri Rahul Sharma, Collector and District Magistrate, Joyashankar Bhupalpally, Telangana
Uniformity Without Universality: India’s Uniform Civil Code, Foreign Divorce Decrees, and the Fracturing of Private International Law’s Rule-Based Architecture - Amel Solène, New York State Court of Claims
Translating Islamic Law in Arbitral Review - Mohammed Warmzyar, Independent researcher and practitioner
Judicial Sovereignty and the Fragmentation of Private International Law: The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court’s Reconfiguration of Personal Status and Cross-Border Legal Certainty - Peng Guo, Swinburne Law School / Shu Zhang, Deakin Law School
Beyond the Illusion of Alignment: A Pluralist-Reflective Approach to the Decline of Private International Law
Session 8 – Children, Family and Cross-Border Challenges
Chair: Kate Macfarlane, University of Edinburgh
- Alexander Critchley, Westwater Advocates
Art 13 (1) (b) 1980 HCCH Child Abduction Convention - Julianna G. Kubik / Stephanie Hayle, University of Edinburgh
Evolving Trends in Child Marriage and the Role that Private International Law Can Play in its Prevention - Klaudia Lozyk, Uniwersytet Pomorski w Slupsku
Safeguarding Vulnerable Parties in Cross-Border Family Disputes: Rule of Law and Courts in an Eroding International Order - Mahdi Rahmani, Independent researcher and practitioner
Legal Parentage in the Age of DNA and Assisted Reproduction: Cross-Border Challenges
Session 9 – Interactive Roundtable: How Mandatory is Private International Law?
Convenor: Silvia Marino, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria
Friday 25 September
Session 10 – Arbitration, Party Autonomy and a Shifting Global Order
Chair: Bruno Sousa Rodrigues, University of Edinburgh
- Lyra Çela, Università Bocconi
From Arbitration to Adjudication? The Multilateral Investment Court and the Transformation of Private International Law in a Post-Rules-Based Order - Orhan Emre Konuralp, Kırklareli Üniversitesi
Restrictive Judicial Review of Arbitration Agreements under Turkish Law and its Impact on International Commercial Arbitration - Rhea Pradeep Kumar, Jindal Global Law School
The Fiction of Choice: Party Autonomy as Geopolitical Performance in Contemporary Commercial PIL - Nathan Willems, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Last Safe Haven? Arbitration and Overriding Mandatory Provisions
Session 11 – International Civil Procedure, Foreign Law and Public Policy
Chair: Kane Oxholm-Abry-Diaw de Baye, University of Edinburgh
- Douglas Admiral Louzada / Ketilly Christine Boecke da Silva, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo / Isabela Tonon da Costa Dondone, Universidade de São Paulo
International Civil Procedure in a Fragmented Global Order: Between Harmonisation and Resilience - Başak İrem Coşkun, Ankara University
How Equal are "Equals"? Public Policy and the Fragility of Rule-Based Private International Order - Alan K. Koh, Nanyang Business School
Neither Multilateral nor Unilateral: Taking Foreign Law into Consideration Across Private Law - Gizem Yılmaz, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif Üniversitesi
Public Policy and Succession in UAE
Session 12 – Access to Justice in Arbitration, Mediation, and Adjudication
Chair: Agata Daszko, University of Edinburgh
- Shouyu Chong, University of Leeds
Enforcing Mediation and ADR Agreements in International Commercial Contracts: Transnational Principles and Comparative Perspectives - Alvaro Jose Gutierrez Calero, Legal consultant, Del Canto Chambers
The Division and Privatisation of Cross-Border Dispute Resolution: Arbitration, Tax and the Changing Role of Private International Law - Jin Wang, University of Edinburgh
Access to Justice in International Commercial Arbitration - Victor Willcox, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Dispute Resolution and Contract Formation Under Breakdown
Session 13 – Challenging Assumptions
Chair: Michael Picard, University of Edinburgh
- W. Connor Cepella, University of Victoria
PIL and Indigenous-Settler Relations - Zhen Chen, University of Edinburgh
The Restitution of Colonial Human Remains in Private International Law: Breaking the 'Civilised' and 'Uncivilised' Divide - Anzhelika Makhmudova, Saint Petersburg State University
Should Private International Law Enforce Choreographic Authenticity? Ballet Foundations, Foreign Theatres, and the Limits of Transnational Private Ordering - Karina Junqueira de Almeida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio do Janeiro
Scientific Paradigms, Technical Standardization, and Hegemonic Crisis: Quantum Technologies, Long Economic Cycles, and the Limits of the Rule-Based International Order
Session 14 – Rethinking Rationales
Chair: Biset Sena Güneş, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
- Zihao Fan, Peking University Law School
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and Advanced Technologies: A Paradigm Shift from Justification to Coordination - Dinda R. Himmah, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The Portability of Foreign Judgments Circulation: Between Regionalism and Globalism in Private International Law - Nicolas Kyriakides, University of Nicosia / Nicholas Mouttotos, Universität Bremen
From Harmonisation to Fragmentation: US Disengagement and the Reconfiguration of Private International Law - Arti Rathore / Vishakha Sharma, Chambers of Arti Rathore
Recognition Without Trust? The 2019 Hague Judgments Convention in an Age of Selective Geopolitical Alignment
Session 15 – Digital Trade, Data, Platforms and AI Governance
Chair: Morshed Mannan, University of Edinburgh
- Weiyao Han, University of Cambridge / Victor Zhang, University of Oxford
A Functional Shift after the Rule-Based Order: The New Territoriality of Private International Law in the Digital Economy - Yutong Hou, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Rethinking Choice-of-Law in the Path of Generative AI Training - Shruti Singhi, Advocate, Bombay High Court, Society for Impact and Policy Research
Rethinking Private International Law for Transnational Platform Governance - Pilar Vargas Martínez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
The Rise of Private International Law in the Digital Trade Era - Yuhang Wu, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The New Geography of Scientific Data: Regulatory Divergence and the Transformation of Private International Law
Session 16 – Sovereignty, Self-Determination and Unilateralism
Chair: Bruno Rodriguez Reveggino, University of Edinburgh
- Lukas Petschning, Universität Wien
Official Liability for Internationally Wrongful Acts: Reconsidering Connecting Factors for a New Era of International Relations - Rebecca Ricifari, University of Antwerp
The Enforcement of the Principle of Self-Determination of Peoples Through Private International Law - Sören Segger-Piening, Universität Osnabrück
The Unilateral Politicisation of Private International Law in Europe and Balancing of Interests as an Answer? - Iryna Dikovska, Max-Plank-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
Prospects for Compensation for Torts Resulting from Violations of International Humanitarian Law and State Immunity
Session 17 – The EU, the Brussels Effect and EU Law Global Reach
Chair: Eleftheria Asimakopoulou, University of Edinburgh
- Stefano Dominelli, Università di Genova
From Rule-Based Conflict of Laws (Back) to Political-Based Private International Law? - Suzan R. Hofstede, Bilkent Üniversitesi
The Brussels Effect and the Erosion of Private Law Sovereignty - Johannes Ungerer, University of Oxford
EU Law Offshore and Onshore after Brexit: Private International Law as Conduit