Christopher Whytock (University of California): Conflict of Laws Through a Human Rights Lens

About the speaker
Christopher Whytock is Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law and a Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Third Restatement of Conflict of Laws. He has been a visiting professor at NYU School of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law, and University of Zurich Law School, as well as a Director of Studies at the Hague Academy of International Law and a Visiting Researcher at the Institut suisse de droit comparé. His research focuses on conflict of laws, transnational litigation, civil procedure, and international law.

About the Topic
The relationship between human rights and conflict of laws (private international law) is the subject of extensive scholarship in Europe, but almost entirely neglected in the United States. Inspired by European scholarship, this project attempts to extend human rights-oriented analysis to conflict of laws in the United States. It proposes a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between human rights and conflict of laws in the abstract, applies the framework to conflict of laws in the United States, and offers comparative insights.

About the Virtual Workshop Series
The virtual workshop series “Current Research in Private International Law" is organised by Ralf Michaels and Philipp Kronier. The series features leading national and international scholars 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 (doctoral candidates and students are expressly invited).

The virtual workshop will be held as a video conference via Zoom. Please register no later than Monday, 6 July 2026 using this LINK.
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