Research Methods in Private International Law: A Handbook on Regulation, Research, and Teaching This incisive research handbook provides valuable insights into the various methodological approaches to Private International Law from regulatory and educational perspectives. It comprehensively unpacks central themes in the field including international jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement, and scrupulously analyses core debates whilst addressing legislative and policy issues. In collaboration with the editors Xandra Kramer (Erasmus School of Law/Utrecht University) and Laura Carballo Piñeiro (University of Vigo), this online book launch will feature contributions from eminent speakers, focusing on global insights in teaching Private International Law.

Speakers and discussion topics Laura Carballo Piñeiro/Xandra Kramer Methods in private international law are not only important for the purpose of regulation and research, but also for societal and educational purposes. To continue developing and fulfil its regulatory and societal functions, private international law requires the nurturing of strong scholarship and thus research on creating a suitable learning environment for it to be diversified. Highlighting perspectives from university teaching in different countries, laypersons, colonialism, and feminism enriches the development of private international law and increases awareness of its role as a global governance tool. Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm Private international law matters for everybody. Why then is it perceived to be so marginal? We identify three distorted perceptions: irrelevance, impenetrability, and indifference. Private international law is considered to be irrelevant, because relevant decisions are taken in substantive law. It is considered impenetrable because many of its doctrines appear strange and general intuition offers little guidance towards the correct solution. And it seems indifferent to questions of values and questions of political economy. We address each of these perceptions in turn. We demonstrate that private international law, far from being irrelevant, is an indispensable part of private law. Whoever wants to make full use of private law must think of private international law as well. We suggest that private international law can seem impenetrable because it requires a whole different way of thinking: thinking between legal orders. Lawyers and non-lawyers alike are used to thinking within one order that is relatively coherent. That thinking is of little help in resolving issues that take place in-between such coherent orders. And we describe what we view as the ethical minimum of private international law: responsivity, cultural humility, and intercultural competence. These attitudes, which are not confined to the law, raise the possibility that private international law could teach something of relevance to everyone beyond its own disciplinary boundaries. Putting these insights in practice can, we hope, be transformative towards Private International Law for Everyone. Ramani Garimella The human catastrophe witnessed in Bhopal, India, remains pertinent for the domain of private international law. The US court ruled against the forum’s jurisdiction as being forum non conveniens and return it for the jurisdiction of India’s courts. Adherence to a formalist/positivist approach that believed in the public-private distinction allowed the court to avoid a discussion on the immense public interests that were involved in the suit. Such approach dwarfed the nature and magnitude of loss for the victims and demonstrated how far the ideas of territoriality and jurisdiction moved away from the notion of ‘unified international law’. The author suggests revisiting this distinction from a methodological perspective – historicity – to understand the reasons for the survival of this distinction, especially in the third world countries as a vestige of the colonial law. This research, exemplifying through India, explores the zealous adherence to the colonial law on the rules of private international law including the methodology of the domain, and the absence of any significant local contribution to the domain. The research argues that the distinction emerged as an expression of the positivist international law (often non-representative/non-participative) that had helped further the legitimation of colonialism. The research suggests a historicity-based methodology for identifying the domain’s content so as to ensure a justice-centric regime that takes note of the rights of the victims of human error. Chukwama Okoli/Abubakri Yekini Many African countries aim to capitalise on globalization to enhance cross-border trade and commerce. This necessitates an effective private international law framework to resolve frictions that inherent in cross-border transactions. While scholarly work often focuses on PIL’s role in facilitating cross-border trade, the teaching of PIL and the preparedness of budding lawyers to tackle modern issues have been largely overlooked. This chapter addresses this gap by examining the effectiveness of PIL education in Nigeria. Through empirical research involving questionnaires administered to 75 undergraduate students from seven universities, the study provides insights into the current curriculum and teaching methodologies. The findings suggest that existing approaches are inadequate for producing transnational lawyers equipped with the necessary hands-on skills. The paper recommends a multi-method teaching approach, with a strong emphasis on clinical education and comparative law. Aukje van Hoek An inventory of (online) course descriptions of courses in private international law at different European universities show a diversity in approaches to teaching PIL. Which choices are made when developing a specific course, will depend on the staff teaching the course and the wider ‘Umfeld’ in which the course is situated. Three approaches will be discussed and put in context. Moderator: Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang, Co-chair of ASIL PIL Interest Group and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Law School.

About the book

Research Methods in Private International Law- A Handbook on Regulation, Research and Teaching Edited by Xandra Kramer, Professor of Private Law, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Private International Law, Utrecht University, the Netherlands and Laura Carballo Piñeiro, Professor of Private International Law, Universidade de Vigo, Spain.