Current Research in Private International Law: Virtual Workshop with Stéphanie Francq

 Tuesday, 3 December 2024, 2:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. (CET)

"Overriding Mandatory Rules in Family Matters and Personal Status, Are Belgians the Only Ones? "

About the Speaker:

Stephanie Francq is Professor of private international law and European law at UCLouvain. She has been invited professor at Paris I, Paris II, Cornell University, the EUI  and Koç University and has conducted her research mostly in Germany, France and the US during extensive research stays. She is currently preparing her Hague special course on Unilateralism in family matters and personal status. 

About the Topic:

Are we really witnessing the occurrence of overriding mandatory rules in family matters and personal status? A new phenomenon seems indeed to surface in this area with examples of substantive rules or values, announced by the lawmaker, together with a clear intention to apply in identified international situations.  Belgian law offers a series of examples. But are Belgian the only ones using this method? German law has also offered a better known and rather unfortunate illustration with the Act to prevent child marriage. These rules, their upsides and downsides, deserve close consideration. First and obviously for technical reasons: are we indeed facing overriding mandatory rules, similar to those concerning business transactions? Or is this some new form of public policy exception? Are these rules carefully designed legal objects or rather clumsy attempts to secure the application of the lex fori? Beyond the technicalities, the presentation will tend to investigate potential reasons behind this new phenomenon.
It turns out that these rules might have something to tell us about the current state of conflict of laws, its politics and its theories, and its need to look beyond its own borders.

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 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).