Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Private International Law
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Teaching staff
Students are requested to contact the professor by email or at the end of theoretical classes.
Introduction
The relations between people, corporate structures and peoples in general, in an interconnected world in all fields, is a reality that the formation of any jurist cannot ignore.
In an increasingly internationalized, more interrelated global context, business activities, investments and family ties among human beings are unaware of the notion of borders, leading to multiple relations of external legal traffic.
However, a jurisdictional and legislative disorder is visible when it comes to addressing legal realities related to the Law of People, Family, Obligations and Inheritance, when these disciplines are internationalized, when several national sovereignty collides.
And to resolve these issues, Private International Law appears and basically serves to determine the competent jurisdiction and the law applicable to internationalized legal problems, because they present some element of external legal traffic, connecting two or more legal systems; but also, in a broad sense, it deals with other issues, such as international judicial cooperation, restitution in cases of international child abduction, or even international arbitration.
Objectives
1. That the student could be in a position to analyze legal situations specific to Private International Law and to confront them using the criteria, concepts, tools and alternatives that this discipline facilitates.
2. Develop individual skills in the application of international treaties and community regulations and in the search and management of bibliographic and documentary sources.
3. That student could know and becomes familiar with terminology, concepts, and. in general, the methodology of Private International Law; and
4. Bring the student closer to international arbitration.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 05 - To be able to develop skills for group work
- 07 - To acquire negotiating and mediation skills
- 09 - To develop mechanisms that favour sensitivity towards issues related to fundamental rights as well as respect for other cultures and customs
- 11 - To acquire skills for autonomous learning
- 15 - To develop a perception of the united nature of the legal system and the required interdisciplinary vision for legal issues
- 24 - To acquire the skills to resolve problems and make decisions using relevant information and by applying correct methods while placing the issue within a legal system context
Learning outcomes of the subject
1. Know and understand the legal approach of Private International Law to cases of increasing internationalization of people's lives.
2. Have acquired skills and abilities to know and apply the plurality of their sources and the different regulatory techniques of Private International Law.
3. You will have developed skills and abilities to solve these assumptions by addressing your own problems: international judicial jurisdiction, the issue of applicable law, proof of foreign law and the recognition of sentences and other types of foreign acts, both in civil and civil matters.
4. Know and understand the issues of nationality and condition of the foreigner.
5. Have acquired skills for teamwork.
6. Have acquired skills for negotiation and mediation.
7. Be sensitive to promoting respect for other cultures and customs.
8. Have acquired sensitivity towards issues related to fundamental rights.
9. Will be able to search for information, interpret it and use it for the resolution of practical cases or the realization of works related to this matter.
10. Will be able to project the knowledge of this subject in the trial of subsumption related to practical cases.
11. Have acquired skills for autonomous learning.
Syllabus
PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS
- Topic 1. Private International Law: concept, object, and function. Prerequisites and issues. System of sources. The Constitution and private international law. The preliminary title of the Civil Code.
- Topic 2. Interregional law: criteria of the Spanish system. Civil residence (vecindad civil).
- Topic 3. Nationality: concept. Acquisition, loss, and recovery according to Spanish law. Issues arising from dual nationality.
INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL COMPETENCE, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, RECOGNITION AND FREE MOVEMENT OF FOREIGN DECISIONS
- Topic 4. International judicial competence: concept and limits. Immunity from jurisdiction. Forums of international judicial competence. Main instruments and regulations: Brussels I, II, and II bis, and the Organic Law of the Judiciary. International judicial assistance.
- Topic 5. Recognition of foreign judicial decisions and acts of voluntary jurisdiction. Free movement of judicial decisions within the framework of the European Union. International treaties and the reciprocity system.
- Topic 6. Form and private international law: Article 11 of the Civil Code. Foreign public documents. Access to public registries. The European Enforcement Order.
APPLICABLE LAW
- Topic 7. Legislative technique in private international law: conflict-of-laws rules and material rules. The conflict-of-laws rule: connecting factors, mandatory nature, and alternatives. General overview of Spanish legislation.
- Topic 8. Problems in the application of the conflict-of-laws rule: characterization and conflicts of characterization; evasion of the law (fraude de ley); renvoi and its degrees. The mobile conflict (conflict mobil). Impossibility of applying foreign law (public policy exception). Foreign law: pleading and proof.
PERSONS, FAMILY, AND SUCCESSION
- Topic 9. Natural persons: personal status. Capacity, incapacity, age of majority, and emancipation. Protection of incapacitated adults.
- Topic 10. International family law (I). Marriage, unmarried couples, and matrimonial crises.
- Topic 11. International family law (II). Filiation and adoption. Protection of minors: international child abduction. Maintenance obligations.
- Topic 12. Legal entities and private international law. Special reference to capital companies and corporate groups.
- Topic 13. Succession in private international law. The European Certificate of Succession.
OBLIGATIONS, CONTRACTS, AND PROPERTY RIGHTS
- Topic 14. Contractual obligations in private international law. The new Lex Mercatoria. "Rome I" Regulation. International employment contracts and consumer contracts.
- Topic 15. Non-contractual obligations in private international law. Rome II Regulation.
- Topic 16. Property rights (derechos reales) and private international law. Intellectual and industrial property rights.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The subject will be taught through master classes in which the teacher will explain the contents of the subject, with special reference to positive law. Outstanding importance will be given to the practical aspects of each subject, so that the student becomes familiar with the application of the various concepts and methodology of private international law. The master classes will be combined with practices, so that the student can apply the knowledge acquired and thus reinforce the theoretical content.
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | COMPETENCES |
|---|---|
| Presentación en el aula de los conceptos y su aplicación práctica | 09 15 |
| Actividades en el aula para el seguimiento de los alumnos (individual y en grupo) | 24 |
| Estudio independiente del alumno | 11 |
| Estudio y trabajo en equipo | 05 07 |
| Tutorías | 11 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The final grade for the course will consist of:
- (i) The grade obtained in the final exam, which will represent 50%, provided that a minimum grade of 4 is achieved.
- (ii) The grade obtained in the midterm exam, which will represent 40%, provided that it is passed with a minimum grade of 5.
- (iii) The continuous assessment grade, which will represent 10% and will be conducted through in-person classroom quizzes using the Kahoot system. During the course, there will be 5 Kahoot sessions, worth 0.2 points each, provided that the class as a whole passes the test. For the Kahoot result to be added to the individual final grade, participation in at least 4 of the 5 sessions is required.
It is essential to obtain a minimum grade of 4 in the final exam to pass the course. Otherwise, if the final exam grade is lower than 4, neither the continuous assessment nor the midterm exam grade will be taken into account.
The final exam will consist of a single test.
Continuous assessment will consist of participating in and passing the Kahoot quizzes.
There will be an in-person, exemption-granting midterm exam (examen parcial liberatorio), which will represent 40%, provided it is passed with a minimum grade of 5.
For the resit examination period in July (convocatoria de recuperación), neither the continuous assessment nor the midterm exam will be considered.
The professor will always be available to resolve doubts and hold tutorials. Students are requested to contact the professor by email or at the end of theoretical classes.
Bibliography and resources
- Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca / Javier Carrascosa González, (dir.) Derecho Internacional Privado, vol. I y II, Comares, Granada (última edición).
- José Carlos Fernández Rozas / Sixto Sánchez Lorenzo. Derecho internacional privado. Thomson Reuters. Civitas (última edición).
- Carlos Esplugues Mota / José Luis Iglesias Buhigues. Derecho Internacional Privado. Tirant lo Blanch (6ª edición).
- Legislación básica de Derecho internacional privado (Tecnos, o cualquier otra editorial).