Japanese and European Private International Law in Comparative Perspective

The idea of national codification is advancing on a global scale in conflict of laws. A large number of legislative projects dealing with codifying and modernizing private international law, both on the national and the supranational level, have been launched in the past few years. Among such recent initiatives, the advances taken by the European and the Japanese legislators are particularly reflecting these developments. On January 1, 2007, the new Japanese 'Act on General Rules for Application of Laws' entered into force replacing the outdated conflict of laws statute of 1898. This major reform finds its parallels in the current efforts of the European Union to create a modern private international law regime for its member states.
This volume presents the first comprehensive analysis of the new Japanese private international law available in any western language and contrasts it with corresponding European developments. Most of the contributors from Japan are scholars who were actively involved in and responsible for preparing the new Act. All of them are renowned experts in the field of private international law. Leading European experts in the conflict of laws supplement the Japanese analyses with comparative contributions reflecting the pertinent discussion of parallel endeavours in the EU. To guarantee better understanding, English translations of both the present and the former Japanese statutes have been added.I. General Introduction
Jürgen Basedow: The Recent Development of the Conflict of Laws - Trevor C. Hartley: The Brussels Regulation and Non-Community States - Masato Dogauchi: Historical Development of Japanese Private International Law - Hironori Wanami: Background and Outline of the Modernization of Japanese Private International Law
II. Contractual Obligations
Yuko Nishitani: Party Autonomy and Its Restrictions by Mandatory Rules in Japanese Private International Law - Catherine Kessedjian: Party Autonomy and Characteristic Performance in the Rome Convention and the Rome I Proposal - Fausto Pocar: Protection of Weaker Parties in the Rome Convention and the Rome I Proposal
III. Assignment of Receivables
Aki Kitazawa: Law Applicable to the Assignment of Receivables in Japan (Nihon ni okeru saiken jôto no junkyo-hô) - Eva-Maria Kieninger: General Principles on the Law Applicable to the Assignment of Receivables in Europe
IV. International Company Law
Dai Yokomizo: International Company Law in Japan - Sylvaine Poillot-Peruzzetto: International Company Law in the ECJ Decisions - Daniel Zimmer: The Proposal of the Deutscher Rat für Internationales Privatrecht
V. Non-Contractual Obligations
Toshiyuki Kono: Critical and Comparative Analysis of the Rome II Regulation on Applicable Laws to Non-contractual Obligations and the New Private International Law in Japan - Thomas Kadner Graziano: General Principles of Private International Law of Tort in Europe - Marc Fallon: The Law Applicable to Specific Torts in Europe
VI. International Family Law
Yasuhiro Okuda: Divorce, Protection of Minors, and Child Abduction in Japan's Private International Law - Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg: Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Cross-Border Divorce Cases in Europe - Alegría Borrás: Protection of Minors and Child Abduction under the Hague Conventions and the Brussels II bis Regulation
VII. International Civil Procedure Law
Yoshihisa Hayakawa: International Adjudicative Jurisdiction in Japan - Dieter Martiny: Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Germany and Europe
Annex I
Major European Community Legislation in Private International Law Annex II
Japanese Legislation in Private International Law