A comprehensive and in-depth analysis of how courts in the countries of Commonwealth Africa decide claims under private international law.

This title was first published in 2001. This text critically examines the role and relevance of international human rights law in the process of protection, especially in the cases of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It argues that international human rights law does have a role to play in the protection and, indeed the enforcement of human rights in these countries and that there is an emerging trend to that effect.

The Authors. List of Abbreviations. General Introduction. Part I. General Principles (Choice-of-Law Technique). Chapter 1. Sources of PIL. Chapter 2. Connection. Chapter 3. Basic Terms. Part II. Rules of Choice of Law. Chapter 1. Persons. Chapter 2. Obligations. Chapter 3. Law of Property. Chapter 4. Intangible Property Rights. Chapter 5. Company Law. Chapter 6. Family Law. Chapter 7. Succession Law. Part III. Annex: International Civil Procedure (ICP). Chapter 1. Sources of ICP (National Law, International Conventions). Chapter 2. The Principle of Lex Fori. Chapter 3. National Jurisdiction. Chapter 4. International Jurisdiction. Chapter 5. Acceptability (Recognition) and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments. Selected Bibliography. Index.

A sharp distinction is usually drawn between public international law, concerned with the rights and obligations of states with respect to other states and individuals, and private international law, concerned with issues of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in international private law disputes before national courts. Through the adoption of an international systemic perspective, Dr Alex Mills challenges this distinction by exploring the ways in which norms of public international law shape and are given effect through private international law. Based on an analysis of the history of private international law, its role in US, EU, Australian and Canadian federal constitutional law, and its relationship with international constitutional law, he rejects its conventional characterisation as purely national law. He argues instead that private international law effects an international ordering of regulatory authority in private law, structured by international principles of justice, pluralism and subsidiarity.

Is Private International Law (PIL) still fit to serve its function in today’s global environment? In light of some calls for radical changes to its very foundations, this timely book investigates the ability of PIL to handle contemporary and international problems, and inspires genuine debate on the future of the field.

In Africa. The new states and the United Nations. Modern.