Transnational commercial litigation

The course will provide students with basic information and knowledge about fundamental principles, legislative regimes, scholars' debates, case law on the following topics:
· Is Transnational Litigation Different? (A Journey among National Civil Procedure, Private International Law, International Law, European Law and International Arbitration)

· Access to Courts by Foreign Litigants (Legal Aid; Third-Party Funding; Sovereign
Immunity and Act of State Doctrine)

· Fundamental Procedural Rights in light of the ECHR and CJEU case law

· Determining and Declining Jurisdiction in Cross-Border Contractual Disputes; Issues and Praxis; the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

· Conflicts of Jurisdiction (forum non conveniens, lis pendens, antisuit injunctions)

· National Courts and International Public Tribunals: Coordination and Conflicts

· National Courts and International Private Tribunals: Coordination and Conflicts

· Theoretical and Practical Issues on Determination of the Applicable Law in Cross Border Disputes

· Theoretical and Practical Issues on Determination of the Applicable Law in Cross Border Disputes. Second Part

· Cross border service of documents and cross border taking of evidence

· Preserving Judgement Assets and Enforcing Judgement Debts in Transnational Commercial Litigation

· Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judicial Decisions. European v. PIL Regime

· Practical session: Case Law Analysis and Discussion On Public Policy as a Bar to the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judicial Decisions

· The effect of res judicata in transnational disputes; the determination of its objective and subjective scope; the defense of abuse of process

· Special Issues Arising Out of Litigating Cross-Border Competition Law Disputes

· Special Issues Arising Out of Litigating Cross-Border Financial Law Disputes

· Special Issues Arising Out of Litigating Cross-Border IP Law Disputes

· Special Issues Arising Out of Litigating Cross-Border Labour Law Disputes.

The course will refer to international conventions and multilateral treaties pertaining to the conduct of transnational litigation, to examples drawn from other civil and common law jurisdictions, as well as to pure transnational principles and rules (such as lex mercatoria) and non-binding instruments (soft law), always emphasizing practical approaches and solutions to concrete problems.

Each topic dealt with within the course will be addressed not only from a theoretical point of view, but also through the lens of the most relevant arbitral and judicial case law.

The course follows a case - method approach. Aside frontal lessons and seminars held by experienced specialists, students will be requested to actively participate by reporting cases to the class, discussing them, working in groups and taking part to moot courts and simulations.

Moot courts and internships
The attendance to the course is positively assessed in light of the students' recruitment process for international legal competitions sponsored by our University (in particular the PAX Moot, i.e. the specialized moot court competition focused on private international law issues, organized by Science Po, Paris: https://paxmoot.com/), as well as for the professional internships abroad within the Erasmus Placement Programme.