Abstract The 2024 survey of the Chinese practices in private international law highlights five aspects: First, in terms of legislative developments, two revised laws, three new and three revised administrative regulations, three judicial interpretations, were adopted. The Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) also issued seven groups of 43 typical cases. Additionally, China ratified the Agreement on Judicial Assistance and Cooperation in Civil or Commercial Matters with Saudi Arabia. Second, Chinese courts concluded substantial numbers of international cases: 26,000 foreign-related civil and commercial cases, 34,000 maritime cases and 18,000 commercial arbitration judicial review cases. Third, regarding jurisdiction, Chinese courts for the first time applied the appropriate connection approach under Article 276(2) of the Civil Procedure Law. In civil monopoly cases, both the SPC’s new judicial interpretation and selected cases confirmed that jurisdiction follows tort and contract rules. Fourth, regarding choice of law, foreign law ascertainment remains prominent, with Chinese courts demonstrating increased efforts to research and apply foreign laws through numerous reports, cases and rules. Finally, regarding arbitration, the SPC released six typical cases supporting the arbitration in Hong Kong and a Report on Judicial Review of Commercial Arbitration. In the Report, the SPC identified three cases involving public policy to illustrate the application scope while maintaining strict application standards.

Abstract The introduction of renewable energies to eliminate gas in the perspective of energy transition no longer focused on fossil fuels has increased the demand for the lithium batteries necessary for electronic devices. Minerals such as cobalt and coltan are essential component for such technologies and for Multinational companies (MNCs). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo thousands of miners are forced to work in artisanal mines in completely unsafe manners. MNCs, together with the mineral supply chain, are failing to conduct adequate human rights due diligence. Several international and regional regulations establish precise parameters in order to prevent human rights violations for MNCs in general and, in particular, in the mineral sourcing and trade. Until 2024, EU regulation was voluntary, but now, after the approval of the Directive (EU) 2024/1760 on corporate sustainability due diligence, it seems that a countdown has started for MNCs. The article maintains that this Directive may produce a double-sided effect, because it can be detrimental for local communities whose economy could be affected by a more stringent regulation.

Abstract This comment first recalls the idea of the international law of co-progressiveness—all encompassing, bent for progressiveness, and relying on the self-drive of each State while allowing inducement from other States—and then highlights the essential features of the Paris Agreement nationally determined contributions (NDC) system to reduce GHG emissions, which is now the mainstay of the main channel or platform under the UN to fight climate change, to show that this system—dominated by self-drive and inducement, designed to be all involving, mutually influencing, mutually inducing and mutually uplifting—is a very good reflection of the idea of the international law of co-progressiveness. The ITLOS in its advisory opinion on climate change considers the Paris Agreement to be a complement, not lex specialis, to the UNCLOS, without adequate analysis. In its advisory opinion to be delivered, the ICJ should act as the guardian of international law as to both the system and the content, center-stage the Paris Agreement NDC system, and holisticize the system of international law, by properly addressing the relevant systemic and substantive issues, rather than taking a sectoral approach. Some concluding remarks are offered at the end.

Abstract Famously, the International Court of Justice in the Corfu Channel case affirmed Albania’s international obligation to notify was based on its knowledge, but the Court was silent on the third-party States’ duty to notify impending disasters based on their knowledge. Applying analytical and doctrinal methods, this paper argues that the third-party States’ duty to notify the international community of impending disasters occurring on Earth or in outer space is an emergent norm and should be an erga omnes obligation. Firstly, relying on general international law provisions, including those in environmental and human rights treaties, soft law instruments, principles of cooperation, historical responsibility, and common but differentiated responsibility, this article concludes that the third-party States’ obligation to notify an impending disaster is an emerging norm. Secondly, to support our claim, this article examines the duty to notify provisions in international disaster law and international space law documents. This paper is timely, as both Earth and outer space are becoming increasingly vulnerable to disasters due to human activities, and disaster risks can be prevented and minimized through knowledge-sharing, which should be mandatory. Such obligation on third-party States to notify the international community regarding impending disasters also aligns with global interconnectedness and helps in realizing sustainable development goals.

Abstract Ryukyu was a kingdom that maintained tributary relations to China for more than 500 years until it was invaded by Japan in 1879 and renamed Okinawa Prefecture by the Meiji government. Article 3 of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty separated Ryukyu from Japan’s territory. It was planned to be within the trusteeship system of the United Nations, with the United States (US) as the sole administering authority. There were two schools of thought regarding the territorial status of the Ryukyu Islands after World War II: Trusteeship, and the US occupation of the Ryukyu Islands. Through the multidisciplinary perspective of integrating international law and historical archives, the post-war legal status of the Ryukyu Islands appears to be two-dimensional, namely, the potential territory of the trusteeship and the de facto military occupation. Dulles’ proposal for residual sovereignty at the San Francisco Conference was intended to legitimize the US-Japan disposition of Ryukyu from the 1950s to the 1970s. However, through an analysis of theories and judicial practices related to residual sovereignty, it is found that the application of residual sovereignty to the ultimate territorial disposition of the Ryukyu Islands between the US and Japan will only lead to legal paradoxes, and can hardly form the legal basis for this disposition.