The Supreme People's Court of China issued the first batch of five typical cases for the ascertainment and application of extraterritorial laws on 10 July, 2024. One of the cases that the Research Centre for Ascertainment of Foreign Law of CUPL undertook was selected into the list by the Supreme Court.

This case was entrusted by the Nanjing Maritime Court. A/Prof. Pan Deng from the College, who was assigned by the Centre, issued the letter of inquiry on foreign law concerning the Mexican law involved in the multimodal transport contract dispute. The letter was then accepted and used by the client as a basis of the court's decision.

(The first and second page of the letter of commission of the case mentioned in the article)

Rooted in the College, the Research is the base for the ascertaining of foreign law of the Fourth Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (Civil Division No.4), It is also the first professional advisory body in the country to be entrusted by People's Court to advise on the ascertainment and application of extraterritorial laws. The Centre was co-established by CUPL and Civil Division No.4 in November, 2014. Over the past 10 years, the Centre has been commissioned by more than 30 People's Court in China to issue opinions on the ascertainment and application of extraterritorial laws. The relevant laws, regulations, precedents and systems not only relate to Europe, US, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other regions with close traditional foreign-related civil and commercial exchanges, but also include the Belt and Road emerging markets such as Rwandans, Mexicans, Panamanians, Mongolians, Thais and Bermudians. They deal with physical issues such as marriage, contracts, tort and equity, also involve registration, bankruptcy, arbitration and other procedural matters. The opinions as such issued by the Centre were all accepted by the clients.

In 2022, the Centre was upgraded to the Research Base for Ascertainment of Foreign Law by further integrating experts in various fields of law at home and abroad, introducing more experts in non-common languages, establishing a mechanism for ascertaining assistant and foreign law ascertaining laboratory, and opening up to arbitration institutions and case parties to provide ascertaining services.

At present, the Base is equipped to accurately ascertain, confirm, understand and interpret the laws, regulations and precedents of representative jurisdictions in major legal systems and in major countries and regions around the world, and it has become a think tank in foreign-related civil and commercial trials, a hub of foreign legal information and materials and a pace-setter in foreign law research who can provide the court and judge with authoritative opinions on the ascertainment and application of extraterritorial laws.

In the next step, the Base will better interact with the College's work on foreign-related rule of law research and internationalised talent development in accordance with the general requirements for advancing the foreign-related rule of law system and capacity building, realising the integration of personnel training, scientific research, think tank consultation and social services in the field of extraterritorial rule of law. By assisting foreign-related civil and commercial trial judges to enhance the ability to ascertain and apply extraterritorial law and by enriching the supply of extraterritorial laws to foreign-related civil and commercial cases parties, the Base will provide intellectual support for improving the level of foreign-related legal services in the country.

For more about the first batch of typical extraterritorial law ascertainment cases published by the People's Supreme Court:

https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/437691.html