On New Year's Day 1935, when Geoffrey Cheshire penned the preface to the first edition of Private International Law, he famously described the subject as “not overloaded with detailed rules; it has been only lightly touched by the paralysing hand of the Parliamentary draftsman”: indeed, he felt then that it was “perhaps the last opportunity, for the judiciary to show that a homogeneous and scientifically constructed body of law, suitable to the changing needs of society, can be evolved without the aid of the legislature”. By contrast, of course, the authors of the new, fourteenth, edition of this excellent work must take the reader through many pieces of new legislation, much of it emanating from the European Union. The fourteenth edition also sees a further change in our guides for the journey: although Sir Peter North retains his involvement, this is now in the role of consultant editor, whilst Dr Janeen Carruthers joins Professor James Fawcett in the authorship of the work.
Although a text directed at the English lawyer, Private International Law is also worthy of a place in the Scots legal library. In large measure, this is due to the many similarities in the Scots and English rules of private international law, which allows Scots lawyers (exercising, of course, the necessary caution) to consult English texts with profit. Clearly this is particularly so in respect of UK-wide statutory rules and the burgeoning amount of EU legislation. In addition, however, there are in Private International Law many useful references to the differing Scots position on particular issues, which is of great assistance to the Scots reader.
The fourteenth edition of Private International Law retains the work's clear and accessible structure. There are introductory remarks and a historical introduction; a section on preliminary matters (such as classification, and the proof of foreign law); a section dealing with jurisdiction and enforcement; a section focussing on choice of law in respect of contractual and non-contractual obligations; a section on the private international law aspects of family law; and finally a section dealing with property law (including such matters as trusts and succession).
Within this framework, much has been added and refined to take account of the new developments in the years since the publication of the last edition in 1999. Many of these have emanated from the EU. Thus the chapters on jurisdiction now incorporate a full discussion of the...
