Defying Borders: The Promise and Peril of Party Autonomy in Private International Law

La Faculté de droit vous convie à la conférence inaugurale de la professeure Geneviève Saumier en tant que titulaire de la Chaire Peter M. Laing.

Résumé

[En anglais seul.] Party autonomy in private international has been associated with the power granted to parties to choose the law applicable to international contracts and the forum for dispute resolution. This license has been justified largely on the basis that it provides the legal certainty essential to cross-border transactions, allows for the designation of a neutral law or forum, and is consistent with general principles of freedom of contract in domestic law. In recent years, party autonomy has increasingly been spreading to personal matters, for example in relation to same-sex marriage or surrogacy, where individuals choose jurisdictions and laws that give them access to a particular status (spouse or parent) that would not be accessible to them in their home jurisdictions. While party autonomy in commercial matters is under fire as allowing parties to strategically select laws and forums that shield them from otherwise applicable regulatory regimes, party autonomy in personal matters is celebrated as a means to avoid restrictive State policies that infringe on fundamental rights and self-determination.  Regardless of whether one views party autonomy as promise or peril, its effect is to invite persons, natural and legal, to defy the territorial limitations of State law in the pursuit of their own interests, be they economic or personal. The extent to which this needs to be balanced with other interests, and whether this can or should occur within private international law, is the subject of this lecture.

À propos de la conférencière

Spécialiste de droit international privé, la professeure Saumier entreprend aussi des recherches en droit de la consommation, en résolution des différends internationaux et sur les recours collectifs transfrontaliers. Ses articles sur le droit international privé et sur l’arbitrage de consommation ont été cités à plusieurs reprises par la Cour suprême du Canada. Au-delà de ces sujets, son enseignement inclut également le droit de la responsabilité civile, la médiation et la procédure civile.

Un vin d'honneur suivra. Prière de confirmer sa présence d'ici le 16 octobre 2017 en écrivant à alumnioffice.law [at] mcgill.ca (subject: RSVP%20Laing%20Chair%20Inaugural%20Lecture.) .

Une demande d’accréditation a été déposée pour fins de formation continue obligatoire pour juristes (1,5h).