THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INTERN

1LIVINGAPARTTOGETHER:THERELATIONSHIPBETWEENPUBLICANDPRIVATEINTERNATIONALLAWbyTh.M.deBoer1.Spurnedpartneroroldacquaintance?2.Historyofabumpyrelationship2.1Gettingacquainted:theproblemofsovereignty2.2Thebondofcomity:HuberandStory2.3Anemergingcommunityofnations:Savigny2.4Boundbyuniversallaws:Mancini2.5Goingseparateways2.6Livingaparttogether3.Auniversaloutlook3.1Convergingtrends:partyautonomy,escapeclauses,thediminishingroleofnationality3.2Divergingmethods:neo-statutismandthequestforsubstantivejustice3.3Thelimitsofcomity:publicinterests4.TheemancipationofprivateinternationallawSavigny,Mancini,Huber,Story,choice-of-lawmethodology,convergingtrends,partyautonomy,nationality,properlawescape,confluenceofpublicandprivateinternationallaw,neo-statutismRelationshipofpublicandprivateinternationallawAbstract:__________________________________________________________________________________DistinguishedProfessorofPrivateInternationalLawandComparativeLaw,UniversityofAmsterdam;memberoftheeditorialboardoftheNILR.21.SPURNEDPARTNEROROLDACQUAINTANCE?InthelawlibraryIhaveathome,thereareaboutadozentextbooksonpublicinternationallaw.Ithoughtitwouldbeagoodideatostartmyresearchintotherelationshipbetweenpublicandprivateinternationallawbylookingup‘privateinternationallaw’intheindexhelpfullyprovidedineachofthosebooks.Theresultwasratherdisheartening.Obviously,thetopicof‘privateinternationallaw’,or‘PIL’,or‘conflictoflaws’,or‘conflictslaw’,or‘transnationallaw’isofnoconcerntoscholarsofpublicinternationallaw.Onlyoneofthemhasseenfittowriteafewpagesonthedifferencebetweenthem.1Bycontrast,Ihavenotbeenabletofindasingletextbookonprivateinternationallawinmylibraryinwhichpublicinternationallawisnotincludedintheindex.Ifthereisagenuinepartnershipbetweenthetwodisciplines,oneofthepartnersdoesnotseemtobemuchinterestedintheother.Yet,therearesymptomsofmutualinterestaswell:perhapsnotaninterestineachother,butstillacommoninterestinlegalissuesarisinginaninternationalsetting,whethertheyinvolvepublicentitiesorprivateparties.Thisisprovedbytheexistenceoflegalperiodicals(suchastheNetherlandsInternationalLawReview)andlegalsocieties(suchastheNetherlandsSocietyofInternationalLaw),inwhich‘internationallaw’standsforbothpublicandprivateinternationallaw.TheInstitutdedroitinternational,theInternationalLawAssociationandtheHagueAcademyofInternationalLawwerefoundedtofurtherthestudyanddevelopmentof‘internationallaw,bothpublicandprivate’.2Inlegaleducation,ontheotherhand,thereisamarkeddistinctionbetweenthetwodisciplines.Inmostcountries,thesedays,afullprofessorshipin(public)internationallawdoesnotrequireanyexpertiseinprivateinternationallaw,andviceversa.Manyholdersofthechairofprivateinternationallawdoteachcomparativelaw,orsometopicofsubstantiveprivatelaw,butthecombinationofpublicandprivateinternationallawisfairlyuncommon.3Whenmyownlawschoolreorganizeditsdepartmentsinthe1990s,itwasdecidedthatthechairsofEuropeanlaw,publicinternationallaw,privateinternationallawandthelawof__________________________________________________________________________________1.M.Akehurst,AModernIntroductiontoInternationalLaw,3rdedn.(London,GeorgeAllen&Unwin1970)pp.53etseq.;6thedn.(London,HarperCollinsAcademic1991)pp.48etseq.,leftintactinsubsequenteditionsrevisedbyP.Malanczuk.Theothertextbookswere:I.Brownlie,PrinciplesofInternationalLaw,4thedn.(Oxford,ClarendonPress1990);M.Dixon,InternationalLaw,3rdedn.(London,BlackstonePressLtd.1996);M.N.Shaw,InternationalLaw,4thedn.(Cambridge,CambridgeUniversityPress1997);D.J.Harris,CasesandMaterialsonInternationalLaw,5thedn.(London,Sweet&Maxwell1998);A.Cassese,InternationalLaw(Oxford,OxfordUniversityPress2001);P.H.Kooijmans,Internationaalpubliekrechtinvogelvlucht,9thedn.(Deventer,Kluwer2002);N.Horbach,R.LefeberandO.Ribbelink,eds.,HandboekInternationaalRecht(TheHague,T.M.C.AsserPress2007).2.Cf.theILAConstitution(asadoptedatthe71stconference,1971),Art.3.1:‘TheobjectivesoftheAssociationarethestudy,clarificationanddevelopmentofinternationallaw,bothpublicandprivate,andthefurtheranceofinternationalunderstandingandrespectforinternationallaw.’InitsConstitution,theInstitutdoesnotdistinguishbetweenpublicandprivateinternationallaw,butinviewofbothitsmembershipandthemanyresolutionsitadoptedontopicsofprivateinternationallawitspurpose‘topromotetheprogressofinternationallaw’isnotlimitedtopublicinternationallaw.TheobjectivesoftheHagueAcademyareevidencedbyitssummercoursesonbothpublicandprivateinternationallaw.3.InGermany,WilhelmWenglerissaidtobethelastholderofachairofbothpublicandprivateinternationallaw:S.LeibleandM.Ruffert,‘Einführung’,inS.LeibleandM.Ruffert,eds.,VölkerrechtundIPR(Jena,JenaerWissenschaftlicherVerlagsgesellschaft2006)pp.17-22atp.19;E.Jayme,‘VölkerrechtundInternationalesPrivatrecht–eineentwicklungsgeschichtlicheBetrachtung’,ibid.,pp.23-41atp.37;H.-P.Mansel,‘StaatlichkeitdesInternationalenPrivatrechtsundVölkerrecht’,ibid.,pp.89-130atp.91andpp.96-97,pointingoutthatsuchdualexpertisestillexistsinthe‘romanischeTradition’.3internationalorganizationswouldmergeintoone‘Departmento