I am grateful to Professors Alex Mills, Cedric Ryngaert and Philippa Webb for discussing various aspects of my book on Torts in UK Foreign Relations in their posts. Their comments raise important questions about the act of state doctrines, the application of foreign law to tort claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority and the position of the UK approach to such claims in comparative law. Foreign Act of State In her post, Professor Webb focuses on the foreign act of state doctrine (“FAOS”). She raises the question of whether private international law can help us understand the nature of the doctrine and play a role in taming the public policy exception to it. This question is partly motivated by the Canadian Supreme Court judgment in Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, where the court relied on private international law to hold that FAOS had played no role in Canadian law and was not part of Canadian common law. Regardless of…
EJIL Book Discussion
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Torts in Dutch Foreign Relations: Choice of Law Issues
Uglješa Grušić’s Torts in UK Foreign Relations is an impressive work discussing the relevance of private international law for tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority. As I have no expertise in UK or English law, I will engage with Uglješa’s work from a comparative law perspective. In particular, I…
The Application of Foreign Tort Law to Extraterritorial Exercises of UK Executive Authority: A Practice without Principle?
When the United Kingdom exercises executive authority outside its territory, a variety of legal claims may (and in practice often do) ensue in the English courts. Such claims may arise, for example, from those who allege that they have been mistreated at the hands of members of the UK armed forces in the course of foreign operations. One…
The Taming Function of Private International Law
Dr Uglješa Grušić has published a new book, Torts in UK Foreign Relations, that provides a comprehensive account of private international law aspects of tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority. It is an outstanding book – nuanced, learned and also a pleasure to read. The book tackles…
Torts in UK Foreign Relations: An Introduction
If a British soldier or a member of the British security services commits a wrong in a foreign country while acting in an official capacity, the victim’s best chance of obtaining a remedy is often to commence proceedings against the UK government in England. On what basis can such proceedings be brought? An international lawyer is likely to…