Economic sanctions are instruments of foreign policy. However, they can also affect legal relations between private parties – principally in contract. In such cases, the court or arbitration tribunal seized must decide whether to give effect to the economic sanction in question.



Private international law functions as a 'filter', transmitting economic sanctions that originate in public law to the realm of private law. The aim of this book is to examine how private international law rules can influence the enforcement of economic sanctions and their related foreign policy objectives.



A coherent EU foreign policy position – in addition to promoting legal certainty and predictability – would presuppose a uniform approach not only concerning the economic sanctions of the EU, but also with regard to the restrictive measures imposed by third countries. However, if we examine in detail the application of economic sanctions by Member States' courts and arbitral tribunals, we find a somewhat different picture. This book argues that this can be explained in part by the divergence of private international law approaches in the Member States.

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction

I. Economic Sanctions in Private International Law

II. The Aim of this Book

III. Methodology and the Scope of the Work

IV. The Object of the Analysis: Economic Sanctions

V. Foreign Policy and Private International Law

VI. Adjudicative Rhetoric and Foreign Policy Considerations

2. The Legal Framework for Imposing Economic Sanctions

I. The UN Sanctions Regime

II. Economic Sanctions in Bilateral and Multilateral Treaties

III. Economic Sanctions in EU Law

3. Coherence and Legal Certainty in EU Law

I. Coherence in the External Relations Law of the EU

II. Legal Certainty and EU Law

4. Economic Sanctions in Private International Law

I. Economic Sanctions: State Intervention in Private Law Relationships

II. Economic Sanctions as Overriding Mandatory Provisions

III. The Treatment of Foreign Public Law in Private Law Litigation

IV. Conclusion

5. Economic Sanctions as Overriding Mandatory Provisions in EU Private International Law

I. Economic Sanctions Imposed by the Law of the Forum State

II. Economic Sanctions of the Lex Causae

III. Economic Sanctions in the Law of a Third State Other than the Lex Causae

IV. Conclusion

6. The Judicial Practice of the Member States

I. France

II. Germany

III. England and Wales

IV. Assessment of the Judicial Practice of the Member States

V. The Outcome: A Changeable European Judicial Foreign Policy

7. Blocking Statutes

I. Blocking Statutes and Private International Law

II. A Conflict of Overriding Mandatory Provisions

8. 'Deactivation' of Economic Sanctions?

I. EU Economic Sanctions and Choice-of-Court Agreements

II. EU Economic Sanctions and Arbitration Agreements

9. Possible Solutions and Conclusions

I. Public Ordering of Contractual Relations Affected by Economic Sanctions

II. Private Ordering of Contractual Relations Affected by Economic Sanctions

III. The Role of Private International Law

IV. Conclusions