TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK: A COMMENTARY ON THE JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION ON THE PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW ACT OF CHINA

On 6 January 2013, the Supreme People's Court promulgated Interpretation (I) on the Private International Law Act". The Interpretation (I) attempts to provide concrete explanations of the abstract articles mainly in Chapter One of the Act and to create new provisions to close the legal loopholes. In this respect, the adoption of the Interpretation (I) can be regarded as a large step towards building a modern private international law system. Nonetheless, some articles of the Interpretation (I) invite debate and even criticism. Indeed, the danger of certain articles, such as Art 6 (party autonomy), Art 10 (mandatory rules) and Art 17 (proof of foreign law), is so grave that the underlying purpose of the Act would be defeated. For this reason, the development made by the Interpretation (I) may be compared to two steps forward, one step back.