Globalisation & Jurisdiction

In December 2002, the Europa Instituut of Leiden University convened a seminar to discuss the various responses to the challenges posed by globalisation in different fields of economic activity and legal practice. The theme `Globalisation and Jurisdiction¿ was reflected upon both by scholars and practitioners. Their presentations are presented in this book in a more formal and extensive format. Some additional topics have been included to provide an even more extensive treatment of the theme.

In this book, the legal developments in some selected sectors which display particularly interesting features, such as international securities and banking and the internet are addressed. For every sector the question can be asked: what are the challenges posed by globalisation and how has the law been reacting to them? An overview of these developments provides valuable input for the second purpose of this book, the academic debate on jurisdiction and globalisation. Which problems are encountered? To what extent have traditional concepts of jurisdiction accommodated the requirements of a global economy? To what extent have these traditional concepts been adapted and new ones developed to solve these problems?

As the various contributions show globalisation creates an interactive process whereby governmental initiatives enable the private parties to try new actions, while conversely private action may solicit governmental and judicial responses.