The New Act on Private International Law in the Czech Republic: Starting Points and Perspectives within the European Union
Abstract
The article attempts to analyse the new Czech Act on Private International Law, its starting points, structure and content, but also to reflect of the future perspectives of national private international law legislation within the European Union. The core question is: does it still make sense to adopt new national private international law legislation, when such an intense unification of private international law in the European Union is taking place? It briefly summarises the history of codification of private international law in Czech Republic and explains the starting points of the new PIL Act, effective as of January 2014 that was adopted in the framework of a total recodification of Czech private law.
The article analyses structural and substantive changes in the new legislation as compared to its predecessor - PIL act adopted in the then Czechoslovakia in 1963. Regarding the perspectives on national private international law legislation in EU Member States, the authors, despite of the growing scope of the unification process of European private international law, argue that autonomous private international law of the individual EU Member States will remain relevant for the foreseeable future.