Geert Van Calster
gavclaw.bsky.social
Geert Van Calster
@gavclaw.bsky.social

Geert is a practising lawyer and full professor at KU Leuven, and a visiting prof i.a. at Monash University, Melbourne. Mostly law. Just law. Blogs at www.gavclaw.com

Geert Van Calster is a Belgian lawyer and legal scholar, focusing on conflict of laws, international trade law, EU and international environmental law, EU economic law, and investment and commercial arbitration. He is full professor of Law at KU Leuven, was the head of its department of European and International Law for 11 years between 2009 and 2020, and is a senior fellow at KU Leuven's Centre for Global Governance Studies. He is a former director of the Centre for Advanced Legal Studies at KU Leuven and former program director for the Master of Energy and Environmental Law (2002-2012). He is also a visiting professor at Monash University (Melbourne), at King's College London, and a senior fellow at Melbourne University School of Law. He is adjunct professor at American University, a former visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford and a former visiting professor at the China-EU School of Law in Beijing and Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Between 1994 and 2015, he was affiliated as of counsel (practising) with international law firms, respectively SJ Berwin; Andersen Legal; Dibb, Lupton, Alsop; and DLA Piper. He now runs his own, independent legal practice. He was called to the bar in 1999. He hosts a blog posting mostly on international dispute resolution at www.gavclaw.com. .. more

Political science 30%
Law 23%

Interesting (succinct; more at trial one imagines) reflection on tracing for Bitcoin in context of freezing injunction
Wrongful removal of cryptocurrencies held by Claimants
Whether UTXO or LIFO method
Smithers ea v Persons Unknown [2026] EWHC 207 (Comm)
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWH...
Access denied
www.bailii.org

Permission for service out
Good arguable case threshold incl discussion on applicable law (assimilated) Rome I
Whether express choice of law result of framework agreement; implied choice of law; cascade of A4

Westbase v Vuzix [2026] EWHC 138 (Ch) www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWH...
Westbase Technology Ltd v Vuzix Corporation & Ors [2026] EWHC 138 (Ch) (30 January 2026)
www.bailii.org

Reposted by Geert Van Calster

Good illustration of claimant's attempt to use territorial allocation of A18 BIa consumer contracts jurisdiction, to circumvent national jurisdictional rules
Attempt fails: court holds case is not 'international' despite suggested ex-Dutch elements

Overijssel deeplink.rechtspraak.nl/uitspraak?id...
Rechtspraak.nl - Zoeken in uitspraken
Zoeken in uitspraken
deeplink.rechtspraak.nl

Claimant (represented by @mwhoyle96.bsky.social) successfully enforces New York money judgment
Defendant's fraud (with discussion of whether this was, as it should, also argued in NY), ordre public arguments fail
BG Atlantic v Hay Hill Investments [2026] EWHC 226 (KB)
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWH...
Access denied
www.bailii.org

Blogged.

Opinion Rantos AG in [Idziski]: A justifiable continued reigning in of Article 7(2) Brussels Ia jurisdiction: suggests eDate centre of interest approach must not apply to terrestrial broadcasting.

gavclaw.com/2026/02/06/o...
Opinion Rantos AG in [Idziski]: A justifiable continued reigning in of Article 7(2) Brussels Ia jurisdiction: suggests eDate centre of interest approach must not apply to terrestrial broadcasting.
If you do use the blog for research or database purposes, citation would be appreciated, to the blog as a whole and /or to specific blog posts. Many have suggested I should turn the blog into a pai…
gavclaw.com

This is interesting.
We have opened an inquiry into the use of artificial intelligence by external experts in the evaluation of EU funding proposals.

We have asked @ec.europa.eu and the SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA):
- if they set rules on the use of AI by evaluators
- if evaluators are required to disclose AI use
Ombudswoman opens inquiry concerning AI use in evaluation of EU funding proposals
The inquiry will focus on whether the institutions concerned put in place sufficient safeguards regarding the use of AI by external experts evaluating pro...
www.ombudsman.europa.eu
We have opened an inquiry into the use of artificial intelligence by external experts in the evaluation of EU funding proposals.

We have asked @ec.europa.eu and the SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA):
- if they set rules on the use of AI by evaluators
- if evaluators are required to disclose AI use
Ombudswoman opens inquiry concerning AI use in evaluation of EU funding proposals
The inquiry will focus on whether the institutions concerned put in place sufficient safeguards regarding the use of AI by external experts evaluating pro...
www.ombudsman.europa.eu

Reposted by Geert Van Calster

Opinion Rantos AG Case C-232/25 [Idziski]
A7(2) Brussels Ia: jurisdiction for courts of MS of broadcast of TV series with allegedly libelous content
Builds on Bolagsupplysningen etc: determination of COMI and so on
infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/documen...
RPEX
infocuria.curia.europa.eu

Internal market law, free movement of goods, 'Trade ands' "Safeguard clauses" in secondary law
CJEU OKs EU GMO regime with wide remit for ban on GMO cultivation in MSs
Sidebar on whether case was engineered and inadmissible
C‑364/24 C‑393/24 Fidenato v Italy infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/documen...
RPEX
infocuria.curia.europa.eu

Contractual confusion, prima facie contradicting /unclear and limping (A)DR clauses
Whether priority went to later arbitration agreement, reading EN jurisdiction clause as giving supervisory jurisdiction over NY arbitration

Tyson v GIC [2026] EWCA Civ 40
bailii.org/ew/cases/EWC...
Access denied
www.bailii.org

Reposted by Geert Van Calster

Reposted by Geert Van Calster

Applicable law in arbitration
Dicey Rule 193: lex incorporationis capacity to represent
s145 Arbitration Act question of law
Sprinkling of English ordre public applies, too.

India v CC Devas (Mauritius) Ltd (In Administration) & Ors [2026] EWHC 156 (Comm)
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWH...
Access denied
www.bailii.org

Reposted by Geert Van Calster

Sanctions-Related Litigation in Russian Courts: The Euroclear Cases and Private international law. Guest blog by Dr Mykola Lazarenko

gavclaw.com/2026/01/30/s...
Sanctions-Related Litigation in Russian Courts: The Euroclear Cases and Private international law. Guest blog by Dr Mykola Lazeranko
This post has been written by Dr Mykola Lazeranko, postdoctoral fellow at KU Leuven Law. I am most grateful for his contribution. Of note is that Mykola’s aim is not to highlight whether the Russia…
gavclaw.com