Party Autonomy in International Property Law - Peace Palace Library

A. General Aspects of Party Autonomy
rights issues can only function optimally when a link with the situs is
nonexistent, since the interests of third parties are then not directly at
stake, and no harm is done to proprietary rights systems. 49
2.8. In conclusion
Party autonomy to choose the law governing proprietary rights aspects is
a last resort, intended for those cases involving proprietary rights aspects
in which seeking a connection with the place where the goods are situated
does not bring a solution, and in which only a choice of law will
lead to results that are acceptable in actual practice. The Dutch Property
Law (Conflict of Laws) Act regulates four of these cases, of which the
provisions regarding goods in transit (Article 8) and cross-border assignment
(Article 10) are the most relevant from the practical perspective.
As regards the latter legal concept – cross-border assignment – it is hoped
that the European Commission, in its report to be issued on the scope of
Article 14 of the Rome I Regulation 50 will clear a path for party autonomy
to choose the law governing proprietary rights aspects. However, it is to
be expected that a European-wide consensus at this point will be difficult
to achieve.
49
Cf. Van der Weide 2006, paragraph 6.6 (see note 23).
50
See the review clause of Article 27 paragraph 2 of the Rome I Regulation and
the ‘Open invitation to tender JLS / 2010 / ​JCIV / ​PR / 0007 / ​E4 – Study on the
question of effectiveness of an assignment or subrogation of a claim against
third parties and the priority of the assigned or subrogated claim over a right
of another person’, European Commission, 22 May 2010 (JLS / ​E4-LK / ​jbg-
D(2010) 7418). See also the contribution of Paulien M.M. van der Grinten to
this book (Chapter 7).
58
Jeroen van der Weide
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