Dr. Nicolas Kyriakides speaks at a conference at the University of Riga on judicial influence as a tool for cohesion in European private international law.

Dr. Nicolas Kyriakides, Director of the Procedural Law Unit at the University of Nicosia, recently presented his co-authored paper “Judicial Spill-over as a Path to Coherence in European Private International Law” at the international conference “European Private International Law: Is Improvement Needed?” held in Riga, Latvia. The conference was organised by the Riga Graduate School of Law and brought together leading scholars and practitioners in the field of EU private international law to reflect on current challenges and possible reforms.

Dr. Kyriakides participated in the opening panel on the Fundamentals of EU Private International Law, where he delivered a presentation on how judicial spill-over can serve as a mechanism to address the incoherence between Member State and EU civil justice systems. He was joined on the panel by esteemed colleagues Ivan Sukhorukov, Rob Rooman, Michał Karolak, and Aleksandrs Fillers, the latter also serving as the conference organiser. The discussion examined both the theoretical underpinnings and the practical potential of judicial spill-over to promote coherence and harmonisation in private international law.

In his presentation, Dr. Kyriakides explained that while the Court of Justice of the European Union and piecemeal legislative measures have partially mitigated divergences, a more structured judicial approach is needed. He proposed that national courts extend existing EU principles to non-harmonised areas, supported by guidelines and preliminary ruling procedures, in order to ensure consistency and proportionality. His contribution highlighted how judicial spill-over can provide a sustainable path for integration, respecting Member State diversity while promoting coherence in EU private international law.