In the spring of 2026, Dr. Fillers published an article titled “Who Is Afraid of Choice-of-Court Agreements in Domestic Cases? The Inkreal Case and Beyond” in the Netherlands International Law Review. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the controversial Inkreal case. In Inkreal, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) faced a question that had long been contemplated by scholars of private international law: does the Brussels Ibis Regulation apply when parties in a purely domestic dispute choose the courts of another Member State? The CJEU answered this question in the affirmative, subjecting such choice-of-court agreements to the Brussels Ibis Regulation. As a result, for instance, two companies from Latvia involved in a purely domestic dispute could agree to resolve it before a Spanish court. The decision has received considerable praise for its support to party autonomy, but it has also been criticized for allowing parties to circumvent national rules on local jurisdiction. In the article, Dr. Fillers weighs the arguments for and against the decision, as well as its direct and indirect consequences.
Read: “Who Is Afraid of Choice-of-Court Agreements in Domestic Cases? The Inkreal Case and Beyond”: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40802-025-00285-9