Cross-border litigation: Evaluating the Brexit impact – a socio-legal model for data analysis

Abstract

The UK decision to leave the European Union could directly impact on the application of the EU private international law (‘PIL’) instruments in the UK. Any fresh legal uncertainty driven by such a change in the legal landscape in relation to PIL could have significant impact on private parties’ access to remedies. This article proposes a socio-legal model for measuring the Brexit impact on litigants’ access to legal remedies. In order to systematically identify the important issues (which need to be considered by policy-makers as priority in this context), the proposed theoretical model is developed around the litigants’ strategies. The advanced model has two major features. First, it is set to analyse the triangular relationship between: 1) jurisdiction (procedural rules); 2) choice of law (applicable substantive laws); 3) outcome of a cross-border case. Secondly, the relevant claimants’ and defendants’ strategies in cross-border cases are thoroughly considered by taking a game theoretic perspective.