Call for Papers: 3rd International Seminar on the Challenges of Private International Law in Contemporary Society at UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil [4-6 November 2026]

The Graduate Research Programme in Law (PPGD) and the Graduate Research Programme in Technological Innovation (PPGIT) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) have opened the call for papers for the 3rd International Seminar 'The Challenges of Private International Law in Contemporary Society', to be held on 4, 5 and 6 November 2026 at the Faculty of Law of UFMG in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The Seminar follows two earlier editions hosted at the Faculty of Law of the University of Brasilia, in March 2019 and November 2025. It is run by consolidated Brazilian and international research networks, including the CNPq research group 'Private International Law in Brazil and International Fora', the Latin American Research Network on International Civil Procedure, the National Research Forum on Law and Artificial Intelligence, and members of the American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP). Partner institutions listed in the call include the University of Brasilia, USP, PUC-Rio, UERJ, UFRGS, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg), the University of Valencia, the University of Minho, the University of Edinburgh, CIDE Mexico and the University of Buenos Aires. Within UFMG the event draws on the PhiloTech Chair in Philosophy of Technology and Digital Law, the Centre for Transnational and Comparative Studies, the GNEt clinic, the LADTech extension programme, the INCT on Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity and the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.

The 2026 edition is built around the theme 'Jurisdiction and Transnational Access to Justice between New Technologies and the Human Side of Artificial Intelligence'. Papers are invited within any of the five thematic Working Groups, and the topics listed under each are described in the call as illustrative rather than exhaustive.

• WG1 - The Human Side of AI, Domestic Courts and Private International Law: global and local AI governance, domestic AI regulation and fundamental rights, automated courts and access to justice, human review obligations and explainability, international public policy and automated decisions, and questions of personality, liability, applicable law and jurisdiction involving autonomous and intelligent entities.
• WG2 - Foundations of Private International Law and Digitalisation: jurisdiction and digital platforms, applicable law in decentralised environments such as DAOs and DeFi protocols, tokenised assets and crypto-assets, algorithmic personality, the role of lex situs, lex loci delicti and lex loci celebrationis in the digital context, nationality and mobility of persons and AI systems, and the law governing cross-border payments.
• WG3 - Complex Cross-Border Litigation in Data, Technologies and Artificial Intelligence: privacy and data protection from an extraterritorial perspective, litigation involving digital platforms, digital sovereignty, choice-of-court clauses and the 'virtual establishment' concept, AI in transnational civil procedure, international data transfers, and the right to human review of AI decisions.
• WG4 - International Legal Cooperation, Digitalisation and AI: the digital work of UNCITRAL, HCCH, UNIDROIT, the OAS CIDIPs, the European Union and MERCOSUR, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in digital and AI contexts, central bank digital currencies and cross-border payments, the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention and digital assets, and the seizure of assets in DeFi protocols.
• WG5 - AI and Transnational Access to Justice on a Global Scale: the interface between private international law, AI and human rights, algorithmic ethics and the protection of vulnerable persons, global digital governance, digital due process, and the boundaries of automation in the face of humanitarian, labour and environmental emergencies.

The call is open to researchers, scholars and students affiliated with graduate research programmes or research groups, and to students enrolled in postgraduate Master's and Doctorate programmes. Nothing in the call restricts submission by nationality or by country of institution, and the organisers have circulated the English-language call internationally; applicants based in India who meet the academic affiliation requirement may therefore submit.

Papers may be written in Portuguese, Spanish or English. Co-authorship is allowed up to a maximum of three authors per draft paper, and where a paper is co-authored at least one of the authors must be present for the Working Group presentation. Each author may submit a maximum of two papers, provided the two are submitted under different categories.

Two categories of submission are accepted. A draft paper is intended for researchers, scholars and students enrolled in postgraduate or graduate research programmes. An extended abstract is intended primarily for graduate students.

• Draft paper: minimum 10 and maximum 25 pages including references and footnotes; abstract of up to 250 words in the language of the paper and in English, with 3 to 5 keywords in both languages; bibliography at the end of the manuscript.
• Extended abstract: minimum 5 and maximum 10 pages including references and footnotes; abstract of up to 150 words with 3 to 5 keywords; structured as introduction (problem, objectives and methodology), development, preliminary conclusions and references.
• Formatting for both categories: Times New Roman 12 point, 1.5 line spacing, A4 paper, margins of 2.5 cm, and citations in OSCOLA style.
• Originality: papers must be original and must not be under simultaneous submission to another event or journal. The use of artificial intelligence tools is permitted only as an auxiliary resource, and an express declaration of how such tools were used must appear in the introduction. Texts generated entirely by automated systems without human authorial intervention are prohibited.

Submissions are accepted exclusively through the official Google Form linked in the call. The paper must be uploaded as a PDF file in the manner indicated in the form, and a confirmation of receipt is sent automatically to the email address registered there. Once submitted, no changes to the content of the paper are accepted except at the request of the Organising Committee.

The deadline is 10 September 2026 at 11:59 pm Brasilia time, which corresponds to roughly 8:29 am IST on 11 September 2026. Indian applicants should note that the organisers run two parallel routes: an English-language Call for Papers with its own submission form, and the Portuguese-language Edital no. 01/2026 with a separate form. The English form is the appropriate route for submissions in English, and both forms require sign-in with a Google account.

Submissions are assessed by the Technical-Scientific Committee of the Seminar, made up of faculty members and researchers from the host institutions and from national and international partner institutions. The Committee may invite ad hoc reviewers where the interdisciplinary nature or thematic specificity of a paper requires it.

The stated evaluation criteria are the fit of the paper with the chosen thematic area, its originality and scientific relevance, its methodological and theoretical foundation, the clarity, coherence and consistency of the writing, and compliance with the methodological rules set out in the call. The list of accepted papers is to be published by 30 September 2026 through the institutional channels of the event and on the websites of PPGD-UFMG and the Faculty of Law of UFMG.

Accepted papers are presented in person during the parallel Working Group sessions held on 4, 5 and 6 November 2026. Each presenter has 10 to 15 minutes for the oral presentation, with discussion at the end at the discretion of the Working Group coordinators. Where a paper is co-authored, the presence of one author is sufficient. The allocation of papers to specific Working Groups is communicated to authors at least 15 days before the event, subject to the host university's local logistics, and participants attending in person must complete a final registration through the Sympla platform or an equivalent platform to be announced.

The call is explicit that selected participants bear their own expenses for accommodation, transport and meals in Belo Horizonte, and that no financial support will be granted for this form of participation. The Organising Committee will issue a letter of acceptance and registration so that participants can approach their home institutions or funding bodies. Digital certificates of presentation are issued to all authors whose papers are accepted and presented in the relevant Working Group, and publication of papers in edited volumes and in the conference proceedings is conditional on presentation in the Working Group and on the applicable editorial rules, to be communicated in due course.