The Internet and Private International Law

The main focus of the thesis is the issue of determining jurisdiction in matters of tort, delict or quasi-delict with regard to the internet. The author finds that the general rules of determining jurisdiction are suitable for use even in disputes arising with connection to the internet. However, strict application of the aforementioned rules would lead to undesirable results. Therefore it is necessary to construe the general rules in such a way that takes into account the unique characteristics of the internet environment. Given the fact that courts are mainly responsible for the interpretation and application of the general rules, significant decisions of European and American courts are thoroughly analyzed. Even though the main focus of the thesis are the decisions of the courts, recent findings of jurisprudence and recommendations of the international bodies are taken into account as well. In the opening chapters, the unique characteristics of the internet and basic rules for determining the special jurisdiction are presented. Although the issue of determining jurisdiction in contracts is also mentioned in chapter 3, this topic exceeds the scope of this work and is discussed mainly in connection with the "targeting" criterion, which is also significant for out of contract issues. Chapters 4 and..