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Guillaume Laganière has published his doctoral thesis (McGill University, May 2020) “Liability for transboundary pollution in private international law: a duty to ensure prompt and adequate compensation” online here. Because of the author’s comparative approach to the topic, the work is not only interesting to Canadian readers. The abstract reads as follows:

Our legal response to transboundary pollution depends not only on the adoption of preventive measures and regulatory oversight but also on the existence of civil liability mechanisms. Victims fundamentally seek to hold polluters liable for breaching their duties or deviating from basic standards of diligence, to obtain redress for the damage that ensued and to prevent it from continuing. The process becomes difficult, however, when pollution crosses borders and several domestic regimes are involved. This is where private international law comes into play.

This thesis investigates the regulatory function of private international law with respect to transboundary pollution. It uses the International Law Commission’s Principles on the Allocation of Loss in the Case of Transboundary Harm as a benchmark and assesses Canadian private international law accordingly. It suggests that states have a duty to ensure the availability of prompt and adequate compensation for all victims of transboundary pollution (local or foreign). States must implement domestic measures to facilitate claims against transboundary polluters. This includes equal access to justice and equal remedies for all victims. Private international law plays a crucial role in this context: courts must have jurisdiction to hear cross-border claims and apply a law that is favourable to compensation under choice of law rules.

This thesis builds from international environmental law to identify preferable rules of jurisdiction and choice of law for transboundary pollution in the Canadian context. It also addresses the enforcement of foreign judgments against local polluters. The conclusions of this thesis have implications for all cross-border environmental litigation, including climate change litigation against greenhouse gas emitters currently unfolding in domestic courts around the world.

A new commentary on the Brussels I bis Regulation, in Greek, has recently been published.

The book is edited by Paris S. Arvanitakis and Evangelos Vassilakakis, and forms part of a series devoted to the ‘Interpretation of European Regulations on Private and Procedural International Law’. The previous volumes in the series cover the Brussels II bis Regulation (2016), the Service Regulation (2018), and the Small Claims Regulation (2019) Regulations. Commentaries on the Succession and Maintenance Regulations are scheduled for publication in the near future.

Academics, judges and other practitioners contributed to the commentary to the Brussels I bis Regulation, including Eyangelos Vasilakakis, Paris S. Arvanitakis, Apostolos M. Anthimos, Panagiotis S. Giannopoulos, Ioannis S. Delikostopoulos, Stefania Kapaktsi, Vasileios Kourtis, Dimitrios Kranis, Salomi Mouzoura, Kyriakos Oikonomou, Ioannis Revolidis, Konstantinos Ir. Rigas, Christos Triantafyllidis, Antonios D. Tsavdaridis, Sofia Fourlari and Christina Chatzidandi.

More info available here (in Greek).

As announced earlier on this blog, the Working Group on International Property Law will hold a webinar on the suitability and feasibility of a European Regulation on International Property Law via Zoom on Tuesday, 20 October 2020 at 12:30 CEST.

The current members of the Working Group will shortly discuss the various facets of the topic. A discussion will follow, open to participants.

The programme of the webinar is as follwos:

• Teun Struycken (Amsterdam/Utrecht): The Significance of International Property Law (case study)
• Teemu Juutilainen (Turku): The Impact of Free Movement of Goods and Services on International Property Law
• Gilles Cuniberti (Luxembourg): The Impact of the Acquis Communautaire on International Property Law
• Janeen M Carruthers (Glasgow): Global Measures for the Unification of Private International Rules pertaining to Property
• Eva-Maria Kieninger (Würzburg): The Way Ahead: Topics and Goals of the Working Group

Use this link to attend the webinar (meeting ID: 722 581 7358; password is 493028).

Serena Forlati and Pietro Franzina edited a book on the Universal Civil Jurisdiction, which was published by Brill a couple of days ago. The book features contributions prepared by colleagues  from four different European countries and eight universities.

The contributions included are the following:

• ‘The Case of Naït-Liman before the European Court of Human Rights – A Forum Non Conveniens for Asserting the Right of Access to a Court in Relation to Civil Claims for Torture Committed Abroad?’ (Andrea Saccucci, University of Campania);

• ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights in the Development of Rules on Universal Civil Jurisdiction – Naït-Liman v Switzerland in the Transition between the Chamber and the Grand Chamber’ (Serena Forlati, University of Ferrara);

• ‘The Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights – Lessons from the Naït-Liman Case’ (Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Queen Mary University);

• ‘Public International Law Constraints on the Exercise of Adjudicatory Jurisdiction in Civil Matters’ (Lucas Roorda and Cedric Ryngaert, University of Utrecht);

• ‘Universal Civil Jurisdiction and Reparation for International Crimes’ (Beatrice I. Bonafè, University of Rome La Sapienza);

• ‘Limitations to the Exercise of Civil Jurisdiction in Areas Other Than Reparation for International Crimes’ (Fabrizio Marongiu Buonaiuti, University of Macerata);

• ‘Residual Jurisdiction under the Brussels I bis Regulation – An Unexpected Avenue to Address Extraterritorial Corporate Human Rights Violations (Mariangela La Manna, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan);

• ‘The Law Applicable to the Civil Consequences of Human Rights Violations Committed Abroad’ (Patrick Kinsch, University of Luxembourg);

• ‘The Changing Face of Adjudicatory Jurisdiction’ (Pietro Franzina, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan).

More info available here.

A corrigendum to Brussels I bis in some linguistic versions has been published yesterday (15 October 2020) in the OJEU (L 338). It relates to the Czech, French and Polish versions of the Regulation. Here is the French version:

« Page 23, article 34, paragraphe 1, point c):

au lieu de: «c) la juridiction de l’État tiers concernée est convaincue que le sursis à statuer est nécessaire pour une bonne administration de la justice.»

lire: «c) la juridiction de l’État membre est convaincue que le sursis à statuer est nécessaire pour une bonne administration de la justice ».

It is an alignment with other linguistic versions.

Source : https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2020.338.01.0013.01.FRA&toc=OJ:L:2020:338:TOC

Renvoi

Renvoi

Renvoi

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Paris

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Bastia

EUFams II is a study funded by the European Commission with the objective of assessing the functioning and the effectiveness of European family and succession law. The project is coordinated by the Institute for Comparative Law, Conflict of Laws and International Business Law at Heidelberg University (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Thomas Pfeiffer). Project partners are the Universities of Lund, Milan, Osijek, Valencia and Verona as well as the MPI Luxembourg.

The project will come to a close with an Online Final Conference on Friday, 30 October from 9.30 until 13.00 h. The conference is open to the general public and can be accessed without pre-registration and free of charge. It will cover a wide range of topics in the field of European family and succession law presented by speakers from across Europe.

A detailed program and the access link can be found in the conference leaflet.

More information on EUFams II and its research outputs can be found on the project website and in previous posts on conflictoflaws.net here and here.

This project was funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014-2020). The content of this study represents the views of the authors only and is their sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

Non lieu à renvoi

Non lieu à renvoi

Non lieu à renvoi

Non lieu à renvoi

Non lieu à renvoi

Ilaria Viarengo and Francesca Villata (both University of Milan) have edited Planning the Future of Cross Border Families – A Path Through Coordination, which has just been published by Hart.

This book is built upon the outcomes of the EUFam’s Project, financially supported by the EU Civil Justice Programme and led by the University of Milan. Also involved are the Universities of Heidelberg, Osijek, Valencia and Verona, the MPI in Luxembourg, the Italian and Spanish Family Lawyers Associations and training academies for judges in Italy and Croatia. The book seeks to offer an exhaustive overview of the regulatory framework of private international law in family and succession matters. The book addresses current features of the Brussels IIa, Rome III, Maintenance and Succession Regulations, the 2007 Hague Protocol, the 2007 Hague Recovery Convention and new Regulations on Property Regimes. The contributions are authored by more than 30 experts in cross-border family and succession matters. They introduce social and cultural issues of cross-border families, set up the scope of all EU family and succession regulations, examine rules on jurisdiction, applicable law and recognition and enforcement regimes and focus on the current problems of EU family and succession law (lis pendens in third States, forum necessitatis, Brexit and interactions with other legal instruments). The book also contains national reports from 6 Member States and annexes of interest for both legal scholars and practitioners (policy guidelines, model clauses and protocols).

Authors include Christian Kohler, Thomas Pfeiffer, Rosario Espinosa Calabuig, Diletta Danieli, Mirela Župan, Martina Drventic, Carmen Azcárraga Monzonís, Pablo Quinzá Redondo, Guillermo Palao Moreno, Thalia Kruger, Jacopo Re, Stefania Bariatti, Elena D’Alessandro, Cristina González Beilfuss, Maria Caterina Baruffi, Paul Beaumont, Patrick Kinsch, Laura Carballo Pineiro, Andrea Schulz, Hrvoje Grubišic, Cinzia Peraro, and Marta Requejo Isidro.

More information here.

Case C‑629/19 Sappi Austria Produktions-GmbH & Co. KG and Wasserverband ‘Region Gratkorn-Gratwein’ v Landeshauptmann von Steiermark in which the CJEU held on Wednesday is in my off the cuff view (I did not research it in the recent case-law) the first case where the CJEU specifically mentions the objectives of the circular economy to support its interpretation of the core definition of ‘waste’ in the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98.

Sappi operate a large industrial paper and pulp production plant in Gratkorn (Austria). On that site is also a sewage treatment plant, operated jointly by Sappi and the Wasserverband, which treats waste water from paper and pulp production as well as municipal waste water. During the treatment of that waste water, which is required by national law, the sewage sludge in question in the main proceedings arises. That sludge is therefore made up of both substances from industrial waste water and substances from municipal waste water. Sewage sludge which is produced in the sewage treatment plant is then incinerated in a boiler of Sappi and in a waste incineration plant operated by the Wasserverband, and the steam reclaimed for the purposes of energy recovery is used in the production of paper and pulp.  hat authority found that, admittedly, the majority of the sewage sludge used for incineration, namely 97%, originated from a paper production process and that this proportion could be regarded as having ‘by-product’ status within the meaning of Paragraph 2(3a) of the AWG 2002. However, that does not apply to the proportion of sewage sludge arising from municipal waste water treatment. That sewage sludge remains waste. Since there is no de minimis limit for the classification of a substance as ‘waste’, the authority assumed that all the sewage sludge incinerated in the industrial plants of Sappi and of the Wasserverband must be classified as ‘waste’.

The CJEU first of all holds that there is no relevant secondary law which provides the kinds of qualitative criteria for sewage sludge to meet with the objectives of the WFD. If there were such laws, and the sludge meets their requirements, it would be exempt form the WFD. It then reminds the referring court, of course, of the extensive authority on the notion of waste (most recently C-624/17 Tronex) yet is happy to provide the national Court with input into the application in casu.

In principle, the sludge is waste, the Court holds: it is a residue from waste water treatment and it is being discarded.

However, the referring judge suggests that the sludge may meet the requirements of A6(1) WFD as being fully ‘recovered’ before it is used in the incineration process. It is there that the CJEU refers to the circular economy: at 68:

it is particularly relevant that the heat generated during the incineration of the sewage sludge is re-used in a paper and pulp production process and that such a process provides a significant benefit to the environment because of the use of recovered material in order to preserve natural resources and to enable the development of a circular economy.

Per C‑60/18 Tallinna Vesi, the recovery of sewage sludge entails certain risks for the environment and human health, particularly linked to the potential presence of hazardous substances. For the sludge at issue here not to be waste, presupposes that the treatment carried out for the purposes of recovery makes it possible to obtain sewage sludge with a high level of protection of the environment and human health, such as required by the WFD, which is, in particular, free from any dangerous substance. For that purpose, it is necessary to ensure that the sewage sludge in question in the main proceedings is harmless (at 66). The CJEU concludes, at 67

It is for the referring court to determine whether the conditions laid down in Article 6(1) of Directive 2008/98 are already met before the sewage sludge is incinerated. It must in particular be determined, as appropriate, on the basis of a scientific and technical analysis, that the sewage sludge meets the statutory limit values for pollutants and that its incineration does not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts.

There are as yet no EU standards for the full recovery of sewage sludge, hence the ball of end of waste status is once again in the Member States’ court.

Geert.

(Handbook of) EU Waste law, 2nd ed. 2015, Oxford, OUP, Chapter 1, 1.149 ff.