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Le Sénat a adopté à la quasi-unanimité, ce mercredi 8 juin 2016, le projet de loi autorisant la ratification de l’accord de Paris sur le climat du 12 décembre 2015, en procédure accélérée. L’Assemblée nationale avait adopté le projet de loi le 17 mai 2016.

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Par un arrêt du 19 mai 2016, la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme a jugé contraires à la Convention européenne, d’une part, l’impossibilité pour un mineur de contester son placement en centre éducatif et, d’autre part, le contrôle général et systématique du courrier et des communications téléphoniques.

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Dans la lignée de sa stratégie pour le marché unique du numérique, la Commission européenne a présenté le 25 mai 2016 un paquet de nouvelles mesures destinées à stimuler le commerce en ligne à travers l’Union européenne.

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Contrat de travail, exécution - Harcèlement moral - Preuve

Contrat de travail, rupture - Rupture conventionnelle

Statut collectif du travail - Conventions et accords collectifs - Principe
d'égalité de traitement

Tribunal de grande instance de Montpellier, 1er juin 2016

Tribunal de grande instance de Nîmes, 3e chambre civile, 26 mai 2016

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'Appel de Nancy, cinquième chambre commerciale, 10 septembre 2014

Irrecevabilité

Tribunal des affaires de sécurité sociale de la Mayenne, 1er juin 2016

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Paris, pôle 7, 2e chambre de l'instruction, 29 février 2016

In  AVOTIŅŠ v Latvia, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR at Strasbourg held late May that Article 6 ECHR (right to fair trial) was engaged but not infringed by the Latvian’s Supreme Court’s application of Article 34(2( Brussel I (now Article 45(1) b Brussels I Recast).

The Article reads ‘A judgment shall not be recognised: (…) 2. where it was given in default of appearance, if the defendant was not served with the document which instituted the proceedings or with an equivalent document in sufficient time and in such a way as to enable him to arrange for his defence, unless the defendant failed to commence proceedings to challenge the judgment when it was possible for him to do so;…

In the case at issue applicant sought refusal by the Latvian court of recognition of a Cypriot judgment issued against him. After review of the Regulation’s core pedigree of mutual recognition and mutual trust, burden of proof particularly exercised the Court: at 121:

‘The fact that the applicant relied on that Article (34(2), GAVC) without having challenged the judgment as required necessarily raised the question of the availability of that legal remedy in Cyprus in the circumstances of the present case. In such a situation the Senate was not entitled simply to criticise the applicant, as it did in its judgment of 31 January 2007, for not appealing against the judgment concerned, and to remain silent on the issue of the burden of proof with regard to the existence and availability of a remedy in the State of origin; Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, like Article 34(2) in fine of the Brussels I Regulation, required it to verify that this condition was satisfied, in the absence of which it could not refuse to examine the applicant’s complaint. The Court considers that the determination of the burden of proof, which, as the European Commission stressed (see paragraph 92 above), is not governed by European Union law, was therefore decisive in the present case. Hence, that point should have been examined in adversarial proceedings leading to reasoned findings. However, the Supreme Court tacitly presumed either that the burden of proof lay with the defendant or that such a remedy had in fact been available to the applicant. This approach, which reflects a literal and automatic application of Article 34(2) of the Brussels I Regulation, could in theory lead to a finding that the protection afforded was manifestly deficient such that the presumption of equivalent protection of the rights of the defence guaranteed by Article 6 § 1 is rebutted. Nevertheless, in the specific circumstances of the present application the Court does not consider this to be the case, although this shortcoming is regrettable.’

Those ‘specific circumstances’ include in particular the applicant’s professional background: at 124:

‘the applicant, who was an investment consultant, should have been aware of the legal consequences of the acknowledgment of debt deed which he had signed. That deed was governed by Cypriot law, concerned a sum of money borrowed by the applicant from a Cypriot company and contained a clause conferring jurisdiction on the Cypriot courts. Accordingly, the applicant should have ensured that he was familiar with the manner in which possible proceedings would be conducted before the Cypriot courts (…). Having omitted to obtain information on the subject he contributed to a large extent, as a result of his inaction and lack of diligence, to bringing about the situation of which he complained before the Court and which he could have prevented so as to avoid incurring any damage’. 

I am not convinced by the Court’s view on the burden of proof ad on the national court’s duty to assess the law in the State of origin sua sponte. Judges Lemmens and Briede, jointly concurring but for different reasons as the court, in my view have the better argument where they say

‘If the applicant wanted to argue that no remedy had in fact been available to him in Cyprus, in our opinion it would have been for him to raise this issue explicitly before the Supreme Court. We question whether he could expect the Supreme Court to raise that issue of its own motion. And we definitely consider that he cannot complain under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention about the lack of an explicit response to an argument that was not explicitly made.’

The end result is the same at the ECtHR. For future application of the Brussels I (Recast) Regulation however it makes a big difference.

Geert.

Une loi qui organise des écoutes téléphoniques doit prévoir dans quelles conditions cette mesure de surveillance est notifiée, a posteriori, aux personnes concernées. La CEDH condamne la Turquie qui a écouté un avocat sur la base d’une loi qui ne le prévoyait pas, pour violation des dispositions de la Convention relatives à la protection de la vie privée et familiale.

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L’impossibilité de disposer d’un lieu approprié pour pouvoir célébrer régulièrement un culte constitue une ingérence affectant si directement la liberté de religion des requérants qu’elle ne peut être ni proportionnée au but légitime poursuivi, ni nécessaire dans une société démocratique.

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