Flux européens

Puigdemont i Casamajó et Comín i Oliveres / Parlement
Droit institutionnel
Le recours de MM. Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó et Antoni Comín i Oliveres et de Mme Clara Ponsatí Obiols contre les décisions du Parlement européen de lever leur immunité est rejeté

Thank you Anil Yilmaz, whose reply to a Tweet made me aware of the judgments of end of February in the claim brought by a number of NGOs against Total viz its activities in Uganda. The claim is an ex ante claim brought on the basis of the French statute which introduced the so-called devoir de vigilance or duty of care in the business and human rights sector. It argues that Total’s plan for the Ugandan activities at issue, fail the standard of the Act.

I had earlier flagged the procedural issue in the case and Cédric Helaine has review and links to the judgments here. The court (p.18) notes that the implementing decree which is supposed to detail the requirements of the law, has still not been adopted and that the law itself does not offer a blueprint, a decision tree, a list of indicators, merely indicating that the plan needs to include a ‘reasonable’ list of both pressure points and measures to address these, and that the plan moreover is to be drafted in consultation with stakeholders. In the absence of Government clarification of what this might entail, the court then points out that the reasonable or not character of the plan needs to be assessed by the courts themselves yet (p.20-21) and that a judge in an interlocutory proceeding in particular, can only be asked to discipline those plans which are non-existent, or clearly insufficient (which the judge finds is not the case here), yet cannot be expected to judge the plan’s reasonableness:

S’il entre dans les pouvoirs du juge des référés de délivrer une injonction en application des dispositions susvisées lorsque la société, soumise au régime du devoir de vigilance n’a pas établi de plan de vigilance, ou lorsque le caractère sommaire des rubriques confine à une inexistence  du plan, ou lorsqu’une illicéité manifeste est caractérisée, avec
l’évidence requise en référé, en revanche, il n‘entre pas dans les pouvoirs du juge des référés de procéder à l’appréciation du caractère raisonnable des mesures adoptées par le plan, lorsque cette appréciation nécessite un examen en profondeur des éléments de la cause relevant du pouvoir du seul juge du fond.

The judge concludes that in the case at issue, there is no such obvious shortcoming and that the request therefore is inadmissible given the role of the interlocutory proceedings.

This judgment of course says little on the role of the Act in claims on the merits of duty of care in which Acts such as these play a role (as opposed to claims merely arguing the planning stage is insufficient) however it clearly puts pressure on the French government urgently to produce its more detailed order, and it confirms the need to introduce detail either in these Acts (including in the recently adopted EU Directive) themselves or, swiftly, in executive follow-up. This avoids that judges use trias politica as a way out of having to judge the issues on their merits.

Geert.

Droit de vigilance, #bizhumanrights #mHRDD
French SC in tribunal de conflits role, assigns jurisdiction to civil court of first instance, not the commercial court.
Case may now finally continue on the merits. https://t.co/ERbD6r6Lsm

— Geert Van Calster (@GAVClaw) December 16, 2021

Meta Platforms e.a. (Conditions générales d’utilisation d’un réseau social)
Principes du droit communautaire PDON
Une autorité de la concurrence nationale peut constater, dans le cadre de l’examen d’un abus de position dominante, une violation du RGPD

Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Selon l’avocate générale Medina, le recueil et le stockage obligatoires d’empreintes digitales dans les cartes d’identité est valide

In Popescu v Essers the Antwerp Court of Appeal has confirmed jurisdiction in a claim by a Romanian driver against a Belgian-incorporated freight company, and applied Belgian labour law to the their contract.

The case echoes social dumping issues, relevant earlier posts on the blog include CJEU Gruber Logistics, and Altun. Outside of Brussels Ia and Rome I, CJEU AFMB and others is of note.

I do not have access  to the first instance judgment and the Court of Appeal’s judgment is a touch cryptic on a first issue of note which is the impact of the earlier decision by the Romanian courts and the extent of res judicata: I cannot say much about that for want of the first instance judgment and /or further info in the court of appeal’s judgment, however that issue seems to have engaged factual findings in the Romanian courts.

What is clear is that on the basis of Article 21 BIa, jurisdiction in the domicile of the employer was easily established [p.6].

With respect to applicable law and Rome I, the Court of Appeal refers to the CJEU in Koelzsch [42] holding “in so far as the objective of Article 6 of the Rome Convention is to guarantee adequate protection for the employee, that provision must be understood as guaranteeing the applicability of the law of the State in which he carries out his working activities rather than that of the State in which the employer is established. It is in the former State that the employee performs his economic and social duties and, as was noted by the Advocate General in point 50 of her Opinion, it is there that the business and political environment affects employment activities. Therefore, compliance with the employment protection rules provided for by the law of that country must, so far as is possible, be guaranteed.” (emphasis added by me, GAVC). The Court of Appeal also recalls the criteria of the CJEU in C-64/12 Schlecker, notes that the contract does not have a lex voluntatis (although the contract does refer to Romanian law in a number of instances) and holds p.12 ff that Belgium, not Romania was the place of habitual employment:

on-board diagnostics and trip reports reveal that most of Mr Popescu’s routes started from the corporation’s headquarters in Belgium, most of them to and fro Belgium’s neighbouring countries, and even if they were further afield, return was always to Belgium; no routes led him to and /or fro Romania;

dispatch for the routes was organised from Belgium, with largely the Belgian corporations of the group as the contracting party for the freight concerned;

the work tools, i.e. the trucks, even if they carried a Romanian number plate, were put at the the disposal of the drivers, and serviced, in Belgium, and (off)loading largely took place in Belgium.

Other factors pointing to Romania, were held not to displace the finding of Belgium as the place of employment: this includes Mr Popescu’s Romanian nationality and domicile; and his contract being subject to Romanian national insurance and income tax: these two latter elements, the Court held, simply reflect Mr Popescu’s domicile, not his place of employment.

The Court of Appeal also held [p.17-18] that it need not apply the posted workers Directive, with reference to CJEU FNV v Vanden Bosch, and that instead of a temporary posting there is a clear place of habitual employment with all the consequences of Rome I.

The remainder of the judgment then deals with the consequences of the application of Belgian law.

A case of note!

Geert.

Judgment (Court of Appeal in fact) is here https://t.co/JpvhwEBlzI h/t @jurinfo_eric) and analysis forthcoming on my blog. https://t.co/LWyYwbZ73B

— Geert Van Calster (@GAVClaw) June 27, 2023

G. K. e.a. (Parquet européen)
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Enquêtes transfrontières menées par le Parquet européen : l’avocate générale Ćapeta suggère à la Cour de dire que le contrôle juridictionnel dans l’État membre du procureur européen délégué assistant devrait se limiter aux questions de procédure

Public.Resource.Org et Right to Know / Commission e.a.
Droit institutionnel
Selon l’avocate générale Medina, les normes techniques harmonisées européennes doivent être d’un accès libre et gratuit en raison de leur nature juridique particulière en tant qu’actes faisant partie du droit de l’Union

Commission / Hongrie (Déclaration d’intention préalable à une demande d’asile)
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
La Hongrie a indûment entravé la possibilité de présenter une demande d’asile

Allemagne / Pharma Mar et Commission
La Cour annule l’appréciation portée par le Tribunal quant à l’impartialité des experts de l’Agence européenne du médicament (EMA)

Pankki S
Toute personne a le droit de connaître la date et les raisons pour lesquelles ses données à caractère personnel ont été consultées

K.B. et F.S. (Relevé d’office dans le domaine pénal)
Protection des droits fondamentaux : le droit de l’Union ne s’oppose pas, en principe, à l’interdiction faite au juge national de relever d’office une violation de l’obligation d’informer rapidement un suspect de son droit de garder le silence

Repasi / Commission
Taxonomie : le Tribunal rejette comme irrecevable le recours d’un député européen contre le règlement de la Commission sur le caractère durable de certaines activités économiques liées au gaz fossile et à l’énergie nucléaire

Diamedica Therapeutics Inc v Pharmaceutical Research Associates Group BV NCC22/018 ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2023:2540 highlights the IMHO troubled Rome I implications for property rights as opposed to contractual rights. The judgment was issued by the NCC, the Netherlands Commercial Court. (The NCC origin also explains the judgment already being available in English).

The claim is one for revindication by PRA of documents and digital data pertaining to the clinical trials regarding a medicine developed by DiaMedica. The court held that whereas the contractual relationship between the parties is governed by the laws of the State of New York as the lex voluntatis (the law parties chose to apply to the contract), Dutch law governs the question whether a property right can be created on documents and data situated in the Netherlands.

In discussing the applicable law issues, the court in my view lacks the clarity of approach required in this area, particularly seeing as a State’s approach towards digital data clearly is an important element in the attractiveness of its contract law for the sector.

[4.5] the Court holds that per Article 3(1) Rome I, the lex voluntatis, the laws of New York, covers the interpretation of the agreement. This includes the existence of a right to suspend contractual obligations, here: whether PRA may retain the Documents or suspend surrendering the Documents in order to secure payment of its final invoice. It equally holds however that the existence of a property right (footnotes omitted)

is not a matter of contract but a matter of property law. The Rome I Regulation is not applicable. As there is no treaty or regulation guiding this issue, the rules of Dutch domestic private international law apply. Under Article 10:127(1) of the Dutch Civil Code (DCC) the property law regime relating to things, as a rule, is the law of the state in whose territory the thing is situated (the lex rei sitae). The ‘thing’ in question are the Documents which are situated in the Netherlands. Therefore, Dutch law governs the manner in which rights in rem arise, whether such rights can be created, and if so, what the requirements are for a transfer or creation of rights (Article 10:127(4) DCC). Also, the question whether a revindication claim can be initiated, and if so by whom, is governed by the lex rei sitae. Hence: Dutch law.

, leading to a finding in favour of DiaMedica on the basis of Dutch law.

The merits of the case are not of interest to this blog: the identification of applicable law to the property rights, is. The NCC’s analysis shows the difficulty with the in my view unsatisfactory, if seemingly solidly rooted (see the Guiliano-Lagarde Report most succinctly p.10; Dicey 33-033 and 33-054; other standard works pay less attention to the issue) conclusion that ‘property’ rights are not caught by the Regulation, only contractual rights. See here nota bene for an Opinion of Vlas AG for the Dutch Supreme Court, flagging that in restitution cases the analysis may be more complicated than the NCC in current case suggests.

In the discussion of digital assets in particular (see eg here re UNIDROIT work on same, and here for the UK Law Commission paper), the property rights element surely is essential. This in my view gives those States with lex voluntatis also covering the property aspects (such as arguably Belgium’s residual private international law rules) an edge when it comes to regulatory competition in the area.

Nota bene just this morning, professor Lehmann posted a paper on the wider issue, calling for people to drop focus on the property analysis. Rebus sic stantibus however, the issue of relevance in the case here, remains: parties in my view would do well to identify a lex contractus which encompasses property rights in party autonomy. Unusually perhaps and most probably not by design, this makes laws such as those of Belgium, a clear winner (whether as lex contractus for the whole contract of merely, by way of dépeçage, for the property aspects only).

Geert.

May personal data be subject to property rights?
Challenging 1st instance decision A'dam

Revindication of documents and data. Ownership over digital data in clinical trials
Held despite NY law as lex contractus per Rome I to be subject to NL property law https://t.co/pC6N9sAuZ3

— Geert Van Calster (@GAVClaw) April 28, 2023

Ligue des droits humains (Vérification du traitement des données par l’autorité de contrôle)
Selon l’avocate générale Medina, une personne concernée doit disposer d’un recours juridictionnel contre une autorité de contrôle indépendante lorsqu’elle exerce ses droits par l’intermédiaire de cette autorité

Friends of the Irish Environment (Possibilités de pêche supérieures à zéro)
Agriculture
Surpêche : l’avocate générale Ćapeta estime que le règlement de base relatif à la politique commune de la pêche impose au Conseil de fixer des limites de pêche à des niveaux durables à partir de l’année 2020

Kočner / Europol
Principes du droit communautaire
Avocat général Rantos : Europol et un État membre dans lequel s’est produit un dommage en rapport avec un traitement illicite de données peuvent être solidairement responsables

Silver e.a. / Conseil
Citoyenneté européenne
Rejet définitif des recours de citoyens britanniques contestant la perte de leurs droits de citoyens de l’Union en conséquence du Brexit

Thermalhotel Fontana
Sécurité sociale des travailleurs migrants
La libre circulation des travailleurs s’oppose à la réglementation d’un État membre conditionnant une indemnisation à l’imposition d’une mesure de confinement par ses propres autorités administratives

Bank M. (Conséquences de l’annulation du contrat)
Rapprochement des législations
Le droit de l’Union ne s’oppose pas à ce que, en cas d’annulation d’un contrat de prêt hypothécaire entaché de clauses abusives, les consommateurs demandent à la banque une compensation allant au-delà du remboursement des mensualités versées

In Kvist v GippsAero Pty Ltd & Anor [2023] VSC 275, Dixon J refused an application for forum non conveniens in a judgment that is good material for the comparative conflict of laws binder.

On 14 July 2019, at Storsandskar near Umeå in Sweden, a small plane being used for skydiving crashed, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and all eight passengers on board. Claimants are relatives of some of the victims of the crash, and they claim damages from the defendants for negligence. None of the claimants reside in Australia. Apart from 2, who are American, all claimants are Swedish. Defendants are incorporated in Australia and carry on business in Gippsland, Victoria. The first defendant (Gippsareo) manufactured the Airvan GA8-TC 320 in 2012. Second defendant GA8 Airvan holds the ‘Type Certificates’ that certify the Airvan meets the requisite standards for airworthiness. Certificates were issued to the second defendant by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the European Safety Authority, and the US Federal Aviation Authority in respect of the aircraft.

Gippsaero sold the Airvan to a Swedish company, GCC Capital, a financier, on 17 May 2013. The parent companies of GCC Capital AB were placed in liquidation on 2 December 2021. At the time of the crash, the Airvan was owned by a Swedish company called Skydive Umea AB (a customer of GCC Capital). Skydive Umea AB was placed in liquidation on 5 October 2022. It held, apparently, a policy of insurance in respect of the plane. The Airvan was being used by Umeå Parachute Club from Umeå airport in Sweden. The Umeå Parachute Club is a non-profit association.

An earlier Swedish claim (seemingly wrongly invoking the Montreal Convention) was withdrawn, meaning there are no competing Swedish proceedings afoot. Claimants allege the defendants were negligent in failing to include critical information in an operating manual supplied with the aircraft at the time of purchase and in failing to ensure the aircraft was suitable for parachuting operations. Passengers in the aircraft moving rearwards preparing to skydive altered the weight distribution in the aircraft in a manner that required a critical response from the pilot, a response the pilot did not adequately provide.

[11-12] the Australian proceedings are used to take advantage of common law discovery rules. Preliminary expert evidence indicates an Australian judgment might not be enforceable in Sweden (odd, I find) however could be used for evidentiary purposes in subsequent Swedish proceedings.

[19] ff the factors suggesting forum non are listed. This includes the suggestion that Victoria is a clearly inappropriate forum because the lex loci delicti indicates that the lex causae is Swedish law. This is directly contradicted by claimants [32] ff,  who argue the lex loci delicti is Victoria.

The judge discusses [42] ff, insisting ia [46] that the distinction between the English ‘more appropriate forum’ test [the away forum being a more appropriate forum, GAVC]  and the ‘clearly inappropriate forum’ test applicable in Australia [whether the home, Australian forum is clearly inappropriate, GAVC] is important. [56] ia evidentiary advantages to claimant are listed as kosher for jurisdictional purposes. [78] Swedish ‘advice’ that Swedish law will be the lex causae is dismissed, seemingly for it was utterly incomplete and without much justification. [82] the Airvan was built in Australia and intended for worldwide use. All of the manuals and certifications originated from Australia and have just been adapted where required to ensure registration was permissible in Europe or America, wherever the aircraft might be. [84] The relevant actions of the defendants were antecedent to the sale and to the characteristic of the sale on which the defendants rely for their contentions. The aircraft was designed, the manual was written, and in relevant respects, the fit out of the aircraft was set, well before the sale of the Airvan to Sweden.

[89] The judge concludes that at this point [for the purposes of the forum non analysis, GAVC] he is satisfied that the substantive law of the (Australian) forum is the lex causae.

A good illustration of the role of the likely lex causae in forum non.

Geert.

Claimants allege defendants' negligence in failing to include critical information in operating manual at time of purchase and in failing to ensure the aircraft was suitable for parachuting operations.
Lively lex causae discussions expected at trial. https://t.co/pkRAibZMNd

— Geert Van Calster (@GAVClaw) June 5, 2023