Flux européens

Sarah Laval, Le tiers et le contrat – Étude de conflit de lois, Larcier, 2016, pp. 458, ISBN: 9782804491000, EUR 110.

En droit international privé, le principe d’autonomie désigne la possibilité pour les parties à un contrat international de choisir la loi applicable. Reconnu par une immense majorité d’États, de règlements et de conventions internationales, ce principe répond aux objectifs de prévisibilité, de souplesse et de sécurité propres au droit du commerce international. S’il satisfait les prévisions et les intérêts des parties, le principe d’autonomie risque cependant de heurter les prévisions des tiers intéressés au contrat. Les créanciers ou débiteurs des parties, leurs ayants cause, les titulaires de droits concurrents, se trouvent tributaires d’un choix auquel ils sont étrangers et qui risque de leur porter préjudice. La lecture des principaux instruments conventionnels et règlementaires relatifs aux solutions du conflit de lois en matière contractuelle témoigne d’une absence de prise en considération des intérêts des tiers au contrat. Pourtant, la multiplication des contentieux liés aux mécanismes tripartites, comme les cessions de créances, les groupes de contrats, ou encore les sûretés réelles et personnelles, révèle l’importance des intérêts des tiers et la nécessité corrélative de les intégrer dans les solutions du conflit de lois en matière contractuelle. C’est à cette problématique que la présente thèse se consacre. En s’appuyant sur les outils traditionnels du droit international privé, comme la distinction des règles de conflit de lois générale et spéciale, la qualification des questions de droit ou, encore, la méthode des lois de police, elle propose non seulement d’opérer une distinction entre les différents types de contrats selon la nature de leurs liens avec les tiers, mais encore, et plus essentiellement, de modifier les solutions du conflit de lois applicables aux contrats qui intéressent par nature les tiers en remettant en cause le principe d’autonomie. Pour les autres contrats, elle suggère d’adapter les solutions du conflit de lois par le recours à des correctifs.

Thank you Bob Wessels for alerting me to ADO Den Haag v United Vansen (of China). ADO Den Haag NV (the corporate vehicle of a Dutch Premier League club) domiciled at The Hague, sue United Vansen International Sports Co. Ltd, domiciled at Beijing, essentially for the latter to pay a deposit on the premium due for the shares it acquired in the club. Vansen did not appear.

First of all, were Vansen properly summoned in accordance with the Hague Service Abroad Convention (which both China and The Netherlands have ratified)? The court holds that it cannot yet decide that this has actually happened (relevant steps taken via the Dutch judicial authorities only recently having taken place) however it applies Article 15(3)’s provisions for extreme urgency: ‘Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraphs the judge may order, in case of urgency, any provisional or protective measures.‘

Next up: do the Dutch courts have jurisdiction? Given the defendant’s domicile outside of the EU and the non-applicability of any of Brussel I’s rules where domicile is irrelevant, the Court applied Dutch residual rules of private international law. These grant it jurisdiction essentially in respect of urgent proceedings of attachment.

Of more interest to this blog is the court’s consideration of applicable law, which the Court conducts with reference to Rome I. The share purchase agreement seemingly did not contain choice of law, either implicit or explicit: at 2.15, the court suffices with a mere observation of the absence of choice of law. None of the standard contracts of Article 4(1) Rome I applies [there is some discussion in scholarship whether share purchase is covered by Article 4(1)a’s ‘contract for the sale of goods’], hence the relevance of Article 4(2)’s ‘characteristic performance’ test. Here, the Court declared unequivocally (and most probably correctly) that the characteristic performance is the  transfer of the share premium. The habitual residence of the party required to carry out that performance is the relevant connecting factor. In casu therefore, Chinese law in principle is the applicable law.

However the Dutch court finally settles for Dutch law after all, employing Article 4(3)’s escape clause. It holds that all circumstances of the case indicate that Dutch law is more closely connected: at 2.15: the agreement originated in The Netherlands; the performance has to be carried in The Netherlands (transfer of the sums into a Dutch bank account), and the transfer of the premium will benefit a Dutch company. Although the judgment does not give much detail on the contract, its origins etc., it would seem that in finally opting for Dutch law, the court does make proper application of the rather strict conditions of Article 4(3).

A good illustration of Article 4’s waterfall /cascade.

Geert.

(Handbook of) European private international law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 3, Heading 3.2.6.

 

 

Andrea Lista, International Commercial Sales: The Sale of Goods on Shipment Terms, Routledge, 2017, ISBN: 9780415702829, pp. 528, GBP 220.

This book comprehensively examines the entire legal process of the international sale of goods, beginning with the creation of the contract and continuing through to either the fulfilment of the sale, or the termination of the contract. Every day goods are globally traded between sellers and buyers in different countries and different jurisdictions. The distances between the parties involved in such transactions, and the relative risks related to that, are a key issue in international commercial sales. Sales of goods carried by sea, thus, differ quite drastically from domestic sales; the goods will be normally shipped at a port very distant from the buyer, preventing his physical presence at the port of loading. Further, the goods will travel in the custody of a carrier, a party normally quite independent from either trader. Finally, transactions concluded on shipment terms are normally irreversible, in the sense that shipping the goods back to the seller represents an unlikely option for the buyer. Traders around the world very frequently choose English law to govern their contracts, with disputes to be resolved through London arbitration or litigation. The basis of that law is to be found in the English Sale of Goods Act 1979, and the book consequently also includes an examination of the fundamental principles of that Act, as well as considering use of the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods.

The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law seeks a temporary legal assistant to work in the areas of international family law and child protection. The vacancy is advertised here. 

Il Permanent Bureau della Conferenza dell’Aja di diritto internazionale privato intende assumere un collaboratore giuridico a tempo determinato che lavori nel settore della famiglia e della protezione dei minori. Maggiori dettagli a questo indirizzo.

Constance Castres Saint-Martin, Les conflits d’intérêts en arbitrage commercial international, L’Harmattan, 2016, ISBN: 9782343101965, pp. 454, EUR 45.

Le conflit d’intérêts est un sujet passionnant notamment en raison de son omniprésence dans l’actualité. Cette expression s’est récemment diffusée en France dans le monde des affaires et au sein du jargon médiatique. Néanmoins, il n’existe en l’état actuel du droit positif français aucune réglementation spécifique de ces conflits d’intérêts. L’auteur s’interroge donc sur la définition et la valeur opératoire de cette notion et le régime juridique qui pourrait lui être réservé.

In the flurry of judgments issued by the European Court of Justice on Super Wednesday, 21 December, spare a read for C-618/15 Concurrence /Samsumg /Amazon: Cybercrime, which dealt with jurisdiction for tort under the Brussels I Recast Regulation and the location of locus damni in the event of online sales. The foreign suffix of the website was deemed irrelevant.

To fully appreciate the facts of the case and the Court’s reasoning, undoubtedly it would be best to read Wathelet AG’s Opinion alongside the Court’s judgment.

Concurrence is active in the retail of consumer electronics, trading through a shop located in Paris (France) and on its online sales website ‘concurrence.fr’. It concluded with Samsung a selective distribution agreement (covering France) for high-end Samsung products, namely the ELITE range. That agreement included, in particular, a provision prohibiting the sale of the products in question on the internet. Exact parties to the dispute are Concurrence SARL, established in France, Samsung SAS, also established in France, and Amazon Services Europe Sàrl, established in Luxembourg. Amazon offered the product range on a variety of its websites,  Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.es and Amazon.it.

Concurrence sue variously for a lift of the ban on internet sales (claiming the ban was illegal) and alternatively, an end to the  offering for sale of the elite products via Amazon. The French courts suggest they lack jurisdiction over the foreign Amazon websites (excluding amazon.fr) because the latter are not directed at the French public. Concurrence suggest there is such jurisdiction, for the products offered for sale on those foreign sites are dispatched not only within the website’s country of origin but also in other European countries, in particular France, in which case jurisdiction, they suggest,  legitimately lies with the French courts.

Pinckney figures repeatedly in Opinion and Judgment alike. Amazon submit that the accessibility theory for jurisdiction should not be accepted, since it encourages forum shopping, which, given the specific nature of national legal systems, might lead to ‘law shopping’ by contamination. Amazon seek support in Jaaskinen’s Opinion in Pinckney. Wathelet AG first of all notes (at 67 of his Opinion) that this argument of his colleague was not accepted by the CJEU. Moreover, he finds it exaggerated: the national court can award damages only for loss occasioned in the territory of the Member State in which it occurs: this limitation serves as an important break on plaintiffs simply suing in a State per the locus damni criterion ‘just because they can’.

The Court agrees (at 32 ff) but in a more succinct manner (one may need therefore the comfort of the Opinion for context):

• The infringement of the prohibition on resale outside a selective distribution network is given effect by the law of the Member State of the court seised, so that a natural link exists between that jurisdiction and the dispute in the main proceedings, justifying jurisdiction for the latter.  It is on the territory of that Member State that the alleged damage occurs.
• Indeed, in the event of infringement, by means of a website, of the conditions of a selective distribution network, the damage which the distributor may claim is the reduction in the volume of its sales resulting from the sales made in breach of the conditions of the network and the ensuing loss of profits.
• The fact that the websites on which the offer of the products covered by the selective distribution right appears operate in Member States other than that of the court seised is irrelevant, as long as the events which occurred in those Member States resulted in or may result in the alleged damage in the jurisdiction of the court seised, which it is for the national court to ascertain.

With this judgment national courts are slowly given a complete cover of eventualities in the context of jurisdiction and the internet.

Geert.

(Handbook of) European private international law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 2, Heading 2.2.11.2

 

Something to digest quietly, to start this new year: in Gaz de France v STS the French Conseil d’Etat annuled an arbitral award for breach of ordre public. The Conseil objected in particular to the panel’s denial of mandatory French (administrative) law. Reed Smith have analysis here, including of the issue on jurisdiction (Conseil d’Etat or Court de Cassation).

Upon reading the judgment, my question is this (just putting it in the group, as it were): does the Conseil have terminology right where it seems to classify breach of mandatory law as a violation of ordre public (it is the latter only which justifies annulment under the New York Convention)? Incidentally (at 5) it also refers to the possibility of mandatory EU law being part of this interpretation of ordre public. This structure is clearly inspired by the Rome I Regulation where, as I have noted before, the presence of mandatory law, overriding mandatory law, and ordre public, is causing confusion.

Happy New Year, happy reading, Geert.

 

Rome I Regulation – Commentary, edited by / a cura di Ulrich Magnus, perte Mankowski, Otto Schmidt Verlag, 2017, ISBN 9783504080068, pp. 928, EUR 229.

One of the great steps towards a European Private International Law and for the facilitation of transborder trade is the Rome I Regulation which europeanised the applicable law for international contracts throughout the Union (though except Denmark). This Regulation has to be applied since the end of 2009. It has moderately reformed and replaced the former Rome Convention which had already proven its practical value for over two decades as many national decisions and also judgments of the European Court of Justice evidence. It is therefore high time for a truly pan-European Commentary on the Rome I Regulation which takes account of the European nature of this instrument. This is reflected by the team of contributors that originates from all over Europe assembling first experts in their countries. The editors are Ulrich Magnus and Peter Mankowski who have already edited the well-received pan-European Commentaries on the Brussels I Regulation and the Brussels IIbis Regulation. The Commentary (in English) provides a thorough article-by-article analysis which intensely uses the rich case law and doctrine and suggests clear and practical solutions for disputed issues. It gives a comprehensive and actual account of the present state of the European international contract law. For international lawyers, practitioners as well as academics, it is an indispensable must.

Authors include: Andrea Bonomi, Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, Javier Carrascosa Gonzalez, Richard G. Fentiman, Franco Ferrari, Francisco Garcimartín Alférez, Helmut Heiss, Luís Pietro Rocha de Lima Pinheiro, Ulrich Magnus, Peter Mankowski, Guillermo Palao Moreno, Ilaria Queirolo, Bea Verschraegen, Michael Wilderspin, M.H. (Mathijs) ten Wolde.

Our children often hug me goodnight while I am working away at a brief or sitting next to a huge pile of exam papers, waiting to be marked. And especially in the latter case, I confess this is often accompanied by a pint of ale. My youngest daughter the other day told me she had had a dream that night in which I had found a cure for all cancers.

This was the modus operandi: I had spilt said beer (in said daughter’s dream) over the exam papers and by some interaction between beer and paper, the cure had come to me. Eureka! Somehow I have always known beer will save the world…

A warming thought for this chilly season. And one to lift our spirits, hoping for a less challenging 2017.

Enjoy your undoubtedly deserved breaks. Geert.

 

 

 

 

 

Commission / Breyer
Droit institutionnel
L’avocat général Bobek propose un accès élargi aux documents de la Cour

L’avocat général Sharpston considère que l’accord de libre-échange avec Singapour ne peut être conclu que par l’Union et les États membres agissant de concert

Commission / Aer Lingus
Aide d'État
La Cour confirme que l’Irlande doit récupérer la somme de 8 euros par passager auprès des compagnies aériennes bénéficiaires d’une aide d’État illégale

Conseil / Front Polisario
Agriculture
Les accords d’association et de libéralisation conclus entre l’UE et le Maroc ne sont pas applicables au Sahara occidental

Tele2 Sverige
Rapprochement des législations
Les États membres ne peuvent pas imposer une obligation générale de conservation de données aux fournisseurs de services de communications électroniques

Vervloet e.a.
Liberté d'établissement
La garantie accordée par la Belgique aux sociétés coopératives financières ARCO enfreint le droit de l’Union

Gutiérrez Naranjo
Rapprochement des législations
La jurisprudence espagnole limitant dans le temps les effets de la nullité des clauses « plancher », insérées dans les contrats de prêt hypothécaire en Espagne, est incompatible avec le droit de l’Union

AGET Iraklis
Rapprochement des législations
Le droit de l’Union n’empêche pas, en principe, un État membre de s’opposer, en certaines circonstances, à des licenciements collectifs dans l’intérêt de la protection des travailleurs et de l’emploi

Commission / World Duty Free Group
Aide d'État
Selon la Cour, le Tribunal de l’UE a commis une erreur de droit en annulant la décision de la Commission déclarant un régime fiscal espagnol incompatible avec le marché intérieur

The Court held in C-102/15 Siemens just before mine and their summer break. It had escaped my attention. At issue was whether debt arising from the unjustified repayment of a fine for infringement of competition law falls within the scope of application of the Brussels I Recast. It does not. The Court distinguished flyLAL: while private actions brought to ensure compliance with competition law fall within the scope of the Regulation, a penalty imposed by an administrative authority in the exercise of the regulatory powers conferred upon it under national legislation comes within the concept of ‘administrative matters’, excluded from the scope of Regulation No 44/2001 in accordance with Article 1(1) thereof.(at 35).

An action in unjust enrichment related to the interest due, following to and fro, imposition and rescinding, ending finally in confirmation of the fine, is intimately bound up with that fine and therefore follows it in the exclusion.

A judgment of note for those who wish to keep complete overview.

Geert.

(Handbook of) European private international law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 2, Heading 2.2.2.2 ff.

Anyone with an interest in mutual recognition, risk and trade, and the exhaustive effect of EU food law should consult the Opinion of Advocate General Bobek in Case C-672/15 Noria Distribution, which was released last week.

Noria Distribution SARL (‘Noria’) is being prosecuted for having sold in France food supplements containing vitamins and minerals in quantities exceeding maxima set under French law. Noria does not deny doing so. However, it argues in response that those maxima are not valid because they were set in breach of EU law. Noria adds that it produces and sells the same products lawfully in other Member States.

The Advocate General suggests EU law on the issue is not exhaustive. Member States can set their own limits. An issue under discussion in the national proceeding is the origin (national or international) of the science underpinning the limits. The AG justifiably advises that the origin of the data is irrelevant. EU law concern is not about the details of bibliographies. It is rather that restrictions be justified on the basis of solid science demonstrating real risk or at least the inability to exclude risk: whether this is the case is for the national court to determine. The precautionary principle can be invoked by the Member States in setting their limits.

The AG’s approach is very sensible. Without losing himself in lengthy discussion, he reminds the national courts and authorities of the benchmarks for risk management.

Geert.