Flux européens

Ministry of Defence [MOD] v Iraqi civilians highlights a classic in private international law (statutes of limitation), with an interesting link to State immunity. Procedural issues are considered to be part of the lex fori. Meaning, a court always applies its own procedural rules. For the discussions in the Rome II context, see an earlier posting. However what is less settled is whether statutes of limitation fall under procedure or substantial law. If the former, then they follow the lex fori. If the latter, then they follow lex causae: the law applicable to the substantive matter at issue.

Limitation, which deprives the litigant of a forensic remedy but does not extinguish his right, was traditionally classified by the English courts as procedural. The result was that until the position was altered by statute in 1984, the English courts disregarded foreign limitation law and applied the English statutes of limitation irrespective of the lex causae. This was widely regarded as unsatisfactory, mainly because of the rather technical character of the distinction on which it was based between barring the remedy and extinguishing the right.

The Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984 changed the position and provided for the English courts, with limited exceptions, to apply the limitation rules of the lex causae. 

Now, in MOD v Iraqi Civilians, on appeal from [2015] EWCA Civ 1241, the civilians claim to have suffered unlawful detention and/or physical maltreatment at the hands of British armed forces in Iraq between 2003 and 2009, for which the MOD is liable in tort. It is agreed between the parties that any liability of the Ministry in tort is governed by Iraqi law. Under article 232 of the Civil Code of Iraq, the standard limitation period applicable to claims of this kind in Iraqi law is three years from the day on which the claimant became aware of the injury and of the person who caused it. The action sub judice was begun more than three years after most of the claimants must have been aware of these matters.

However, Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17, which had and still has the force of law in Iraq, made it impossible for claimants to sue the British government in Iraq. Section 2(1) of the Order provides that coalition forces in Iraq (including British forces) are “immune from Iraqi legal process.” Claimants argue that Order 17 needs to be seen as an ‘impediment’ within the meaning of article 435 of the Iraqi Civil Code, which is one of a number of provisions suspending the running of time in particular cases. It provides:

” Article 435 – (1) The time limit barring the hearing of the case is suspended by a lawful excuse such as where the plaintiff is a minor or interdicted and has no guardian or is absent in a remote foreign country, or where the case is between spouses or ascendants and descendants, or if there is another impediment rendering it impossible for the plaintiff to claim his right.

(2) The period which lapses while the excuse still exists (lasts) shall not be taken into account (for the running of the time limitation).”

Lord Sumption leading, held (at 11) that Order 17 is not a rule of limitation, but a particular form of state immunity, which serves as a limitation on the jurisdiction of the courts. It is therefore necessarily procedural and local in nature. It is not legally relevant, given the claimants have brought proceedings in England, what impediments might have prevented similar proceedings in Iraq [at 13]. Claimants could have always and did eventually sue in the UK. Claimants’ submission, if accepted, would mean that there was no limitation period at all affecting the present proceedings in England, by reason of a consideration (CPA Order 17) which had no relevance to English proceedings because it has no application outside Iraq and has never impeded resort to the English court (at 16).

The Appeal was dismissed. In the wider context of immunity, it is important precedent. Claimants faced with immunity obstacles to litigation in a jurisdiction, must not hesitate to start proceedings elsewhere, where no such obstacles exist. In proceedings before the English courts, any delay in doing so is subject to the ordinary limitation periods of the lex causae.

Geert.

EU Civil Justice. Current Issues and Future Outlook, a cura di B. Hess, M. Bergström, E. Storskrubb, Hart Publishing, 2016, pp. 384, ISBN: 9781849466820, GBP 60.

[Dal sito dell’editore] – This seventh volume in the Swedish Studies in European Law series brings together some of the most prominent scholars working within the fast-evolving field of EU civil justice. Civil justice has an impact on matters involving, inter alia, family relationships, consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, small and medium-sized businesses and large multinational corporations. It therefore has great power and potential. Over the past 15 years a wealth of EU measures have been enacted in this field. Issues arising from the implementation thereof and practice in relation to these measures are now emerging. Hence, this volume will explore the benefits as well as the challenges of these measures. The particular themes covered include forum shopping, alternative dispute resolution, simplified procedures and debt collection, family matters and collective redress. In addition, the deepening of the field that continues post-Lisbon has occasioned a new level of regulatory and policy challenges. These are discussed in the final part of the volume which focuses on mutual recognition also in the broader European law context of integration in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

L’indice del volume e ulteriori informazioni sono disponibili a questo indirizzo.

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne lance sa première application pour smartphone et tablette

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne lance sa première application pour smartphone et tablette

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne lance sa première application pour smartphone et tablette

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne lance sa première application pour smartphone et tablette

Dal 4 al 9 luglio 2016, si terrà a Ravenna la Summer School su European and Comparative Environmental Law, organizzata dalla Scuola di Giurisprudenza dell’Università di Bologna in collaborazione con la Lewis and Clark Law School (Oregon) e con la Fondazione Flaminia.

L’iniziativa mira a promuovere la conoscenza della cornice giuridica attuale in materia di ambiente, con particolare attenzione alla sua dimensione europea ed internazionale.

Il tema del contenzioso transazionale in materia ambientale verrà approfondito con un ciclo di incontri curati da Alessandra Zanobetti ed Enrico Al Mureden dell’Università di Bologna, e Robert Klonoff della Lewis and Clark Law School.

Il programma completo dei corsi è disponibile qui.

Il corso dà diritto al riconoscimento di 6 crediti per gli studenti universitari, e 18 crediti per gli Avvocati. È previsto un esame finale di verifica delle conoscenze acquisite.

Il termine per l’iscrizione è  il 3 giugno 2016. Ulteriori informazioni e copia del bando sono disponibili a questo indirizzo.

Izsák et Dabis / Commission
Citoyenneté européenne
Le Tribunal confirme que la proposition d’initiative citoyenne européenne visant à promouvoir le développement des zones géographiques peuplées par des minorités nationales ne peut pas être enregistrée

Izsák et Dabis / Commission
Citoyenneté européenne
Le Tribunal confirme que la proposition d’initiative citoyenne européenne visant à promouvoir le développement des zones géographiques peuplées par des minorités nationales ne peut pas être enregistrée

Izsák et Dabis / Commission
Citoyenneté européenne
Le Tribunal confirme que la proposition d’initiative citoyenne européenne visant à promouvoir le développement des zones géographiques peuplées par des minorités nationales ne peut pas être enregistrée

Izsák et Dabis / Commission
Citoyenneté européenne
Le Tribunal confirme que la proposition d’initiative citoyenne européenne visant à promouvoir le développement des zones géographiques peuplées par des minorités nationales ne peut pas être enregistrée

Si terrà a Firenze, il 30 maggio 2016, un corso di aggiornamento professionale dedicato all’applicazione pratica, nell’ordinamento italiano, della Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’Unione europea, organizzato dal Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche dell’Università di Firenze, in collaborazione con la Fondazione per la Formazione Forense dell’Ordine degli Avvocati di Firenze.

[Descrizione del corso] – Il corso si propone di fornire ai partecipanti gli strumenti tecnici e conoscitivi necessari ai fini della corretta applicazione della “Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’UE” (c.d. Carta di Nizza) nell’ordinamento italiano. … In concreto, la Carta assume rilevanza rispetto a settori di particolare importanza ai fini della tutela giurisdizionale delle persone, quali il diritto dell’immigrazione, il diritto di famiglia e dei minori, il diritto del lavoro e dei consumatori, il diritto antidiscriminatorio. La sua applicazione rispetto alle norme interne, oltre ad essere richiesta ai fini dell’adempimento degli obblighi posti dal diritto dell’Unione, arricchisce gli strumenti di tutela a vantaggio delle persone determinando, in molti casi, una protezione maggiore rispetto a quella fornita dalle fonti interne. Il corso fornirà ai partecipanti le conoscenze necessarie per comprendere se in casi concreti, relativi ai settori di particolare rilevanza, la Carta debba trovare applicazione e con quali conseguenze.

Alcune relazioni avranno ad oggetto i rapporti tra la Carta e la CEDU (Ornella Feraci, Univ. Firenze), il rilievo della Carta nel diritto internazionale privato e processuale europeo, con specifica attenzione alle garanzie dell’equo processo (Olivia Lopes Pegna, Univ. Firenze), nonché la rilevanza della Carta nel diritto internazionale privato europeo della famiglia (Ester di Napoli, Univ. Magna Graecia, Catanzaro).

Per la partecipazione al corso è prevista l’attribuzione di 12 crediti formativi per gli avvocati. Le domande di partecipazione devono essere inviate all’indirizzo email perfezionamenti@adm.unifi.it, entro il 18 maggio 2016.

Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili a questo indirizzo.

On 4 May 2016, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR) was published on the Official Journal. It shall apply as of 25 May 2018.

Adopted on the basis of Article 16(2) TFEU, the Regulation is the core element of the Commission’s Data protection reform package, which also includes a Directive for the protection of personal data with regard to the processing by criminal law enforcement authorities.

The new measure aims at modernising the legislative framework for data protection, so as to allow both businesses and citizens to seize the opportunities of the Digital Single Market.

First and foremost, businesses will benefit from a simplified legal landscape, as the detailed and uniform provisions laid down by the GDPR, which are directly applicable throughout the EU, will overcome most of the difficulties experienced with the divergent national implementations of Directive 95/46/EC, and with the rather complex conflict-of-law provision which appeared in Article 4 of the Directive.

Nevertheless, some coordination will still be required between the laws of the various Member States, since the new regime does not entirely rule out the relevance of national provisions. As stated in Recitals 8 and 10, the GDPR ‘provides a margin of manoeuvre for Member States’ to restrict or specify its rules. For example, Member States are allowed to specify or introduce further conditions for the processing depending, inter alia, on the nature of the data concerned (Recital 53 refers, in particular, to genetic, biometric, or health-related data).

Secondly, the new Regulation marks a significant extension of the extraterritorial application of EU data protection law, with the express intent of leveling the playing field between European businesses and non-EU established companies operatig in the Single Market. In delimiting the territorial scope of application of the new rules, Article 3 of the GDPR borrows on the case-law of the Court of Justice regarding Article 4 of Directive 96/45/EC. Pursuant to Article 3(1), the Regulation applies to any processing of personal data in the context of the activities of an establishment of a controller or a processor in the Union, ‘regardless of whether the processing itself takes place within the Union or not’ (along the lines of the Google Spain case).

Moreover, Article 3(2) refers to the targeting, by non-EU established controllers and processors, of individuals ‘who are in the Union’, for the purposes of offering goods or services to such subjects or monitoring their behaviours. This connecting factor, further specified by Recital 23 in keeping with the findings of the Court of Justice in Weltimmo, is somehow more specific than the former ‘equipment/means’ criteria set out by the Directive (cfr. Opinion 8/2010 of the Working Party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the processing of personal data, on applicable law).

One of the key innovations brought along by the GDPR is the so-called one-stop-shop mechanism. The idea, in essence, is that where a data controller or processor processes information relating to individuals in more than one Member State, a supervisory authority in one EU Member State should be in charge of controlling the controller’s or processor’s activities, with the assistance and oversight of the corresponding authorities of the other Member States concerned (Article 52). It remains to be seen whether the watered down version which in the end found its way into the final text of the Regulation will effectively deliver the cutting of red tape promised to businesses.

The other goal of the GDPR is to provide individuals with a stronger control on their personal data, so as to restore consumers’ trust in the digital economy.  To this end, the new legislative framework updates some of the basic principles set out by Directive 95/46/EC — which are believed to ‘remain sound’ (Recital 9) — and devises some new ones, in order to further buttress the position of data subjects with respect to their own data.

The power of individuals to access and control their personal data is strengthened, inter alia, by the introduction of a ‘right to be forgotten’ (Article 17) and a right to data portability, aimed at facilitating the transmission of personal data between service providers (Article 20). The data subject additionally acquires a right to be notified, ‘without undue delay’ of any personal data breach which may result in ‘a high risk to [his or her] rights and freedoms’ (Article 33).

The effective protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data also depends on the availability of adequate remedies in case of infringement. The Regulation acknowledges that the infringement of the rules on the processing of personal data may result in physical, material or non-material damage, ‘of varying likelihood or severity’ (Recital 75). The two-track system has been maintained, whereby the data subject is entitled to lodge a complaint against the data controller or processor either with the competente courts (Article 79) or with the competent supervisory authority (Article 77). Furthermore, pursuant to Article 78, any legally binding decision of a supervisory authority concerning the position of a data subject — or the lack of thereof — may be appealed before the courts of the Member State where the supervisory authority is established.

The GDPR additionally sets forth an embryonic procedural regime for proceedings in connection with the alleged infringement of data protection legislation.

In the first place, it introduces two unprecedented special rules of jurisdiction, the application of which should not be prejudiced, as stated in Recital 147, by ‘general jurisdiction rules such as those of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012’, ie, the Brussels Ia Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (by the way, the primacy of the GDPR over Brussels Ia could equally be asserted under Article 67 of the latter Regulation). Article 79 of the GDPR provides that the data subject who considers that his or her rights under the Regulation have been infringed, may choose to bring proceedings before the courts of the Member State where the controller or processor has an establishment or, alternatively, before the courts of the Member State where the data subject himself or herself resides, unless the controller is a public authority of a Member State acting in the exercise of its public powers. Article 82(6) clarifies that the courts of the same Member State have jurisdiction over actions for compensation of the damage suffered as a result of the said infringements.

Article 81 of the GDPR deals with lis pendens. If proceedings concerning the same activities are already pending before a court in another Member State, any court other than the one first seised has the discretion (not the obligation) to stay its proceedings. The same court may also decide to decline jurisdiction in favour of the court first seized, provided that the latter court has jurisdiction over the proceedings in question and its law permits the consolidation of related proceedings.

Finally, the Regulation includes a provision concerning the recognition and enforcement of ‘any judgment of a court or tribunal and any decision of an administrative authority of a third country requiring a controller or processor to transfer or disclose personal data’. Pursuant to Article 48, such judgments or decisions may be recognised or enforced solely on the basis of an international agreement, such as a mutual legal assistance treaty, in force between the requesting third country and the Union or a Member State..

This provision mirrors the stance recently taken by some Member States and their representatives in connection to an important cross-border dispute, where a similar question had arisen, which was in fact the object of different solutions on the two sides of the Atlantic.

In fact, in the light of the approach taken by US law enforcement authorities, search warrants seeking access to personal data stored in European data centres are regarded as a form of compelled disclosure, akin to a subpoena, requiring the recipient of the order to turn over information within its control, irrespective of the place in which data is effectively stored. What matters is the sheer existence of personal jurisdiction over the data controller, that is the ISP who receives the warrant, which would enable criminal prosecutors to unilaterally order seizure of the data stored abroad, without necessarily seeking cooperation thorough official channels such as Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties.

Article 48 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 may accordingly be read as the EU counter-reaction to these law enforcement claims.

Allemagne / Commission
Aide d'État
Le Tribunal confirme que la loi allemande sur les énergies renouvelables de 2012 (EEG 2012) comportait des aides d’État

Allemagne / Commission
Aide d'État
Le Tribunal confirme que la loi allemande sur les énergies renouvelables de 2012 (EEG 2012) comportait des aides d’État

Allemagne / Commission
Aide d'État
Le Tribunal confirme que la loi allemande sur les énergies renouvelables de 2012 (EEG 2012) comportait des aides d’État

Allemagne / Commission
Aide d'État
Le Tribunal confirme que la loi allemande sur les énergies renouvelables de 2012 (EEG 2012) comportait des aides d’État

The School of Legal and Social Sciences of the Carlos III University of Madrid has issued a call for papers on the topic of International Family Law Reforms.

The initiative, addressed to young researchers, is intended to select the papers that will be presented in the Young Researchers Round Table, in the framework of the  International Congress on International Family Law Reforms, which will be held in Madrid on 17 and 18 November 2016.

The selected papers may also be published on Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional.

The deadline for the submission of the abstracts (in English or Spanish) is 15 June 2016.

Further information on the call for papers and on the final conference are available here.

 

Michael Bogdan, Concise Introduction to EU Private International Law, 3a ed., Europa Law Publishing, 2016, pp. 230, ISBN 9789089521774, Euro 38.

[Dal sito dell’editore] – This concise book is mainly intended to be used as an introduction to the rules of private international law belonging to the legal system of the European Union. It provides legal practitioners with an overview of this highly complex field of law and can serve as an introductory textbook in elective undergraduate courses and master programs offered today by many law schools both to their own students and to exchange students from other countries. The book will hopefully also be useful as a spring-board towards more profound studies of statutory texts, case law and legal literature.

L’indice dell’opera è consultabile qui. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili a questo indirizzo.

Il 20 maggio 2016, l’Università La Sapienza di Roma ospiterà un incontro dedicato al tema del cognome materno, nella prospettiva italiana in materia di attribuzione e di modifica del cognome ai figli, nonché nella prospettiva comparata, internazionale e dell’Unione europea.

Fabrizio Marongiu Buonaiuti (Univ. Macerata) presenterà una relazione dedicata al cognome dei figli nel diritto internazionale privato.

Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili qui.