Agrégateur de flux

Commission / Front Polisario
Relations extérieures
Selon l’avocate générale Ćapeta, c’est à tort que le Tribunal a annulé la décision approuvant, au nom de l’Union européenne, un accord de traitement tarifaire préférentiel avec le Maroc relatif au territoire du Sahara occidental

Commission / Front Polisario
Relations extérieures
Selon l’avocate générale Ćapeta, la Cour devrait annuler la décision du Conseil portant conclusion de l’accord de partenariat dans le domaine de la pêche durable avec le Maroc

LEA
Culture
La législation italienne excluant de la gestion des droits d’auteur les sociétés indépendantes établies dans un autre État membre est incompatible avec le droit de l’Union

Cobult
Transport
Droit des passagers aériens : le passager est réputé avoir accepté le remboursement du billet sous la forme d’un bon de voyage lorsque, tout en remplissant un formulaire sur le site Internet du transporteur aérien, il a renoncé au remboursement du billet sous la forme d’une somme d’argent

Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
L’insertion obligatoire dans les cartes d’identité de deux empreintes digitales est compatible avec les droits fondamentaux au respect de la vie privée et à la protection des données à caractère personnel

Augustin Gridel (University of Lorraine) has kindly prepared a presentation in English of his monograph titled Marchés et instruments financiers en droit international privé (Financial Markets and Financial Instruments in Private International Law), published by Bruylant in 2023. The aim of this book is to describe the relationship between the law of financial markets and […]

On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 43rd monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00-12:30 (CEST). Bettina Heiderhoff (Universität Münster) will speak, in German, about

Interfaces between Migration Law and International Family Law

The presentation will be followed by an open discussion. All are welcome. More information and sign-up here.

If you want to be invited to these events in the future, please write to veranstaltungen@mpipriv.de.

On 19 March 2024, the Council of the European Union approved the position of the European Parliament at first reading on the proposal for a directive on protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings, also known as Strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs. The directive has thereby […]

Mazepin / Conseil
Relations extérieures
Guerre en Ukraine : le Tribunal annule les actes de maintien de M. Nikita Mazepin sur les listes des personnes visées par les mesures restrictives

The Council of the European Union on 15 March 2024 reached a final deal on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on corporate sustainability due diligence (see here and here for previous analysis on the proposal hosted on this blog). The deal comes after a series of meetings […]

A few days ago, the redesigned EAPIL website was launched. Among other things, it features a reserved area for members of the European Association of Private International Law (MyEAPIL). An automated e-mail message was sent to all the 560 members of the Association on 11 March 2024, with their personal login credentials. Several members have […]

The Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment entered into force on 8 March 2024. Resolving Conflit Mobile One of the main goals of the Cape Town Convention was to resolve the perennial problem of change of applicable law governing security interests over tangible moveable assets (conflit mobile). The […]

Originally posted on the NGPIL Website

“The winner of the 2024 NGPIL (Nigeria Group of Private International Law) Conflict of Law’s Essay Prize is Peace George, a recent LLB graduate with admission to the Nigerian Law School. Her essay is entitled “Domicile, Nationality and Habitual Residence: What Option for Nigeria” and was awarded 150,000 NGN [Naira] as the winning essay. The essay was of excellent standard and demonstrated a deep understanding of the principles at hand, analysing them to a high standard…”

 

The Permanent Bureau of the HCCH is pleased to announce that the webinar “HCCH 2005 Choice of Court Convention: Fostering Access to Justice for Cross-Border Commerce in the Asia Pacific Region” will be held this Friday, 22 March, from 16:00 to 17:30 p.m. (Hong Kong time).

The webinar will feature the following topics and speakers:

• Welcome remarks, by Dr Christophe Bernasconi (HCCH)
• Overview of the Choice of Court Convention, by Ms Melissa Ford (HCCH)
• Application of the Choice of Court Convention in Singapore, by Prof Adeline CHONG Swee Ling (Singapore Management University)
• Choice of Court Convention and the People’s Republic of China, by Prof Zheng TANG (Wuhan University)
• Choice of Court Convention and the ASEAN Members – taking Indonesia as an example, by Prof Afifah Kusumadara (Brawijaya University)
• Concluding remarks, by Prof Yun ZHAO (HCCH)

For more information, please consult the webinar’s programme.

Introduction Beverly Hills Polo Club branded goods are sold in the USA and the UK. Trade marks in the USA are owned by X. Corresponding trade marks in the UK are owned by Y. Trade mark law is territorial. Does Amazon infringe UK trade mark law by advertising the USA branded goods on its USA […]

The Conclusions & Decisions of the Council on General Affairs and Policy (basically, the governing body – CGAP) of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) were published this week. Click here.

What is remarkable is that this year’s Conclusions & Decisions, as well as other Preliminary Documents, were also published in Spanish. It is the first time in the history of this governing body that documents are translated into Spanish and signals its commitment and the looming deadline when Spanish will become an official language of the HCCH (i.e. 1 July 2024). Many congratulations to the HCCH team, it has been a long road.

A few takeaways from the Conclusions & Decisions are the following:

There has been a revitalization of the commercial and financial law area with work being undertaken regarding Digital Assets and Tokens, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Digital Economy, Digital Tokens, Restructuring and Insolvency and Voluntary Carbon Markets. In particular, the Council mandated “the establishment of an Experts’ Group to study the applicable law and jurisdiction issues raised by the cross-border use and transfers of CBDCs” (Conclusion & Decision No 10).

A few Working Groups will continue to meet in the coming year, namely Financial Aspects of Intercountry Adoption, Surrogacy and Jurisdiction.

A new Working Group has been established with respect to the 1996 Child Protection Convention (Conclusion & Decision No 26): “CGAP mandated the establishment of a WG on the operation of Article 33 of the 1996 Child Protection Convention, first, to develop a Model Form and, subsequently, a Guide on the application of Article 33. The WG will report on its progress to CGAP 2025.” This is a significant development, in particular regarding the streamlining of how to handle kafalas. See also the work of FAMIMOVE. Another Working Group will deal with the 1996 Country Profile.

With regard to post-Convention work, a few meetings will take place:

• A meeting of the International Hague Network of Judges in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 15 to 17 May 2024.
• Forum on Domestic Violence and the Operation of Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention in Sandton, South Africa, from 18 to 21 June 2024. This is the result of the Conclusions & Recommendations of the meeting of the Special Commission that took place last year and the existing concerns about domestic violence.
• Malta V, in Valetta from 24 to 27 September 2024. The Malta Process is a dialogue involving both Contracting States to the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Child Protection Convention, and non-Contracting States whose legal systems are based on or influenced by Islamic law (“Shariah”). Click here.
• Special Commission on the practical operation of the 1965 Service, 1970 Evidence and 1980 Access to Justice Conventions to take place from 2 to 5 July 2024 in The Hague.

A more intriguing Conclusion is the following regarding Trusts (Conclusion & Decision No 55):

CGAP noted the PB’s work in relation to the 1985 Trusts Convention, and mandated the PB, in partnership with relevant subject-matter experts, and subject to available resources, to continue to study the interpretation of analogous institutions for the purpose of Article 2 of the 1985 Trusts Convention, with a focus on:

a. clarifying the divergences in interpretation between the English and French versions of the Article; and

b. exploring whether analogous institutions would include foundations and endowments, institutions and developments relating to the waqf in the Islamic legal tradition, and decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and other similar structures.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the developments regarding iSupport. The Council noted “the first official exchange of data using iSupport between Germany and Sweden, and their continued use of iSupport” (Conclusion & Decision No 38).

Project Lietzenburger Strabe Holdco, Re [2024] EWHC 468 (Ch) would seem to heed my prediction when I reviewed AGPS BondCo (“Strategic Value Capital Solutions Master Fund LP & Ors v AGPS BondCo PLC (Re AGPS BondCo PLC) [2024] EWCA Civ 24) here: that the English jurisdictional basis for schemes of arrangement and restructuring plans for corporations without English anchor prior to the restructuring, is less certain than court practice suggested.

Prior to AGPS Bondco and as I report in many posts which readers can find using the ‘scheme of arrangement’, in the event of a non-E&W incorporated debtor whose debt was being restructured, the classic technique is to insert a newly incorporated English company as a substitute obligor or co-obligor of debt owed by a foreign company in order to engage the jurisdiction of the English court. That technique in itself has not changed, but the court’s fairly ready acceptance of jurisdiction arguendo is now coming under some pressure.

As I reported in the past, the arguendo technique’s smoot riding through the courts first if all was assisted by the general absence of challenge by creditors. Even those not entirely convinced of the economic soundness of the restructuring at issue would eventually give up opposition when push came to shove. Further, pre-Brexit the assumption that a scheme or a plan would be readily recognised across the EU as a ‘judgment’ under Brussels Ia, despite question marks over the soundness of that ia viz the definition of ‘judgment’ and the application of BIa’s ‘insolvency’ exception, similarly lubricated passage through the courts. Post Brexit and absent UK Lugano membership, things have not necessarily changed from the content point of view; however they have certainly changed from the perception point of view.

In the case at issue, Richards J refers to AGPS Bondco and discusses COMI shift of the Plan corporation at length [69] ff.

The plan company having its COMI in E&W is one of the jurisdictional routes available. The Insolvency (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 are the main port of call, and Re Swissport Holding International SARL [2020] EWHC 3556 (Ch) (unreported), which I flagged  in my discussion of Barings v Galapagos here is the lead judgment referred to on the principles of COMI. One of the issues in Barings is the question of ‘permanency’ of COMI move, an urgent issue in Barings but perhaps less immediately concerning in current case (the judge does briefly address it [85]).

The judge having decided that COMI was indeed located in E&W then [86] ff discussed whether this move of COMI might have been in breach of Luxembourg law. The structure of this analysis is not entirely clear. Whether COMI moved in breach of applicable lex societatis is not in itself I would suggest relevant to the COMI move itself and indeed this is not how the judge seems to approach it. One assumes his analysis on this point is part of his consideration of whether the courts at Luxembourg would recognise the Plan, alongside [103] ff where the potential of exclusive Luxembourg jurisdiction is considered. Consideration including by the experts is made of CJEU C-723/20 Galapagos BidCo Sarl, with the judge eventually by a slender margin deciding that the view is to be preferred that Lux courts would not consider themselves to have such jurisdiction.

On recognition proper (again I am not quite sure of the structure here). [112] ff consider the Re DTEK Energy BV test, with consideration in particular of the COMI move as fraude à la loi /fraus (additionally in the form of fraude au jugement) and on balance the judge holds that it is unlikely that the LUX courts would object on ordre public grounds (ia given EU law’s acceptance of COMI move for restructuring purposes.

The same ordre public test under German law with an important Brexit consequence [125]: “Both experts agree that an English judgment sanctioning the Plan would be recognised in Germany only if the Plan Company’s COMI is in England at the time of any order sanctioning the Plan. Without that, the German courts would not accept that the English courts have jurisdiction for the purposes of s343 of the InsO.” I am not an expert on German law but it seems prima facie implicit in that opinion that a Plan would have to be considered an insolvency and indeed [125] ff follows that discussion. Here the judgment takes an interesting turn with [130] the presence of cross-class cram-down in an English Plan leading to pro inspiratio an Annex A EU Insolvency Regulation notified German procedure, StaRUG, in implementation of EU Directive 2019/1023 on Preventive Restructurings (the “Restructuring Directive”), the Plan being considered one in insolvency.

Consider the competing reasons:

Professor Thole’s reasons for concluding that the Plan would be recognised and given effect to in Germany can be summarised as follows:

i) The Plan is similar in nature to a StaRUG. StaRUGs fall within the list of “insolvency proceedings” set out in Annex A.

ii) Proceedings set out in Annex A are “insolvency proceedings” for the purposes of the InsO. In official commentaries on German domestic legislation, the German legislature has stated that, in deciding whether non-EU proceedings constitute “insolvency proceedings”, it is helpful to consider their similarities with proceedings listed in Annex A.

iii) Since the Plan is similar to a StaRUG, which falls within Annex A, a German court would likely conclude that an order sanctioning the Plan would be an order in “insolvency proceedings” for the purposes of the InsO.

iv) That conclusion is not altered by the accepted fact that the Plan does not deal with all the Plan Company’s creditors (such as professional advisers). The requirement for “collective proceedings” is present by virtue of the fact that the Plan deals with the rights of the Plan Company’s financial creditors. That conclusion is supported by a comparison with StaRUGs which likewise do not need to deal with the claims of all creditors.

v) Accordingly, the Plan would be enforced and recognised under the terms of the InsO.

1. 1. 1. Professor Skauradszun’s reasons for reaching a contrary conclusion can be summarised as follows:

i) German legal literature categorises plans under Part 26A as “preventive restructuring frameworks” which are the province of the StaRUG Act rather than the InsO. Accordingly, a German court would consider that the question whether the Plan should be recognised and enforced in Germany should be answered by reference to the StaRUG Act, rather than by reference to the InsO.

ii) The StaRUG Act does not provide for preventive restructuring frameworks of a non-EU member state to be recognised or enforced in Germany. There is, therefore a “gap” in German domestic legislation which means that non-EU “preventive restructuring frameworks” are inherently incapable of being recognised in Germany. Since Germany has a civil law tradition, the courts would not seek to fill that gap by adopting a strained interpretation of the concept of “insolvency proceedings” so as to enable the Plan to be recognised under the InsO. Rather, a German court would look to the legislature to fill the gap if it saw fit.

iii) The Plan falls outside the definition of “insolvency proceedings” in the InsO applying orthodox principles of interpretation which are not affected by any wish to fill a perceived gap in the legislation. That is because the Plan lacks the requisite element of “collectivity” to satisfy the definition.

iv) The fact that the Plan is similar to procedures (such as a StaRUG) listed in Annex A is not relevant. While German legislation does indeed take into account similarities with EU insolvency proceedings, the InsO only requires a comparison to be made with proceedings listed in the EU Insolvency Regulation prior to it being recast in 2015. The German court would not apply an “always speaking” doctrine of statutory interpretation to “update” those references to include Annex A of the Insolvency Regulation Recast.

 These are interesting positions and in the end the judge sides by a very narrow margin with the former. 

Further consideration of the plan then lead to the judge suggesting a number of amendments but for the purposes of the blog, the findings on jurisdiction and recognition are as extensive as they are exciting.

Geert.

EU Private International Law, 4th ed. 2024, 5.35 ff.

More on the blog soon
Refusal to sanction Restructuring Plan
Extensive review of LUX, DE expert opinion on jurisdiction, COMI, fraude à la loi (held i/t end E&W courts do have jurisdiction)

Project Lietzenburger Strabe Holdco, Re [2024] EWHC 468 (Ch)https://t.co/y4Mv0uDEE2

— Geert Van Calster (@GAVClaw) March 4, 2024

The fourth issue of 2023 of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP) is out. Along with recent case law and materials, it features five contributions. Cristina Campiglio, Giurisdizione e legge applicabile in materia di responsabilità medica (ovvero a proposito di conflitti di qualificazioni) (Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Matters of Medical Liability […]

The latest issue of the Journal of Private International Law (Volume 19, Issue 3) is now available. This issue features eight articles and one book review. Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli and Abubakri Yekini, Implied jurisdiction agreements in international commercial contracts: a global comparative perspective, 321-361 This article examines the principles of implied jurisdiction agreements and […]

An international conference on the recast of the Brussels I bis Regulation will take place at the Skylounge of the University of Vienna on 12 April 2024. Organized by Professors Burkhard Hess, Christian Koller and Paul Oberhammer (Institut für Zivilverfahrensrecht, Universität Wien), the event will bring together representatives of the European Commission and of the […]