Agrégateur de flux

On February 26th, a workshop on the organization of databases on European civil procedural law will take place at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) Luxembourg. The workshop is part of a research project in which the MPI is participating together with major European Universities (Complutense, Milan, Rotterdam, Wroclaw), coordinated by Prof. Jan von Hein, Freiburg (the so called IC2BE project: Informed Choices in Cross-Border Enforcement). The final aim of the project is to assess the working in practice of the “second generation” of EU regulations on procedural law for cross-border cases, i.e., the European Enforcement Order, Order for Payment, Small Claims (as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/2421) and the Account Preservation Order Regulations. In this framework, we intend to create a data base of national case law. With the input of experts from the Commission and the CJEU on the one hand, and from potential users of the data base on the other, the workshop will explore the possible content and design of such a data base.

As part of the knowledge dissemination strategy, we would like to open the workshop to practitioners (or senior academics) interested in the application of the above mentioned Regulations to apply for an invitation to the workshop. A selection will be made based on a short CV/explanation for being professionally interested in the topics discussed. The invitation would cover the travel expenses and one night accommodation in Luxembourg.

Date: Monday 26th February 2018, from (approx.) 9.30 am to 5 pm. A dinner will take place the day before for those arriving on Sunday 25th.

Venue: Max Planck Institute Luxembourg

Contact person: marta.requejo@mpi.lu

Deadline for applications: 1st February.

 

 

Following up on my previous post here, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari on January 12, 2018 in Animal Science Products, Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co. (No. 16-1220).  The grant was limited to the following question presented:

Whether a court may exercise independent review of an appearing foreign sovereign’s interpretation of its domestic law (as held by the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits), or whether a court is “bound to defer” to a foreign government’s legal statement, as a matter of international comity, whenever a foreign government appears before the court (as held by the opinion below in accord with the Ninth Circuit).

For some of my thoughts on this question, offered well in advance of this case, see here.

 

Bail commercial

Copropriété

It has not yet been mentioned on this blog that the Münchener Kommentar zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch, Vols. 11 and 12, is now available in its seventh edition (2018). This work is a standard treatise not only on German private international law, but on European PIL as well. The new edition contains detailed commentaries on the Rome I, II and III Regulations (by Abbo Junker, Munich; Dieter Martiny, Hamburg/Frankfurt [Oder], Ulrich Spellenberg, Bayreuth, Peter Winkler von Mohrenfels, Rostock), the Hague Protocol on Maintenance (Ansgar Staudinger, Bielefeld) and the European Succession Regulation (Anatol Dutta, Munich). It also contains an introduction to the new EU Regulations on Matrimonial Property and Registered Partnerships (by Dirk Looschelders, Düsseldorf). The relevant Hague Conventions on the Protection of Children and Adults are commented on as well (by Bettina Heiderhoff, Münster, Ansgar Staudinger, Bielefeld and Volker Lipp, Göttingen). The seventh edition is the second one prepared by Jan von Hein (Freiburg/Germany) as volume editor, who has updated the commentary on the general principles of European and German PIL.

From reviews of the 6th edition (2015):

„A battle cruiser of private international law has been set on a new course“ (IPRax 2015, 387).

„…a truly indispensable work“ (Ludwig Bergschneider, FamRZ 2015, 1364).

Further information is available on the publisher’s website here.

Jahin
Libre circulation des capitaux
Selon l’avocat général Bobek, les organismes obtenus par mutagénèse sont, en principe, exemptés des obligations prévues par la directive sur les OGM

Confédération paysanne e.a.
Rapprochement des législations
Selon l’avocat général Bobek, les organismes obtenus par mutagénèse sont, en principe, exemptés des obligations prévues par la directive sur les OGM

Parmi les cinq chantiers de la justice, deux concernent la matière pénale. Il s’agit du chantier relatif à l’amélioration et à la simplification de la procédure pénale et de celui consacré au sens et à l’efficacité des peines. 

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La mise en œuvre de la procédure de consultation de l’article 25 de la Convention d’application de l’accord de Schengen n’empêche pas l’exécution de la décision de retour assortie d’une interdiction d’entrée adoptée par un État membre.

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L’applicabilité du critère de l’investisseur privé dépend en définitive de ce que l’Etat accorde en sa qualité d’actionnaire, et non en sa qualité de puissance publique. 

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A working paper authored by Prof. Dr. Dres. h.c. Burkhard Hess, where he contests with strong arguments the suitability of the Lugano Convention (2007) to serve as a bridge between the UK and the EU after Brexit, has just been published at the MPI Luxembourg Working-Paper Series. 

In the current discussion on the post-Brexit judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters, many consider the ratification of the 2007 Lugano Convention (LC) by the United Kingdom as a suitable avenue for an alignment of the UK with the current regime of European co-operation. Similarly, the UK government has already shown some sympathy for this option. So far, the European Commission has not endorsed any official position.

At first sight, the 2007 Lugano Convention appears an ideal tool for maintaining the core of the existing system of judicial cooperation between the EU and the UK: Although the LC has not been amended to reflect the latest changes (and improvements) introduced with the Brussels Ibis Regulation, it nevertheless provides for the essential provisions of the Brussels regime on jurisdiction, pendency and recognition and enforcement. In addition, Protocol No 2 to the LC requires the courts of non EU Member States only to “pay due account” to the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on the Brussels I Regulation. Hence, Protocol No 2 might provide an acceptable way for British courts to respect the case-law of the ECJ – without being bound by it – in the post-Brexit scenario.

However, as I am going to argue in this posting, the 2007 Lugano Convention is not the appropriate instrument to align judicial cooperation between the United Kingdom and the European Union after Brexit. In the first part, I will briefly summarize the functioning of Protocol No 2 of the LC, as demonstrated by the practice of the Swiss Federal Tribunal. The second part will address the cultural divergences between the continental and the common private international and procedural laws by making use of two examples related to the Brussels I Regulation: the scheme of arrangement, on the one hand, and anti-suit injunctions, on the other hand. As I will explain in my conclusions, only a bilateral agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom can offer a solution which is suitable and acceptable for both sides.

To continue reading click here.

The Apostille Handbook was originally published in the official languages of the Hague Conference, English and French, and is also available in Greek, Spanish, and Vietnamese.  All language versions are available here.

Concurrence - Transparence et pratiques restrictives - Juridiction compétente

On December 21, 2017, the Japanese Supreme Court rendered a decision on the Hague Abduction Convention.  The Court upheld a lower court decision in favor of the Japanese mother, even though she  had turned back on her promise to return the kids from a visit to Japan, and even though that same court had earlier issued a return order in favor of the American father. The matter had received international press attention, and even a Congressional subcommittee hearing.

Japan had long refused to join the Hague Convention, and when it did, in 2014, critical observers already expected that courts would find ways to undermine it. Those observers see themselves vindicated.

Colin Jones reports critically on the decision; he has previously written on Japan’s joining the Convention and on reluctance to enforce it. Useful background from the Law Library of Congress is here.

Japanese accession to the Convention has been a frequent scholarly topic, both in Japan and elsewhere. Yuko Nishitani, who had already written about “International Child Abduction in Japan” in (2006) 8 Yearbook of  Private International Law 125-143, and who wrote a long report (in Japanese) for the Japanese Ministry in 2010, provided a brief  analysis in 2011.  Dai Yokomizo discussed the accession in (2012) Revue critique 799; Jun Yokohama did so in the Mélanges van Loon (2013, pp 661-72).  Vol. 57 (2014) of the Japanese Yearbook of International Law contains articles by Tatsuki Nishioka and Takako Tsujisaka, Masayuki Tanamura, Masako Murakami, Martina Erb-Klünemann, and Nigel Vaughan Lowe.  Takeshi Hamano helpfully explains the Japanese reluctance with regard to the Japanese ideology of the family. Outside of Japanese authors, Barbara Stark and Paul Hanley wrote most recently in the United States; the topic is also addressed in several student  notes. The accession was also discussed by Bengt Schwemann (in German) and Francisco Barberán Pelegrín (in Spanish).

 

 

 

 

 

La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne estime que la distribution de produits de luxe par un système de distribution sélective qui répond à certains critères est conforme à l’article 101, § 1, du Traité sur le fonctionnement de l’Union européenne (TFUE).

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La décision de réintroduire, du 1er novembre 2017 au 30 avril 2018, un contrôle aux frontières est une mesure proportionnée à la gravité de la menace terroriste qui respecte les règles de durée posées par le code frontières Schengen, estime le Conseil d’État.

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EDF / Commission
Aide d'État
Le Tribunal de l’UE confirme la décision de la Commission ordonnant à la France de récupérer 1,37 milliard d’euros dans le cadre d’une aide d’État accordée à EDF

Un service de mise en relation de chauffeurs non professionnels avec des passagers, proposé par une plateforme numérique, peut être considéré comme indissociablement lié à un service de transport et, dès lors, relève de la qualification de « service dans le domaine des transports ». Les États membres sont libres de réglementer ses conditions d’exercice.

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Last year we posted about an upcoming conference at the University of Sydney Law School on Commercial Issues in Private International Law.

The programme for the conference, which will take place on 16 February 2018, is now available here. Professor Andrew Dickinson, University of Oxford, and Professor TM Yeo, Singapore Management University, will give the keynote addresses.

Conference registration can be carried out via this link.