Flux européens

The Court of Appeal in [2018] EWCA Civ 1532 has confirmed the High Court’s approach in [2017] EWHC 371 (QB) AAA et al v Unilever and Unilever Tea Kenya ltd, holding that there is no good arguable case (the civil law notion of fumus boni iuris comes closes, as Bobek AG notes in Feniks) against Unilever, which could then be used to anchor the case in the English jurisdiction.

Pro memoria: jurisdiction against Unilever is clear, following Article 4 Brussels I Recast. That Regulation’s anchor mechanism however is not engaged for Article 7(1) does not apply against non-EU based defendants. It is residual English private international law that governs this issue.

Appellants appeal in relation to the High Court’s ruling that neither Unilever nor UTKL (the Kenyan subsidiary) owed the appellants a duty of care. Unilever has put in a respondent’s notice to argue that the judge should have found that there was no duty of care owed by Unilever on the additional ground that, contrary to her view, there was no proximity between Unilever and the appellants in respect of the damage suffered by them, according to the guidance in Chandler v Cape Plc. Unilever and UTKL also sought to challenge that part of the judgment in which the judge held that, if viable claims in tort existed against Unilever (as anchor defendant) and UTKL, England is the appropriate place for trial of those claims. Unilever also cross-appealed in relation to a previous case management decision by the judge, by which she declined an application by Unilever that the claim against it should be stayed on case management grounds, until after a trial had taken place in Kenya of the appellants claims against UTKL.

The legal analysis by Sales LJ takes a mere five paragraphs (para 35 onwards). Most of the judgment is taken up by an (equally succinct) overview of risk management policies within the group.

At 35 Sales LJ notes ‘Having set out the relevant factual background in relation to the proximity issue (i.e. whether the appellants have any properly arguable case against Unilever in the light of Chandler v Cape Plc and related authorities), the legal analysis can proceed much more shortly. It is common ground that principles of English law govern this part of the case.‘

– the ‘common ground’ presumably being lex loci incorporationis.

This is an interesting part of the judgment for I find it by no means certain that English law should govern this part of the case. In one of my chapters for professor Vinuales’ en Dr Lees’ forthcoming OUP book on comparative environmental law, I expand on that point.

The long and the short of the argument is that Unilever did not intervene in the affairs of its subsidiary in a more intensive way than a third party would have done. Reference at 37 is made to the contrasting examples given by Sir Geoffrey Vos in Okpabi, ‘One can imagine … circumstances where the necessary proximity could be established, even absent the kind of specific facts that existed in Vedanta … Such a case might include the situation, for example, where a parent required its subsidiaries or franchisees to manufacture or fabricate a product in a particular way, and actively enforced that requirement, which turned out to be harmful to health. One might suggest a food product that injured many, but was created according to a prescriptive recipe provided by the parent. …’

and, at 38, to the raison d’être of mother /daughter structures,

“… it would be surprising if a parent company were to go to the trouble of establishing a network of overseas subsidiaries with their own management structures it if intended itself to assume responsibility for the operations of each of those subsidiaries. The corporate structure itself tends to militate against the requisite proximity …

– subject evidently to proof of the opposite in the facts at issue (a test seemingly not met here).

Geert.

(Handbook of) European Private International Law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 8, Heading 8.3.

Is the actio pauliana by a Polish company against a Spanish company, which had bought immovable property from the former’s contracting party, one relating to ‘contract’ within the meaning of Article 7(1) Brussels I Recast?

Bobek AG Opined in C-337/17 Feniks v Azteca on 21 June. His Opinion features among others a legal history class on the action pauliana, and eventually a justifiable conclusion: the action is not one in contract. In C-115/88 Reichert I the Court held that the French civil law actio pauliana does not fall within exclusive jurisdiction concerning rights in rem in immovable property (Article 24(1). Soon afterwards, the Court added in C-261/90 Reichert II that the same actio pauliana was neither a provisional measure nor an action bringing proceedings concerned with the enforcement of a judgment. It was also not a matter relating to tort, delict or quasi-delict.

That left only the potential for a forum contractus to be decided.

The AG reviews a number of arguments to come to his decision. One of those I find particularly convincing: at 62: assuming that the applicability of the head of jurisdiction for matters relating to a contract were to be contemplated, the question that immediately arises is which of the two contracts potentially involved should be taken as relevant? To which of the two contracts would an actio pauliana in fact relate? Among others (at 69-70) Sharpston AG’s Opinion in Ergo is discussed in this respect and the AG in my view is right when he dismisses the contractual relations at issue as an anchor point.

At 69 the AG also adds a knock-out point which could logically have come at the very beginning of the Opinion:

‘it should also be added and underlined that both approaches outlined above fail to satisfy the requirement of ‘obligation freely assumed by one party towards another’, [the AG refers to Handte, GAVC] that is by the Defendant towards the Applicant. Even if the case-law of this Court does not require that there is identity between the parties to the proceeding and to the respective contract, it appears difficult to consider that the mere filing of an actio pauliana creates a substantive-law relationship between the Applicant and the Defendant resulting from, for example, some kind of legal subrogation founded by an act of COLISEUM (as the Applicant’s initial debtor).’

Readers further may want to take note of para 92: the AG’s view to treat the power of recitals with caution. The AG ends at 97-98 with a robust defence of the Brussels regime, with specific reference to the common law (footnotes omitted):

‘What has to be sought is a principled answer that applies largely independently of the factual elements in an individual case. While fully acknowledging and commending the attractive flexibility of rules such as forum(non) conveniens that allow for derogation in the light of the facts of a specific case, the fact remains that the structure and the logic of the Brussels Convention and Regulations is indeed built on different premises. What is understandably needed in a diverse legal space composed of 28 legal orders are ex ante reasonably foreseeable, and thus perhaps somewhat inflexible rules at times, and less of an ex post facto explanation (mostly as to why one declared oneself competent) heavily dependent on a range of factual elements.

All in all, in the current state of EU law, actio pauliana seems to be one of the rare examples that only allows for the applicability of the general rule and an equally rare confirmation of the fact that ‘… there is no obvious foundation for the idea that there should always or even often be an alternative to the courts of the defendant’s domicile’. ‘

 

A solid opinion with extra reading for the summer season (on the Pauliana).

Geert.

Generalstaatsanwaltschaft (Conditions de détention en Hongrie)
DFON
L’avocat général Campos Sánchez-Bordona propose à la Cour de déclarer que l’existence, dans l’État d’émission d’un mandat d’arrêt européen, de voies de recours judiciaires permettant de contester d’éventuels traitements inhumains ou dégradants constitue un élément important pour écarter le risque de tels traitements, de sorte que, dans un tel cas, il n’existerait en principe pas de circonstances exceptionnelles pouvant justifier l’inexécution de ce mandat

Kuhn
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
L’avocat général Bot propose à la Cour de justice de juger que le règlement « Bruxelles I bis » n’est pas applicable pour déterminer quelle juridiction d’un État membre est compétente pour statuer sur les demandes formées contre l’État grec par un particulier détenteur d’obligations souveraines grecques suite à leur échange forcé dans des conditions et des circonstances exceptionnelles

Wirth e.a.
Transport
En cas de retard important d’un vol, la compagnie aérienne à qui le versement de l’indemnisation due aux passagers incombe n’est pas celle qui a donné en location l’appareil et l’équipage ayant été utilisé, mais celle qui a décidé de réaliser le vol

Planta Tabak
Liberté d'établissement
L’avocat général Saugmandsgaard Øe propose à la Cour de juger que la large interdiction de vente des produits du tabac contenant un arôme caractérisant est conforme au principe d’égalité de traitement

Commission / Slovaquie
Droit institutionnel
Pour avoir tardé à mettre en œuvre le droit de l’Union sur la mise en décharge des déchets, la Slovaquie est condamnée à une somme forfaitaire d’un million d’euros et à une astreinte de 5 000 euros par jour de retard

Keramag Keramische Werke e.a. / Commission
Concurrence
Le Tribunal maintient l’amende de 57 millions d’euros infligée à Sanitec Europe et à ses filiales dans le cadre de l’entente sur le marché des installations sanitaires pour salles de bains

À partir du 1er juillet 2018, les affaires préjudicielles impliquant des personnes physiques seront anonymisées

Minister for Justice and Equality
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Selon l’avocat général Tanchev, l’exécution d’un mandat d’arrêt européen doit être reportée lorsque l’autorité judiciaire compétente constate non seulement qu’il existe un risque réel de déni de justice flagrant en raison des défaillances du système judiciaire de l’État membre d’émission, mais également que la personne qui fait l’objet de ce mandat est exposée à un tel risque

C et A
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
L’avocat général Mengozzi propose à la Cour de juger que le droit néerlandais exigeant la réussite d’un second examen d’intégration civique par une personne déjà bénéficiaire du droit au regroupement familial afin d’obtenir un titre de séjour autonome est incompatible avec le droit de l’Union

Berlusconi et Fininvest
Liberté d'établissement
L’avocat général Campos Sánchez-Bordona propose à la Cour de justice de déclarer que les juridictions de l’Union ont la compétence exclusive pour contrôler la légalité des actes de la BCE et des actes préparatoires adoptés dans les procédures d’autorisation en matière d’acquisition ou d’augmentation de participations qualifiées dans des établissements bancaires

債務整理の内容を詳しく知ることができたとしても、やはりすぐに実行に移すのは難しいでしょう。民事再生や自己破産ともなれば、負担軽減だけでなく、のちの人生への影響をも考えなくてはなりません。ですが、法律事務所利用以前に専門家に相談しておければ安心です。

そこでおすすめしたいのが、法律事務所の無料相談です。法律の専門家が提供するサービスを利用するともなれば、結構な費用が必要となってきます。ですが、本利用の前に無料相談ができるところも、事実少なくありません。どの債務整理が理想的なのか、そもそも現状において必要があるのかなど、基本的な部分から細かく相談してみてはいかがでしょう。プロの観点から、親身にアドバイスしてくれることでしょう。

また法律事務所によっては、過払い金有無の診断が無料、借金の契約書がなくても依頼可能、完済済みなら着手金無料など、手厚いサービスを掲げているところもあります。法律事務所と聞けばかなり専門的な印象が感じられがちかもしれませんが、実際はそうでもありません。むしろ利用しやすいよう、無料相談をはじめさまざまな工夫がおこなわれています。まずは一度、気軽に問い合わせてみてはいかがでしょうか。

France.com / EUIPO - France (FRANCE.com)
Propriété intellectuelle et industrielle
Le signe « france.com » ne peut pas être enregistré comme marque de l’Union

MB
SOPO
Une personne ayant changé de sexe ne peut pas être contrainte d’annuler son mariage conclu antérieurement à ce changement pour pouvoir bénéficier d’une pension de retraite à l’âge prévu pour les personnes du sexe qu’elle a acquis

そもそも、債務整理とはひとつの作業ではありません。債務を整理する上で有効な手段の総称こそが、この債務整理です。そのため、債務整理を理解する上では手段それぞれをしっかり把握しておくことが欠かせません。以下にて、代表的なものを紹介していきます。

たとえば、過払い請求です。テレビCMなどで紹介されることも増えてきているため、耳にしたことがある人も少なくないのではないでしょうか。これは、貸金業者に対して支払った、本来払う必要のなかった額を取り戻すための債務整理です。

次に、任意整理です。借金の減額や金利の引き直しに繋がる方法となっており、負担の軽減に期待が持てます。過払い請求にも関係が深く、この任意整理により過払い金が判明するといったケースも少なくありません。裁判所を通さない手続きであるため、比較的手軽という点も特徴です。

借金がどうしても返せなくなった場合、自己破産に至ります。財産がないことを裁判所に認めてもらうことで借金支払い義務が免除されます。ですが、住宅や車といった高価な財産を手放さなければならないという大きなデメリットが生じるのも特徴です。

そこへきて、民事再生に関しては幾分か負担が少ないです。返済困難な状況を認めてもらうことで、減額や分割返済が利用できるようになります。またこの場合、財産などを手放す必要はありません。

Commission / Malte
Environnement et consommateurs
En ayant adopté un certain régime dérogatoire permettant la capture de sept espèces d’oiseaux sauvages, Malte a manqué aux obligations qui lui incombent en vertu du droit de l’Union

M
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Selon l’avocat général Wathelet, les dispositions de la directive sur les réfugiés permettant à un État membre de refuser ou de révoquer le statut de réfugié sont compatibles avec le droit de l'UE

借金問題は、一般にみられる法律問題の中でも、特に多い存在といえるでしょう。借金と聞くと抵抗の感じられる方法に感じられるかもしれませんが、近年はキャッシングやカードローンと名前を変え、身近で手軽なサービスとして展開されています。それだけに、安易に利用し過ぎて身を滅ぼしてしまうような人が少なくないのです。

また、スマートフォンが普及したこともそうした一因になっているかもしれません。スマートフォンの割賦払いを延滞してしまうと、信用情報がマイナス評価されていまい、ブラック登録される可能性が出てきます。そうなると、気付かないうちに融資の受けられない状態となってしまいます。ブラック登録されており、なおかつどうしてもお金が必要となると、闇金に行き着いてしまう可能性も出てくるでしょう。事実、債務整理を扱う法律事務所では、闇金相談も少なくないようです。

こうした理由から、借金問題に対応する法律事務所は広く増えてきています。法的なサポートのもと債務整理をおこなえば、こうした負担も軽減できるかもしれません。軽減どころか、お金が返ってくるケースも存在するようです。借金に悩んだら、まずは法律のプロフェッショナルである法律事務所に相談してみてはいかがでしょう。

In [2018] EWHC 1343 (Comm) Nori Holdings v Otkritie  Males J follows exactly the same line as mine in commenting on West Tankers – specifically the bodged attempt in Brussels I Recast to accommodate the concerns over West Tankers’ sailing the Brussels I ship way too far into arbitral shores.

For my general discussion of the issues see here. A timeline:

• When the Council came up with its first draft of what became more or less verbatim the infamous recital 12 I was not enthusiastic.
• When Wathelet AG in his Opinion in Gazprom suggested recital 12 did overturn West Tankers, I was not convinced. (Most of those supporting this view read much into recital 12 first para’s instruction that the Regulation does not impede courts’ power ‘from referring the parties to arbitration’).
• Indeed the CJEU’s judgment in Gazprom did not commit itself either way (seeing as it did not entertain the new Regulation).
• Cooke J was on the right track in Toyota v Prolat: in his view the Recast did not change West Tankers.
• Males J confirms: West Tankers is still good authority. At 69 ff he does not just point out that Wathelet was not followed by the Court. 92 ff he adds five more reasons not to follow the suggestion that West Tankers has been overruled. He concludes ‘that there is nothing in the Recast Regulation to cast doubt on the continuing validity of the decision in West Tankers (Case C-185/07) [2009] AC 1138 which remains an authoritative statement of EU law’.

I agree.

Geert.

(Handbook of) EU Private International Law, 2nd ed. 2016, Heading 2.2.2.10.2.