Agrégateur de flux

Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa (Maintien en fonctions d’un juge)
Droit institutionnel
Système judiciaire polonais : une formation de jugement de la chambre de contrôle extraordinaire et des affaires publiques de la Cour suprême ne constitue pas un tribunal indépendant et impartial, établi préalablement par la loi

Royal Antwerp Football Club
Libre circulation des personnes

Football : les règles de l’UEFA et de l’URBSFA sur les « joueurs formés localement » pourraient être contraires au droit de l’Union

Chief Appeals Officer e.a.
Libre circulation des personnes
Libre circulation : la mère d’un travailleur migrant de l’Union peut, dès lors qu’elle est à la charge de ce travailleur, demander une prestation d’assistance sociale sans que cette demande remette en question son droit de séjour

European Superleague Company
Concurrence

Les règles de la FIFA et de l’UEFA sur l’autorisation préalable des compétitions de football interclubs, telle que la Superleague, violent le droit de l’Union

International Skating Union / Commission
Concurrence

Les règles de l'International Skating Union sur l’autorisation préalable des compétitions de patinage de vitesse sur glace violent le droit de l'Union

BMW Bank
Environnement et consommateurs
Un consommateur qui conclut un contrat de leasing automobile sans obligation d’achat ne dispose pas d’un droit de rétractation

On 7 December 2023, The Council presidency and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on a reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice (last version available here).

Among other things, the reform will permit the transfer of jurisdiction over preliminary rulings to the General Court in specific areas, while the Court of Justice will retain jurisdiction over questions of principle, like those that involve interpretation of the Treaties or the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The amendment, which is meant to reduce the workload of the Court of Justice and, therefore, to help her work more efficient, represents an essential step in the history of the institution as we know it.

The possibility of the handover is formally established by Article 256 TFEU, according to which:

3. The General Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine questions referred for a preliminary ruling under Article 267, in specific areas laid down by the Statute.

Where the General Court considers that the case requires a decision of principle likely to affect the unity or consistency of Union law, it may refer the case to the Court of Justice for a ruling.

Decisions given by the General Court on questions referred for a preliminary ruling may exceptionally be subject to review by the Court of Justice, under the conditions and within the limits laid down by the Statute, where there is a serious risk of the unity or consistency of Union law being affected.

It should be noted that the provision is not a novelty in EU law; it corresponds to former Article 225 TEC. In fact, the transfer to the General Court of partial jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings had already been considered in the past: at the end of last century, first, against the background of the Treaty of Amsterdam and the foreseen enlargement of the Union; and later, around 2015, in view of the increasing number of requests for preliminary rulings. However, in 2017, in a report submitted pursuant to Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2015/2422 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of Justice had denied the need of a transfer at the time. On the other hand, it  simultaneously stressed that such standpoint “should not at all be understood as a definitive position on the question of the distribution of jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings between the Court of Justice and the General Court”. And, indeed, it has not been a definitive position.

For the readers of this blog the essential question is, of course, what the impact of the competences adjustment will be on preliminary rulings conerning PIL instruments.

The simple answer would be that, in principle, none is to be expected. The specific areas in which the General Court will be competent over preliminary rulings are: the common system of value added tax; excise duties; the Customs Code; the tariff classification of goods under the Combined Nomenclature; compensation and assistance to passengers in case of delay or cancellation of transport services or denied boarding; the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading. In other words, as of today requests on the instruments for judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters are not affected, i.e., they fall under the scope of exclusive competence of the Court of Justice.

But this, of course, can change any moment in the future. More importantly, already now it is legitimate to have doubts as to the operation of the assignments to, respectively, the Court of Justice and the General Court: one single request for a preliminary ruling may concern at the same time one of the above-mentioned areas and another one; besides, requests related to one of those matters may as well entail questions of principle or of a cross-cutting nature.

More concretely, with an example: should the request for a preliminary ruling in, let’s say, case C‑213/18, or in case C-20/21, had been referred to Luxembourg after the transfer has been accomplished, who would have taken care?

In the Council’s press release of 7 December 2023 (the same date as the agreement’s) not much is said to shed light on this and similar questions. It is explained, though, that, ‘On the procedural aspects, the reform provides for a “one-stop-shop” mechanism, under which national judges will continue to address requests for preliminary rulings to the Court of Justice, which will in turn forward to the General Court the questions under its jurisdiction’.

This possibly means that a screening will take place at the level of the Court of Justice, and that a substantiated decision will be made there on the allocation of requests not squarely corresponding to one of the categories listed above. No doubt, for the sake of transparency the criteria for such allocation will also be communicated to the public at some point, likely soon. It is also to be expected (and it is hoped) that resources of the Court will be invested in making sure that, from the very beginning, they are consistently applied.

La rédaction de Dalloz actualité prend ses quartiers d’hiver, le temps des fêtes de fin d’année bien méritées !

Nous serons de retour dès le mardi 9 janvier 2023.

Merci de votre fidélité et joyeuses fêtes !

en lire plus

From 15 February 2024 to 17 February 2024, an early career research workshop will be held at Freie Universität Berlin to discuss works in progress on dispute resolution mechanisms and competence-competence in multi-level systems. The workshop invites young researchers working on related topics from all fields of legal research and is open to different methodological approaches to analyse the research questions. The workshop aims to generate a constructive and friendly atmosphere to test working hypotheses and discuss findings.
You can find further information in the call for abstracts here.

Important dates

Deadline for abstracts:                19 January 2024

Information on acceptance:       26 January 2024

Workshop:                                     15–17 February 2024

Applications and questions can be addressed to maren.vogel@fu-berlin.de

My thoughts on the Court of Appeal’s finding in Zubaydah v FCO are here. I am pleased to have played a role for claimant’s lawyers, pro bono, in the proceedings before the UK Supreme Court, which held today in Zubaydah (Respondent) v Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and others (Appellants).

The issue in the appeal is whether the law applicable under sections 11 and 12 of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 (“PILA”) to torts alleged to have been committed by two of the UK’s security agencies  is the law of England and Wales or the law of each of the six countries in which the claimant alleges he was unlawfully detained and tortured by the CIA. The High Court had held for the latter, which follows from the generally applicable lex loci damni rule. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding for the former on the basis of the small window to displace the general rule and this finding has now been confirmed by the Supreme Court.

The relevant PILA sections read as follows

“11. Choice of applicable law: the general rule.

(1) The general rule is that the applicable law is the law of the country in which the events constituting the tort or delict in question occur.

(2) Where elements of those events occur in different countries, the applicable law under the general rule is to be taken as being—

(a) for a cause of action in respect of personal injury caused to an individual or death resulting from personal injury, the law of the country where the individual was when he sustained the injury;

(b) for a cause of action in respect of damage to property, the law of the country where the property was when it was damaged; and

(c) in any other case, the law of the country in which the most significant element or elements of those events occurred.

(3) In this section “personal injury” includes disease or any impairment of physical or mental condition.”

“12. Choice of applicable law: displacement of general rule.

(1) If it appears, in all the circumstances, from a comparison of—

(a) the significance of the factors which connect a tort or delict with the country whose law would be the applicable law under the general rule; and

(b) the significance of any factors connecting the tort or delict with another country,

that it is substantially more appropriate for the applicable law for determining the issues arising in the case, or any of those issues, to be the law of the other country, the general rule is displaced and the applicable law for determining those issues or that issue (as the case may be) is the law of that other country.

(2) The factors that may be taken into account as connecting a tort or delict with a country for the purposes of this section include, in particular, factors relating to the parties, to any of the events which constitute the tort or delict in question or to any of the circumstances or consequences of those events.”

Two background documents are of particular relevance: ‘LCR’ = the Law Commission Report December 1990; and ‘JCP’ =  the Joint Consultation Paper 1984. The LCR [2.6] ff had justified its proposal for amendment to the English prior rule of double actionability for torts, by suggesting it does away with 3 main challenges of the double actionability rule:

• • • its anomalous character (it was said to give too much weight to English and Scots law as lex fori, contrary to the UK’s general happiness to apply foreign law);
    • its injustice in terms of giving an advantage to the wrongdoer (the victim’s burden of proof under the double actionability rule is particularly heavy); and
    • the uncertainty and speculative implication NOT in the rule but in a relevant exception, Boys v Chaplin [1971] AC 356.

[54] The approach to be adopted when considering whether the general rule is displaced pursuant to section 12 was considered by the Court of Appeal in VTB Capital plc v Nutritek International Corpn [2012] EWCA Civ 808 and in current case Lord Lloyd-Jones and Lord Stephens for the majority [54] ff summarise the four principles that follow from that case.

Note that [62] the Supreme Court criticises parties’ agreement that the determination of the defendants’ appeal did not require any consideration of the potential application of section 14 PILA (the ordre public correction):

We consider that there is an artificiality about deciding which law governs the liability in tort of the UK Services without considering public policy considerations under section 14 of the PILA. Although, we express no view on the matter, there is scope for suggesting, for example, that on the presumed facts of this case, it is a constitutional imperative that the applicable law in relation to the tort of misfeasance in public office in relation to the acts and omissions of the UK Services should be the law of England and Wales. However, we have been presented with a preliminary issue on sections 11 and 12 of the PILA and must seek to address it solely on that basis. We conclude this part of the judgment by observing that, depending on the outcome of the appeal, it may be necessary for a court to consider the impact, if any, of section 14 of the PILA at a later stage of these proceedings.

[73] the Court of Appel was held to have been correct in rebuking the first instance judge for focusing too much on the role of the CIA

The required focus is on the torts committed by the defendants or those for whom they are responsible. Instead, the Court of Appeal considered, the judge had focused on the overall conduct of the CIA. In our view, there is force in this criticism.

[74] ff discusses the treatment by the first instance judge of factors relevant in displacing the locus damni general rule: (1) First, the claimant had no control over his location and in all probability no knowledge of it. (2) So far as the UK Services were concerned, the claimant’s location from time to time was irrelevant and may well have been unknown. (3) The claimant had been rendered to the Six Countries precisely because this would enable him to be detained and tortured outside the laws and legal systems of those countries.  The Supreme Court agrees with the Court of Appeal’s finding that the judge had wrongly applied the relevance of these factors. Those finding fault with the Supreme Court’s approach may find this too much of a factual analysis rather than a point of law I imagine (as indeed Lord Sales does to some degree in his dissent).

[80] the Court of Appeal itself is then held to have fallen short of the proper exercise in applying s12:

It seems to us, however, that the Court of Appeal has also fallen into error in relation to the required focus under section 12 of the PILA on the torts committed by the defendants. Section 11(1) provides that the general rule is concerned with “the country in which the events constituting the tort … in question occur”. Similarly, section 12 refers to “the significance of the factors which connect a tort … with the country whose law would be the applicable law under the general rule” and with “another country”. In our view, the Court of Appeal, in approaching the section 12 exercise, interpreted the scope of the relevant torts too narrowly in that it equated the torts in question with the conduct of the UK Services which is alleged to be wrongful.

Rather than conflating the conduct of the UK Services with the torts,

The Court of Appeal should have focused on the torts alleged against the UK Services for which the defendants are said to be vicariously responsible

leading [82] ff the SC itself completing the s12 exercise.

The significance of the connection between the torts and each of the Six Countries arising from the claimant’s detention there and the infliction of his injuries there is held to be massively reduced by the factors discussed in [92] ff:

reasonable expectations and involuntary presence [93];

the security services’ indifference as to where the claimant was held and them never expecting or intending to have their conduct judged by reference to the laws of the places where he was held [94];

the insulated environments within which claimant was held and where he could be denied any access to the local law (alleged to apply in Moziak fashion by the defendants) or recourse to local courts [95], countries which in effect were insulated form the courts [97];

the sheer number of black sites in which the claimant was held diminishes the significance of the law of any one of them, and moreover it would be impossible for him to establish where he sustained which injury [96];

[98] ff conversely, the strong factors connecting the torts to the UK:

the alleged vicarious liability of the UK Government [99];

the relevant acts and omissions of the UK Services in requesting information from the CIA were more likely than not to have taken place in England, and were likely committed by the UK Services for the perceived benefit of the United Kingdom [100]; and

the actions were taken by UK executive agencies acting in their official capacity in the purported exercise of powers conferred under the law of England and Wales [101].

Lord Sales dissented, pointing also to the Court of Appeal and the High Court simply disagreeing on the weight to be given to the various factors, and in his own analysis of those factors he reaches the conclusion that the Mozaik of the 6 laws should apply.

It is rare for an applicable law issue in tort to be discussed to such extent by the Supreme Court and the judgment carries great relevance.

Geert.

Illegal rendition, applicable law, displacement of the ordinary lex loci damni rule
More soon (and background here https://t.co/dYdGJILOJ2)
Pleased to have played a small (pro bono) role in the appeal with the SC. https://t.co/szromMgIQp

— Geert Van Calster (@GAVClaw) December 20, 2023

 

 

A new special issue of the University of Brasilia Law Journal is dedicated to the topic “Private International Law and Sustainable Development: Global and Latin American Perspectives”. The issue, co-edited by Véronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm and María Mercedes Albornoz, is based on contributions to a panel at the 15th conference of ASADIP in Asunción, Paraguay (2022), and contains some articles in Spanish, some in English. The issue is available as open access.

The European Group for Private International Law (GEDIP) has recently adopted a Position paper on the Proposal for a Council Regulation in matters of Parenthood.

The Group welcomes the EU’s intention to legislate in this field, since parenthood is a status from which persons derive numerous rights and obligations.  However, the Group is of the opinion that there are important shortcomings in the Proposal due to the narrow perspective taken and an insufficient consideration of the legal complexities concerning parenthood in cross-border situations. It therefore encourages a reconsideration of the Proposal in the light of its observations.

The readers of the blog are aware of the proposal for a Directive on the protection of persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings, also known as strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).

After the political agreement reached at Council level and the European Parliament’s negotiating position, the negotiators of the Parliament and of the Council reached on 30 November 2023 a provisional political agreement on the text to be adopted. The agreement is expected to be formally approved by the Council and the European Parliament at a later stage.

The text of the deal, made accessible here, features various innovations, including the following.

Minimum Requirements

The text resulting from the political agreement now makes clear that the Directive lays down minimum rules, thus enabling the Member States to adopt or maintain provisions that are more favourable to persons engaging in public participation, including national provisions that establish more effective procedural safeguards. The implementation of the Directive should not serve to justify any regression in relation to the level of protection that already exists in each Member State.

Public Participation

Public participation is more broadly defined.

It should mean any statement, activity or preparatory, supporting or assisting action directly linked thereto, by a natural or legal person expressed or carried out in the exercise of fundamental rights.

Future public interest is included, referring to the fact that a matter might not yet be of public interest, but could become so, once the public becomes aware of it, for example by means of a publication.

Such activities should directly concern a specific act of public participation or be based on a contractual link between the actual target of SLAPP and the person providing the preparatory, supporting or assisting activity. Bringing claims not against a journalist or a human rights defender but against the internet platform on which they publish their work or against the company that prints a text or a shop that sells the text can be an effective way of silencing public participation, as without such services opinions cannot be published and thus cannot influence public debate.

Matter of Public Interest

The notion of a matter of public interest is clarified in more detail.

It should include matters relevant to the enjoyment of fundamental rights.

Activities of a natural or legal person who is a public figure should also be considered as matters of public interest since the public may legitimately take an interest in them.

In addition, matters under consideration by a legislative, executive or judicial body or any other official proceedings can be examples of matters of public interest.

Finally, the Directive text provides under Recital 19b for many cases where a matter of public interest is at stake.

Abusive Court Proceedings

The description of when court proceedings can be considered abusive is reworked and better described.

They typically involve litigation tactics deployed by the claimant and used in bad faith including but not limited to the choice of jurisdiction, relying on one or more fully or partially unfounded claims, making excessive claims, the use of delaying strategies or discontinuing cases at a later stage of the proceedings, initiating multiple proceedings on similar matters, incurring disproportionate costs for the defendant in the proceedings. The past conduct of the claimant and, in particular, any history of legal intimidation should also be considered when determining whether the court proceedings are abusive in nature. Those litigation tactics, which are often combined with various forms of intimidation, harassment or threats before or during the proceedings, are used by the claimant for purposes other than gaining access to justice or genuinely exercising a right and aim to achieve a chilling effect on public participation in the matter at stake.

Claims made in abusive court proceedings can be either fully or partially unfounded. This means that a claim does not necessarily have to be completely unfounded for the proceedings to be considered abusive. For example, even a minor violation of personality rights that could give rise to a modest claim for compensation under the applicable law can still be abusive, if a manifestly excessive amount or remedy is claimed. On the other hand, if the claimant in court proceedings pursues claims that are founded, such proceedings should not be regarded as abusive for the purposes of the Directive.

Scope

Few express indications have been added.

The Directive shall apply to matters of a civil or commercial nature with cross-border implications entertained in civil proceedings, including interim and precautionary measures and counteractions, entertained in civil proceedings, whatever the nature of the court or tribunal.

Then, it shall not apply to criminal matters or arbitration and shall be without prejudice to criminal procedural law.

Matters with Cross-border Implications

The cross-border implications element has been revised.

According to the text, a matter is considered to have cross-border implications unless both parties are domiciled in the same Member State as the court seised and all other elements relevant to the situation are located only in that Member State. Domicile shall be determined in accordance with the Brussels I bis Regulation.

Common Rules on Procedural Safeguards

Article 5a, devoted to the accelerated treatment of applications for safeguards, has been added.

Member States shall ensure that applications for security and early dismissal of manifestly unfounded claims are treated in an accelerated manner in accordance with national law, taking into account the circumstances of the case, the right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair trial.

Member States shall ensure that applications for remedies against abusive court proceedings may also be treated in an accelerated manner, where possible, in accordance with national law, taking into account the circumstances of the case, the right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair trial.

Early Dismissal of Manifestly Unfounded Claims

In relation to the early dismissal, Member States shall ensure that courts and tribunals may dismiss, after appropriate examination, claims against public participation as manifestly unfounded at the earliest possible stage, in accordance with national law. In addition, Member States shall ensure that an application for early dismissal is treated in an accelerated manner in accordance with national law, taking into account the circumstances of the case and the right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair trial.

The burden of proof and substantiation of claims, under Article 12, have been specified. The burden of proving that the claim is well founded rests on the claimant who brought the action. Member States shall ensure that where a defendant has applied for early dismissal, it shall be for the claimant to substantiate the claim in order to enable the court to assess whether it is not manifestly unfounded.

Finally, Member States shall ensure that a decision granting early dismissal is subject to an appeal.

Remedies Against Abusive Court Proceedings

The award of costs, under Article 14, is clarified. Member States shall ensure that a claimant who has brought abusive court proceedings against public participation can be ordered to bear all types of costs of the proceedings, available under national law including the full costs of legal representation incurred by the defendant, unless such costs are excessive. Where national law does not guarantee the award in full of the costs of legal representation beyond statutory fee tables, Member States shall ensure that such costs are fully covered, unless they are excessive, by other means available under national law.

Article 15, specifically devoted to compensation of damages, has been deleted. It provided a natural or legal person who has suffered harm as a result of a SLAPP case to be capable of claim and to obtain full compensation for that harm. The text resulting from the political agreement loses this (express) provision.

Article 16, dedicated to penalties, has been amended including other equally effective appropriate measures. Member States shall ensure that courts or tribunals seised of SLAPPs cases may impose effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties or other equally effective appropriate measures, including the payment of compensation for damages or the publication of the court decision, where provided for in national law, on the party who brought those proceedings.

Protection against Third-country Judgments

This chapter has been affected by significant changes relevant from a private international law perspective.

In relation to grounds for refusal of recognition and enforcement of a third-country judgment, the reference to public policy, which was used in the original text version proposed by the Commission, has been deleted. According to the current text version, Member States shall ensure that the recognition and enforcement of a third-country judgment in court proceedings against public participation by a natural or legal person domiciled in a Member State is refused if those proceedings are considered manifestly unfounded or abusive according to the law of the Member State in which recognition or enforcement is sought.

Article 18, on jurisdiction for actions related to third-country proceedings, provides as follows. Member States shall ensure that, where abusive court proceedings against public participation have been brought by a claimant domiciled outside the Union in a court or tribunal of a third country against a natural or legal person domiciled in a Member State, that person may seek, in the courts or tribunals of the place where he is domiciled, compensation for the damages and the costs incurred in connection with the proceedings before the court or tribunal of the third country.

A paragraph 2 has been added, providing that Member States may limit the exercise of the jurisdiction while proceedings are still pending in the third country.

Relations with other Private International Law Instruments

In final provisions, under Article 19, the Directive shall not affect the application of bilateral and multilateral conventions and agreements between a third State and the Union or a Member State concluded before the date of entry into force of the Directive. Recital 33a refers, as example, to the 2007 Lugano Convention, in line with Article 351 of the TFEU.

Under Recital 33b it is specified that any future review of the rules under the Brussels I bis and the Rome II Regulations should assess also the SLAPP-specific aspects of the rules on jurisdiction and applicable law.

JPMorgan Chase e.a. / Commission
Concurrence
Concurrence en matière de produits dérivés de taux d’intérêt libellés en euros : le Tribunal rejette en grand partie les recours de JPMorgan Chase et de Crédit agricole

Banque postale / CRU
Politique économique
Calcul des contributions ex ante au Fonds de résolution unique pour 2021 : le Tribunal annule la décision du Conseil de résolution unique visant certaines banques françaises et allemande pour insuffisance de motivation

Ryanair et Malta Air / Commission
Aide d'État
Aides d’État dans le contexte de la pandémie de Covid-19 : le Tribunal annule les décisions de la Commission approuvant les aides financières de la France en faveur d’Air France et d’Air France-KLM

EVH / Commission
Concurrence
Les recours de onze régies municipales allemandes contre le feu vert de la Commission pour l’acquisition des activités de distribution et de commerce de détail d’énergie ainsi que de certains actifs de production d’innogy par E.ON sont rejetés

Banca Popolare di Bari / Commission
L’Union ne doit pas réparer le préjudice prétendument subi par Banca Popolare di Bari du fait d’une décision de la Commission sur la mesure d’aide italienne en faveur de Banca Tercas

Abramovich / Conseil
Relations extérieures
Guerre en Ukraine : le Tribunal de l’Union européenne rejette le recours de M. Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich et confirme ainsi les mesures restrictives prises à son égard

Islentyeva / Conseil
Relations extérieures
Les mesures restrictives contre la Russie n’interdisent en principe pas à un citoyen russe détenteur d’une licence privée de piloter un avion dans l’Union européenne