Agrégateur de flux

Juridiction de proximité d'Angoulême, 9 février 2016

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel de Montpellier, 3e chambre correctionnelle, 22 avril 2014

Conseil de Prud'hommes de Toulouse, 17 février 2016

Irrecevabilité

Irrecevabilité

Irrecevabilité

Irrecevabilité

By a ruling of 8 March 2016, the German Federal Supreme Court declared that claims brought by German holders of Greek bonds against Greece, for damages suffered as a result of the Greek debt restructuring, were barred on grounds of State immunity (a press release may be found here, pending the publication of the full text of the decision).

The following is an excerpt of the report posted by Peter Bert at Dispute Resolution in Germany.

The bonds that the claimants had acquired – in Germany and through German Banks – where governed by Greek law. They did not contain collective action clauses. This notwithstanding, the terms of the bonds were subsequently amended by a majority vote of the bondholders and these amendments were declared binding upon all bondholders by laws passed by the Greek parliament. The measures that were implemented contained both a 53.5% haircut and an extension of the duration of the bonds.

Today, the Federal Supreme Court dismissed the actions as inadmissible (unzulässig). The Hellenic Republic was protected by the principle of sovereign immunity against these lawsuits in Germany. The international public law concept of sovereign immunity is recognized in German law (Sec. 20 para. 2 Courts Constitution Act; Art. 25 Basic Law; GG)

Raising capital by issuing bonds, according to the court, is per se not itself an sovereign act (nicht-hoheitliches Handeln; acta iure gestionis). However, whether the Hellenic Republic was protected by sovereign immunity was not only determined by the legal nature of the relationship between the parties, but also by the nature of the acts of state which are in dispute between the parties.

Accordingly, in the case at hand, it is not the issuance of bonds or the contractual relationship between the bondholders and Greece which is relevant for decision on immunity, but the legal nature of the acts that Greece took in order to restructure its debt. In particular, the dispute between the parties centred on the validity of the Greek law 4050/2012 of February 23, 2012 and the decisions of the Greek Council of Ministers dated March 9, 2012. These were the legal acts that declared the majority vote of the bondholders binding on all bondholders, and they clearly were sovereign acts (acta iure imperii).

In the words of the court, the very idea behind the concept of sovereign immunity is to prevent one state from ruling on the legality of sovereign acts of another state (“Der Grundsatz der Staatenimmunität will gerade Entscheidungen eines Staates über die Rechtmäßigkeit der hier maßgeblichen hoheitlichen Maßnahmen eines anderen Staates verhindern.”). But this is exactly what the German courts would have to do, were they to decide these disputes on the merits.

Thanks to Peter Bert for giving permission for the reproduction of his post.

Our co-editor Tanja Domej from University of Zurich has authored a monograph entitled “Internationale Zwangsvollstreckung und Haftungsverwirklichung am Beispiel der Forderungspfändung” (International Execution and the Implementation of Liability). The volume has been published by Mohr Siebeck. It is written in German.

The official abstract reads as follows:

Tanja Domej retraces the debates over the relevancy and meaning of the principle of territoriality for the cross-border attachment of debts from a comparative perspective. On the basis of an interest analysis, she presents perspectives for an appropriate approach to dealing with issues of cross-border attachment of incorporeal assets.

More information is available on the publisher’s website.

 

Granted, the (bad) pun in the title would have worked better around the end of year, which is when I had originally planned this posting, before I got sidetracked. Bob Wessels has excellent overview here (including admirably swift and exact translation of core parts of the judgment). OOO PROMNEFTSTROY v Yukos at the Dutch Supreme Court is but one instalment in running litigation literally taking place across the globe.

Of particular interest to the blog is the court’s finding (at 3.4.2) that the existence of a corporation is subject to the lex incorporationis not, as the Court of Appeal had held, the lex concursus in the event of insolvency. The EU’s Insolvency Regulation does not apply for COMI is not within the EU. The Insolvency Regulation does not in so many words say the same as the Dutch Supreme Court however it is likely that under the EIR, too, this issue falls under lex societatis /lex incorporationis (see e.g. Miguel Virgos & Francisco Garcimartin, The European Insolvency Regulation: Law and Practice, Kluwer, 2004, p.82 (par 123, f: dissolution of the company).

One can imagine of course the one or two complications arising out of the seizure of assets of a company which no longer exists.

Geert.

Moss, Fletcher and Isaacs on the EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings, 3a ed., Oxford University Press, 2016, ISBN 9780199687800, GBP 175.

[Dal sito dell’editore] – This practical book provides complete analysis of the revised EU
Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings (EIR), the main Regulation on cross-border insolvencies in the EU. This is an essential work for anyone who requires knowledge of insolvency law in the UK or in any of the other 26 EU countries to which the Regulation is directly applicable. Timed to take into account the final amended version of the EIR, this third edition of the leading work contains detailed analysis and opinion on the effect of the changes to Regulation in practice. It also considers the numerous ECJ and relevant national cases which have been decided since the last edition. 

Ulteriori informazioni sul volume, che tiene conto del regolamento 2015/848, recante la rifusione del regolamento n. 1346/2000, sono disponibili a questo indirizzo.

 

La réglementation comptable française évite aux entreprises d’amortir systématiquement le fonds commercial éventuellement présent dans leurs comptes individuels. Ce choix fait débat sur sa légalité au regard du droit de l’Union européenne. Selon notre enquête, l’enjeu est considérable.

En carrousel matière:  Oui Matières OASIS:  Néant

en lire plus

Refuser à un ressortissant étranger en couple stable homosexuel le droit de séjour au titre du regroupement familial est discriminatoire et contraire au droit à une vie familiale normale.

En carrousel matière:  Non Matières OASIS:  Néant

en lire plus

Irrecevabilité

Irrecevabilité

Irrecevabilité

HeidelbergCement / Commission
Concurrence
La Cour de justice annule les décisions de la Commission relatives aux demandes de renseignements adressées aux cimentiers

Esther Bendelac, Le transfert de biens au décès autrement que par succession en droit international privé, Le choix de la loi applicable aux institutions d’estate planning, Bruylant 2016, pp. 426, ISBN-13 9782802752431, Euro 140.

[Dal sito dell’editore] Les institutions d’Estate Planning, issues des droits anglais et américain, permettent à une personne physique de transférer un bien, à son décès, à un bénéficiaire antérieurement désigné par lui, autrement que par succession. L’analyse de ces mécanismes juridiques dans leur contexte d’origine, puis la mise en œuvre de la qualification téléologique-fonctionnelle n’ont pas permis d’assimiler les institutions anglo-américaines à celles de l’ordre juridique français. Pour identifier la loi qui leur est applicable, les propositions doctrinales contemporaines ont été éprouvées. En raison des spécificités constitutives de ces institutions d’Estate Planning – le right of survivorship, le life interest et le contournement de la procédure de probate -, la transposition des actuelles règles de conflits de lois est peu pertinente : les limites du système conflictuel ont été dévoilées. La seule voie qui pouvait encore être explorée, pour accueillir ces institutions dans l’ordre juridique français, était celle de l’émancipation du droit international privé du droit interne. Afin de vérifier la pertinence de l’élaboration d’une catégorie autonome et d’un critère de rattachement qui lui est propre, il a été nécessaire de s’interroger sur l’existence de lois de police et le contenu de l’ordre public international. Aucun de ces procédés alternatif et correctif de la méthode conflictuelle ne constitue un empêchement à l’énoncé de notre proposition de règle de conflit de lois spécifique aux institutions d’Estate Planning. Cet ouvrage comprend d’une part, des développements théoriques – principalement relatifs au droit international privé et au droit européen – destinés aux théoriciens du droit et, d’autre part des développements techniques qui permettront à de nombreux professionnels de découvrir les institutions d’Estate Planning.

L’indice dell’opera è reperibile qui. Maggiori informazioni a questo indirizzo.

Protection des consommateurs ; Prêt ; Assurance