Agrégateur de flux

Pourvoi c/ Cour d'appel d'Aix-en-Provence, 5eme chambre des appels correctionnels, 24 mars 2015

Cour d'appel de Colmar, Chambre de l'instruction, 24 septembre 2015

Case-law on Rome II (the law applicable to non-contractual obligations) is only slowly picking up so almost anything coming out of the CJEU is met with excitement. Like Ergo Insurance (so far only the AG’s Opinion), Prüller-Frey concerns insurance contracts. In this case, direct action against an insurer, by the victim of an air traffic accident.

The victim sues in Austria, on the basis of Article 6 or, alternatively, 11 of the Brussels I Regulation (old: Regulation 44/2001). Applicability or not of the Montreal Convention (for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air) and the EU’s implementation of same, is less relevant for this posting. At stake was mostly Article 18 of the Rome II Regulation, which reads

The person having suffered damage may bring his or her claim directly against the insurer of the person liable to provide compensation if the law applicable to the non-contractual obligation or the law applicable to the insurance contract so provides.

The lex contractus is German law. This was so chosen by the insured, Norbert Brodnig, and the insurance company, Axa Versicherung AG. German law does not provide for such direct action. But Spanish law, the lex locus damni (which applies between Prüller-Frey and Brodnig), does. The insurance company calls upon the absence of the action in German law, to reject Prüller-Frey’s action. Szpunar AG and the CJEU itself simply point to the clear language of Article 18: this is not a conflict of laws rule that determines the law applicable between victim and insurer: the insurance company’s obligations will continue to be subject to the lex contractus. Article 18 is simply an alternative connecting factor for the very possibility of direct action against the insurer. Spanish law is the law applicable to the non-contractual obligation and if Spanish law allows for such direct action, then that is enough for there to be one.

Geert.

Renouvellement partiel de la Cour de justice et entrée en fonction d’un nouveau Membre au Tribunal de l’UE

Last Thursday (1 October 2015), the Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements (the Convention) entered into force in 28 States (Mexico and all Members of the European Union, except Denmark). This results from Mexico’s accession to the Convention in 2007 and the recent approval of the Convention by the European Union. This momentum is set to encourage other States currently considering becoming a party to the Convention.

The Convention has been designed to provide more legal certainty and predictability in relation to choice of court agreements between parties to international commercial contracts. It ensures three things: a court chosen by the parties must, in principle, hear the case; any other court before which proceedings are brought must refuse to hear them; and the judgment rendered by the chosen court must be recognised and enforced in other Contracting States.

As consistently recognised by judges, practitioners and other key players within the international legal community, the application of the Convention will deliver adequate responses to the increasingly pressing need in international transactions for enforceable choice of court agreements and their resulting judgments.

For further information on the Convention click here.

Recent comments on the entering into force by Prof. Pedro de Miguel (Universidad Complutense, Madrid) can be seen here.

Nigel Blackaby, Constantine Partasides, Alan Redfern, Martin Hunter, Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration, 6a ed., Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. 944, ISBN 9780198744870, GBP 175.

[Dal sito dell’editore] This leading commentary on international commercial arbitration, now in its sixth edition, is an essential guide for arbitrators and lawyers worldwide. Based on the authors’ extensive experience as counsel and arbitrators, it provides an updated explanation of all elements of the law and practice of arbitration. This pack includes the hardback and an ebook version. This text provides an authoritative guide to the international arbitral process, from the drafting of the arbitration agreement to the enforcement of arbitral awards. The sixth edition has been updated to incorporate reference to the latest significant developments in the field such as the new LCIA, ICC and UNCITRAL Rules and new IBA Guidelines. There will also be an increased reference to international arbitral authority and practice from beyond Europe (China, India, and the US). Following the chronology of an arbitration, the book covers applicable laws, arbitration agreements, the establishment and powers of a tribunal, the conduct of proceedings and the role of domestic courts. In addition, it provides an in-depth examination of the award itself, and comments on the special considerations applying to arbitrations brought under investment treaties. It draws on examples of the rules and practice of arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce, the London Court of International Arbitration, the American Arbitration Association, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.

Maggiori informazioni a questo indirizzo.

Selon le règlement n° 1393/2007, l’entité requise est tenue d’informer le destinataire d’un acte de son droit de refuser la réception de celui-ci, en utilisant systématiquement à cet effet le formulaire type figurant à l’annexe II du règlement.

En carrousel matière:  Non Matières OASIS:  Procédure civile - Principe directeurs

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Les trois institutions représentatives de la profession d’avocat ont formé un recours pour excès de pouvoir contre l’ordonnance du 23 juillet 2015 relative aux marchés publics, critiquant la transposition infidèle des directives européennes en la matière.

En carrousel matière:  Oui Matières OASIS:  Néant

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La Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (CEDH) a élu le 21 septembre 2015, son nouveau président, deux vice-présidents et deux présidentes de section.

Le juge luxembourgeois Dean Spielmann atteignant la fin de son mandat présidentiel le 31 octobre 2015 laissera place au juge italien Guido Raimondi qui prendra ses fonctions de nouveau président de la Cour le 1er novembre prochain. Ce haut magistrat, juge à la CEDH depuis 2010, vice-président et président de section depuis 2012, a été élu par ses membres à bulletin secret et en session plénière pour un mandat de trois ans.

En carrousel matière:  Non Matières OASIS:  Néant

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Thank you for the team at Dechert to remind us of the potential that BITs may be used to pursue proactive, rather than just reactive environmental litigation. A word of explanation: Bilateral Investment Treaties, in particular their investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, are currently under a lot of pressure following the public outcry over the TTIP negotiations. Allowing private investors to sue countries that roll out regulation, using vague principles of protection of property, is seen by many as a form of corporate bullying.

Dechert’s briefing however reminds us firstly, specifically vis-a-vis stubborn air pollution in the Indonesia area, that States may carry responsibility in line with Trail Smelter’s nec utere tuo principle. The possibility for individuals (as opposed to neighbouring States) suing on that basis, is of course complicated by the mechanism of (absence of) direct effect of huge chunks of international environmental law. That is where investor-state can come in handily. Such as in Allard v Barbados at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Dechert’s summary of that case reads ‘the Canadian owner of an eco-tourist facility in Barbados is currently suing the Government of Barbados for an alleged breach of the full protection and security provision (among other provisions) in the Canada- Barbados bilateral investment treaty. Peter Allard argues in his claim that Barbados breached its treaty obligations by failing to enforce its domestic environmental laws, which he alleges led to the environment being spoilt and a loss of tourist revenues at his eco-resort’.

A timely reminder of the good BITs can do, just before I am to speak (again) tomorrow on TTIP and why EU citisens are so suspicious of it.

Geert.

Conventions internationales

La décision française qui accorde l’exequatur à un arrêt étranger doit être annulée en ce qu’elle est privée de fondement juridique si, postérieurement au prononcé de cette décision, l’arrêt étranger est cassé.

En carrousel matière:  Oui Matières OASIS:  Exequatur Cassation (Procédure civile)

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A conference on Security Rights and the New European Insolvency Regulation will take place in Erice on 19 October 2015 at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture.

The conference will consist of four sessions: The Regulation 848/2015 and the endorsed policy on security rights; The Regulation 848/2015 and its ex post impact on security rights (avoidance rules and moratorium); Regulation 848/2015, security rights and third states; Suggestions for a better regulation.

[From the poster of the conference] – This conference examines EU Regulation 2015/848 of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings and, in particular, focuses on its prescriptions regarding security rights in rem and those regulatory devices, such as set-off and reservation of title clause, which in actual fact perform the same function as security rights. EU Regulation 2015/848 reformed – or, to be more precise, recast – EC Regulation 1346/2000, and is a significant improvement on EC Regulation 1346/2000. Nevertheless, EU Regulation 2015/848 did not change the regulation on security rights and quasi-security rights (except for what is laid down by Art. 2.9). This choice of policy, which was endorsed by EU Regulation 2015/848, cannot be said to be satisfactory and is at the core of a lively debate. The conference, which is organized as part of the SREIR Project (http://sreir.eu/), aims to analyse the key points of this topic, to compare the most suitable strategies for a better regulation and, in short, to make an active and useful contribution to the debate.

The conference program is available here. Information regarding fees, accommodation and registration can be found here.

Un problème technique, qui est survenu inopinément, qui n’est pas imputable à un entretien défectueux de l’aéronef et qui n’a pas non plus été décelé lors d’un entretien régulier, ne relève pas de la notion de « circonstances extraordinaires », au sens de l’article 5, § 3, du règlement CE n° 261/2004 du 11 février 2004 relatifs aux droits des passagers aériens.

En carrousel matière:  Oui Matières OASIS:  Contrat de transport de personnes

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Dans une décision du 1er septembre 2015, la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (CEDH) déclare irrecevable la requête d’un Algérien qui soutenait que son renvoi par la France vers l’Algérie serait contraire à l’article 3 de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme (interdiction de la torture). Cet homme avait été condamné, en France, pour l’assassinat d’un Algérien. Ayant fait l’objet d’un arrêté d’expulsion, l’homme affirmait craindre des représailles de la part de la famille de la personne qu’il avait tuée, laquelle était originaire du même quartier que lui.

En carrousel matière:  Non Matières OASIS:  Néant

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