Rome II and Defamation: Online Symposium Beginning Monday 19th July

On Monday 19th July, Conflict of Laws .net will launch an online symposium on Rome II and Defamation.

The focus of the debate, following the publication of the comparative study on the state of the laws of the Member States regarding the law applicable to non-contractual obligations arising out of violations to privacy and rights relating to personality, will be on whether the Rome II Regulation should be amended so as to cover the applicable law for such obligations. A hearing was held earlier this year in the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (JURI), and a Working Paper has been produced by Mrs Diana Wallis MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament, which provides a background to the debate and offers a number of potential solutions.

The symposium will be launched by Mrs Wallis MEP on Monday 19th July, together with a link to the Working Paper. We will then have responses and contributions from eminent scholars, practitioners and members of the press, including:

• Prof Louis Perreau Saussine (Nancy II)
• Prof Horatia Muir-Watt (Sciences Po)
• Mr Oliver Parker (Ministry of Justice, UK)
• Mr Andrew Dickinson (Clifford Chance; BIICL; Sydney)
• Prof Trevor Hartley (LSE)
• Prof Thomas Kadner Graziano (Geneva)
• Prof Jan von Hein (Trier)
• Ms Angela Mills (European Publishers Council)
• Prof Bettina Heiderhoff (Hamburg)

We would also like to encourage visitors to the site to comment on the Working Paper, or one of the responses; you can either leave a comment directly on the website, or email me at martin.george@conflictoflaws.net.