Out Now: International Handbook on Shareholders’ Agreements

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Sebastian Mock (University of Hamburg), Kristian Csach (Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice) and Bohumil Havel (Institute of Law, Czech Academy of Science, Prague) have published an “International Handbook on Shareholders’ Agreements – Regulation, Practice and Comparative Analysis” addressing various issues of shareholders’ agreements. The book includes general remarks on specific topics related to shareholders’ agreements and numerous country reports. One chapter also specifically deals with cross-border shareholders’ agreements and private international law. More information is available on the website of the publisher (here).

ASIL Commentaries on Private International Law

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This post has been written by Cristián Giménez Corte, Editor of the ASIL Commentaries on PIL.

We are pleased to present the third issue of Commentaries on Private International Law, the newsletter of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Private International Law Interest Group (PILIG). As readers of the newsletter know, the name of our newsletter, Commentaries, represents a modest tribute to one of the founding fathers of modern PIL, Joseph Story, by borrowing the name of his seminal book “Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws, foreign and domestic,” and only replacing “Conflict of Laws” with “Private International Law” to better reflect the broader object of our discipline today. Read more

New Article: Jurisdiction Clauses in Canada

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Tanya Monestier (Roger Williams University School of Law) has published an article (available here) addressing the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Douez v Facebook, Inc. (available here).

The abstract reads: Every day, billions of people use the online social media platform, Facebook.  Facebook requires, as a condition of use, that users “accept” its terms and conditions — which include a forum selection clause nominating California as the exclusive forum for dispute resolution.  In Douez v. Facebook, the Supreme Court of Canada considered whether this forum selection clause was enforceable, or whether the plaintiff could proceed with her suit in British Columbia.  The Supreme Court of Canada ultimately decided that the forum selection clause was not enforceable.  It held that the plaintiff had established “strong cause” for departing from the forum selection clause.  The Court premised its decision on two primary considerations: the contract involved a consumer and was one of adhesion, and the claim involved the vindication of privacy rights. The Court’s analysis suffers from several major weaknesses that will undoubtedly cause confusion in this area of law.  This Article will examine those weaknesses, and argue that the Supreme Court of Canada actually abandoned the strong cause test that it claimed to be applying.  The consequence of the Douez decision is that many forum selection clauses — at least in the consumer context — will be rendered unenforceable.  While this may be a salutary development from the perspective of consumer protection, it will undoubtedly have an effect on companies choosing to do business in Canada.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic…

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Delaware’s governor John Carney signed a bill prohibiting marriage before age 18, making it the first US state to ban all child marriage, on May 9, 2018. Heather Barr from Human Rights Watch has more on that topic here.

Towards an EU external strategy against early and forced marriages

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The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament has, on 18 April 2018, adopted an opinion entitled “Towards an EU external strategy against early and forced marriages – next steps” (2017/2275(INI), PE616.622v03-00).

The Committee stresses that “child, early and forced marriage is a violation of the human rights enshrined in international standards such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and the UN Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages and which form part of the core principles embodied in the European Union as an area of security, freedom, justice and human rights, including women’s and girls’ rights”. Although “child marriage is ingrained in some traditions and cultures, […] no culture or religion can justify such a practice, particularly when human rights and the rights of children are at stake.” The Committee “[n]otes that many parents living in distress and extreme poverty in refugee camps feel the need to protect their daughters from the threat of sexual violence by marrying them to older men; stresses however that the EU and its Member States should be united and consistent in their dismissal of the requests of refugees for legal recognition of marriages where one of the alleged spouses is a child or teenager; underlines that refugee status cannot be used as a legal backdoor to recognition of child marriages in Europe”.

The full text of the opinion is available here. For a more detailed report, see here.

Summer School on Transnational Commercial Agreements, Litigation, and Arbitration in Vicenza, Italy

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Pitt Law’s CILE will once more be co-sponsoring the Summer School in Transnational Commercial Agreements, Litigation, and Arbitration in Vicenza, Italy, beginning June 4 and ending June 8, 2018.

All classes will be in English, and as in prior years we expect to have the School approved for up to 24 hours of Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education credit (22 substantive and 2 ethics). The instructors include Isabella Bdoian (Whirpool Corp.- EMEA), Massimo Benedettelli (Univ. of Bari), Ronald A. Brand (Univ. of Pittsburgh), Serena Corongiu (Lawyer, Representative, AIGA and AIJA), Francesco Cortesi (Judge, Italian Supreme Court), Charles De Monaco (Fox Rothschild, Italy-America Chamber of Commerce), Aldo Frignani (Univ. of Turin), Chiara Giovannucci Orlandi (Univ. of Bologna), Paul Herrup (Department of Justice, USA), David Hickton (Univ. of Pittsburgh), Federica Iovene (Public Prosecutor, Court of Bolzano) Luigi Pavanello (PLLC, ABA International Law Commission), Fausto Pocar (Univ. of Milan, Judge at the International Court of Justice), Francesca Ragno (Univ. of Verona), Dawne Sepanski Hickton (Former CEO, RTI International Metals), Marco Torsello (Univ. of Verona), Matteo Winkler (Univ. HEC Paris).

The program is available here and here: Programma Summer School VI_2018_FINAL

Secured Credit in Europe

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Teemu Juutilainen from the University of Helsinki has just published an interesting book on “Secured Credit in Europe: From Conflicts to Compatibility” (Hart Publishing, 2018). It sets out to to develop an optimal division of labour between private international law and substantive unification or harmonisation in the area of security rights over tangible movables and receivables:

This monograph seeks the optimal way to promote compatibility between systems of proprietary security rights in Europe, focusing on security rights over tangible movables and receivables. Based on comparative research, it proposes how best to tackle cross-border problems impeding trade and finance, notably uncertainty of enforceability and unexpected loss of security rights. It offers an extensive analysis of the academic literature of more recent years that has appeared in English, German, the Scandinavian languages and Finnish. The author organises the concrete means of promoting compatibility into a centralised substantive approach, a centralised conflicts-approach, a local conflicts-approach and a local substantive approach. The centralised approaches develop EU law, and the local approaches Member State laws. The substantive approaches unify or harmonise substantive law, while the conflicts approaches rely on private international law. The author proposes determining the optimal way to promote compatibility by objective-based division of labour between the four approaches. The objectives developed for that purpose are derived from the economic functions of security rights, the conditions for legal evolution and a transnational conception of justice.

For more information visit the publisher’s website.

Call for Papers on International Business Courts

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Erasmus School of Law (under the ERC project Building EU Civil Justice) in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law Luxembourg, and the Montaigne Centre for Rule of Law and Administration of Justice (Utrecht University) hosts the seminar ‘Innovating International Business Courts: A European Outlook’ that will take place in Rotterdam on 10 July 2018.

In relation thereto Erasmus Law Review invites submissions for its upcoming special issue on International Business Courts – a European and Global Perspective on topics relating to court specialization, specifically relating to the development of international business courts in Europe and beyond, and focusing on justice innovation and their relevance for access to justice and the judicial system, including the challenges they may pose for judicial administration, litigants and other stakeholders. Contributions can be theoretical, empirical as well as policy oriented. Interdisciplinary approaches are especially encouraged. The issue will also include papers focusing on the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (England and Wales), France, Germany, and Belgium, and deriving from the seminar.

Authors of selected papers will be exempt from registration fees for the seminar and will have the opportunity to present a poster during the drinks after the seminar.

Please submit an abstract in English of no more than 500 words to Erlis Themeli (themeli@law.eur.nl) and Alexandre Biard (biard@law.eur.nl) before 10 June 2018. Include your name, affiliation, and a link to your research profile. You will be informed on the outcome on 24 June 2018 at the latest. Responsible issue editors are Xandra Kramer (Erasmus University Rotterdam/Utrecht Utrecht) and John Sorabji (University College, London).

The final paper should be 8,000-12,000 words in length (including footnotes) and must comply with the Erasmus Law Review’s Authors Guidelines. Selected papers will go through the regular double-blind peer review process and publication is subject to the outcome of this review process. The deadline for submission of the paper is 1 October 2018.

For more information see the Call for Papers.

Conference: Eurolanguage in Private International Law

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The Conference “Eurolanguage in Private International Law. Legislating, translating and  applying”, which will take place next June 14 in Tarragona, is an interdisciplinary forum for lawyers and scholars in the field of private international law, comparative law and private law to establish fruitful discussions with scholars and practitioners in the areas of legal language and translation, with the personnel from international institutions, academics and professionals.

The aim is to reflect on the possible establishment and impact of a European legal language framed within the area of private international law (PIL). The ground rules of European PIL are enshrined in European regulations, but also directives, which are discussed in the legislative process using, a priori, the 24 official languages in a context of integral multilingualism. As a result, EU rules in 24 language versions are applicable in all 28 Member States.

The analysis will focus on the linguistic issues pertaining to drafting the EU rules; the tools, techniques, and problems in translating the linguistic versions of the rules; whether interlinguistic coherence is achieved; and the legal-linguistic issues the legal operators of Member States face when applying European rules on PIL norms coexisting with other rules of conventional and domestic origin.

Click here to access the PROGRAM .

Venue: Congress will take place at the Sala de Juntes of Universitat Rovira i Virgili Campus Catalunya. (information to get there is provided here)

 

PAPERS SUBMIT

Topics: The organizers invite proposals on several issues related to the general topic. Check “Call for papers” document on the congress website: http://www.dret-privat.urv.cat/jornades-i-congressos/eurolenguaje/

Formal requirements: 500-600 word-long abstracts and 5 keywords in a MS Word file.

Languages: Spanish and English.

Deadline and address for submissions: Proposals may be submitted until 21 May, 2018. Proposals should be sent to: mireia.eizaguirre@urv.cat, who will confirm reception.

Confirmation of acceptance and oral presentation: All authors will receive an email with the decision by 25 May, 2018: proposals may be accepted to be presented orally (10 minutes); accepted not to be presented orally; or rejected.

Publication: Accepted papers, presented or not, will be published in a collective volume as long as they are positively assessed in the relevant blind review.

REGISTRATION

Registration: authors of accepted proposal should complete registration by 8th June 2018. Registration will be valid after payment on a € 50 fee credited to the account number: BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA, IBAN: ES9601826035450201605723.

SWIFT: BBVAESMMXXX. Proof of payment should be sent to: mireia.eizaguirre@urv.cat.

Foster care by same-sex registered partners in Greece

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Following fierce consultations, deliberations and debates, a new law has been passed by the Hellenic Parliament on improving adoption and foster care procedures. The law introduces a new institution: The National Foster Care & Adoption Council, and contains provisions on the requirements and procedures for foster care, thus, enriching the existing landscape embedded in the Civil Code since 1996. It also establishes two national registries:  The National Registry of adoptive applicants and the National Registry of adoptions.

The bone of contention was however the ‘window’ opened by the new legislation under Article 8, i.e. the right of same-sex partners to become foster parents. After a couple of weeks full of tension in the press and the Parliament, the Government moved on and secured the necessary majority for passing the provision.

This is yet another step towards full equivalence of same-sex with heterosexual couples. It was preceded by the introduction of same-sex partnerships in 2015, as an aftermath of the country’s condemnation by the ECHR in the Vallianatos ruling. Still, same-sex marriage is not, and will seemingly not be allowed for quite some time in the future, given that the Supreme Court has ruled out this possibility end last year.

Finally, it should be noted that Greece has recently enacted  legislation allowing the out of court dissolution of marriage in mutual consent, and abolished the compulsory application of Sharia law for Greek Muslims.