Open Letter Calls upon EU to Allow UK Assession to Lugano Convention
In response to the EU Commission’s formal refusal to allow the UK to accede to the Lugano Convention, a coalation between several NGOs and legal scholars, lead by the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) has issued an open letter, calling upon the EU to reverse this decision. In essence, they argue that a full return to the common-law rules on jurisdiction, including the forum non conveniens doctrine, will reduce access to the UK courts in cases of corporate human-rights abuses, which has only recently been rendered much more attractive by the UK Supreme Court’s decisions in Vedanta v Lungowe [2019] UKSC 20 and Okpabi v Shell [2021] UKSC 3.
The full letter can be found here. It is still open for signatures (via e-mail to christopher.patz[at]corporatejustice.org).
It is not immediately clear to me why, after Brexit, the EU should be responsible for the content of English law, or more specifically English unilateral rules of jurisdiction.
If the consequences of forum non conveniens are dramatic for human rights, wouldn’t it be more logical to call on the UK Parliament to abolish FNC, or to introduce exceptions for human rights violations?
fantastic article.