Five research positions Erasmus School of Law

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School of Law (Erasmus University Rotterdam) is recruiting five researchers (two postdocs, two PhDs and one parttime associate/endowed/full professor) for the research project Affordable Access to Justice: towards sustainable cost and funding mechanisms for civil litigation in Europe. 

This five year project is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and led by Prof. Xandra Kramer. This five year project will assess new pathways to civil justice funding and cost schemes, with a view to developing a balanced financing system securing access to justice in Europe. It builds onto the ongoing ERC consolidator project Building EU Civil Justice: challenges of procedural innovations – bridging access to justice.

Please contact Xandra Kramer (kramer@law.eur.nl) for more information about the project, and see Vici vacancies 2020 for for the vacancy descriptions, application requirements and procedure. You can apply here till 27 July 2020.

Call for papers – 2nd international Open Search Symposium (OSSYM 2020)

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By Olivia Tambou

On 12-14 October 2020, the 2nd international Open Search Symposium (OSSYM 2020) will be hosted by the CERN (Geneva). The event is organised by the Open Search Foundation, which militates for the creation of an independent, free and self-determined access to information on the Internet.

You may participate to the Symposium in different ways: with scientific papers, sharing of practical experiences or by introducing concepts and positions during presentations and in the different interactive sessions. Full papers and abstracts presented at the OSSYM 2020 will be published in online proceedings following the event. Interested contributors should send their extended abstract (1 page) or full paper (4-6 pages) for any poster or oral presentation until 6 July 2020 at the following address: https://indico.cern.ch/e/ossym-2020.

Key legal questions to be addressed in the context on the Symposium could be: Competition law, data security/cybersecurity law, General Data Protection Regulation, ePrivacy Regulation, national vs. European law, Private international law, EU copyright legislation, liability, traceability of intellectual property rights and ownership by individuals, organisations and SMEs/corporates, data governance issues, as well as the fairness of digital platform and more globally fundamental rights issues including freedom of expression and protection against hate speech, and interaction with future rules on European digital single market, etc.

Note that the Symposium will be held either at physical meeting or as web-based conference (the final decision is to be taken in July). Registration will open on 16 July 2020 and close on 28 September 2020 (or when maximum number of participants is exceeded).

More information on this event is available here.

Opinion of AG Szpunar in the case of Ellmes Property Services, C-433/19, on Article 24(1) and Article 7(1)(a) of the Brussels I bis Regulation

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Today, AG Szpunar delivered his Opinion in the case of Ellmes Property Services, C-433/19, on the interpretation of Article 24(1) and Article 7(1)(a) of the Brussels I bis Regulation. This case arose from the following facts:

Both parties are co-owners of a house situated in Zell am See, Austria. The applicant, who is the owner of apartment No 10, has his home address at this location. The defendant company, which is the owner of apartment No 20, has its registered office in the United Kingdom. It uses its apartment, which was designated for residential purposes, for tourist purposes by regularly letting it out to holiday guests.

In his action brought before the Bezirksgericht Zell am See (District Court, Zell am See), Austria, the applicant seeks to prevent the use of the apartment for tourist purposes, contrary to its designated use and arbitrarily in the absence of consent of the other co-owners, which interferes with the applicant’s rights of co-ownership. He relied on the jurisdiction referred to in the first alternative in the first subparagraph of Article 24(1) of the Brussels Ia Regulation. The defendant objected on the basis of the lack of local and international jurisdiction.

The court of first instance declined local and international jurisdiction. In its view, the dispute relating to a private-law use agreement between co-owners did not directly concern their rights in rem. The court of second instance allowed the applicant’s appeal and rejected the defence of lack of local and international jurisdiction. It held that the designated use of a property subject to co-ownership was based on the private-law agreement between the co-owners (usually laid down in the co-ownership agreement). The designation for a specific use and the adherence to the use thus defined was one of the absolutely protected rights in rem of a co-owner. The defendant lodged an appeal with the Austrian Oberster Gerichtshof (Supreme Court) against that decision.

In this context, the Austrian Supreme Court referred to the ECJ the following questions:

(1) Is the first alternative in the first subparagraph of Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (‘Brussels Ia Regulation’) to be interpreted as meaning that actions brought by a co-owner seeking to prohibit another co-owner from carrying out changes to his property subject to co-ownership, in particular to its designated use, arbitrarily and without the consent of the other co-owners, concern the assertion of a right in rem?

(2) If the first question should be answered in the negative:
Is Article 7(1)(a) of the Brussels Ia Regulation to be interpreted as meaning that the actions referred to in paragraph 1 concern contractual obligations to be performed at the location of the property?

AG Szpunar, after scrutinizing the conditions, relevant case law and the purpose of Article 24(1), held that the application of that provision requires a right in rem which in turn necessitates an erga omnes effect of the underlying legal relationship of the co-owners regulating the modalities of the use of that co-ownership. Whether there was such an erga omnes effect in the concrete case at hand is to be determined by the national court according to the applicable national law. If there is no erga omnes effect, Article 7 (1) (a) will have to be applied to the applicant’s claim in question. This would mean that the national court will have to resort to the law governing that claim in order to determine its place of performance.

The Opinion is available in French [original language] and, inter alia, in German but not yet in English.

 

 

Job Vacancy: Doctoral Researcher in Private International Law

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The University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law announced a call for application to the newly opened position of assistant, funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. It is a full-time position for the duration of the project (approximately 4 years) which is focused on research rather than teaching. The candidate will be expected to complete the doctoral studies conducing research on the various aspects of cross-border enforcement in EU under the mentorship of Professor Ivana Kunda, the Head of the Chair of International and European Private Law. Good command of English is required as well as certain level of Croatian. The call was announced yesterday and remains opened for 30 days.

The details of the call are available here, and questions could be addressed to ikunda@pravri.hr.

Job Vacancy: Researchers in Private International Law and in International Business Law

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Professor Matthias Lehmann, Chair of Private International and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna (from 1 September 2020), seeks highly skilled and ambitious research fellows (“prae-docs”).

Successful candidates will hold a first law degree from any jurisdiction, possess an excellent command of English, and have a basic knowledge of German. Knowledge of other languages and advanced IT skills are desirable qualities that may be taken into consideration.

One type of position is available in the area comparative and private international law (further details here).

Another type of position is available in the area of international business law, preferably with the candidate having some knowledge or background in banking and capital markets law (further details here).

Fellows are given the opportunity to complete a PhD or conduct post-doctoral research in accordance with the Faculty’s regulations. Other responsibilities include teaching, and supporting Professor Lehmann in his work at the Chair.

The positions involve 30 hours per week, of which 10 hours are set aside for the individual PhD project, and are remunerated according to the Austrian public salary scale (c. 2.200 Euro gross per month, rising to 2.600 Euro after 3 years). Contracts are for an initial term of four years, with a flexible early termination option for the candidate.

Applications (including a covering letter in German or English, a cv, and relevant diploma) should be submitted via the University of Vienna’s Job Centre portal (http://jobcenter.univie.ac.at) no later than 6 July 2020. Please include reference number 10950 for the specialisation in private international law and/or reference number 10951 for the specialisation in international business law. Questions about the positions can be addressed to matthias.lehmann@univie.ac.at.

Hague Academy of International Law: Deadline to apply for the 2021 Centre for Studies and Research (postponement of the 2020 edition) until September 1st, 2020

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The Hague Academy of International Law announces the extension of the deadline to apply for the 2021 Centre for Studies and Research (postponement of the 2020 edition) until September 1st, 2020 (GMT+1). The programme will take place between August 16th and September 3rd, 2021 and will focus on the topic of “Applicable Law Issues in International Arbitration”.

The Directors of Research, Prof. Giuditta Cordero-Moss (University of Oslo) and Prof. Diego Fernández Arroyo (Sciences Po, Paris), invite applications from researchers including students in the final phase of their doctoral studies, holders of advanced degrees in law, political science, or other related disciplines, early-stage professors and legal practitioners. Applicants should identify the specific topic on which they intend to write. Participants will be selected during the fall of 2020, and will convene at The Hague during the programme period to finalize their papers. The best articles will be included in a book to be published in the fall of 2022.

All applicants are required to register online via the appropriate registration form. For more information about the programmes of The Hague Academy of International Law, please consult the website: https://www.hagueacademy.nl/.

Given the extremely positive feed-back of so many participants of earlier events of this type, participation is highly recommended to the global PIL community.

Covid-19 and its impact in private international law – Mexican Conference

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a) Zoom.
Link: url2.cl/LucR1
Meeting ID: 892 6744 1495
Password: bmaamedip

b) Facebook.
Link: m.facebook.com/AmedipMX

Saint Petersburg State University: Call for papers on Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments: Problems and prospects

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By Andrey E. Zuev, Saint Petersburg

The modern period of the development of civilization is known to increasingly impart the character of imperativeness to the principle of cooperation between states, transforming its initially basically declarative formula of relations between states into an imperative content, fixed as obligations of the states to ensure the right to a fair hearing not only at the level of formal access to justice, but also at the level of enforcement of judgments as the highest manifestation of justice in the state organization of social management.

The emerging tendency to move from the mainly impersonated forms of doing business, mediated by the concept of legal person and based on governmental mechanisms, on the one hand,  to individual responsibility, on the other hand, reflects the achievement of a new level of opportunities for self-realization of a person, which, thanks to the development of the institution of intellectual property and other legal mechanisms of individualization of the surrounding world, is becoming increasingly apparent the creator in the world of tangible and intangible assets, at the same time accepting the responsibility for her or his own actions and their consequences, both in business and in personal matters.

CONVENTION ON THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS IN CIVIL OR COMMERCIAL MATTERS, concluded at a diplomatic conference in The Hague on July 2, 2019 as part of the Hague Conference of Private International Law, became one of the new forms of translating the principle of cooperation between states into their specific legal obligations with respect to each person, creating a new platform for the development of the institution of recognition of foreign court decisions, both multilaterally and bilaterally.

The need of the international Community in this Convention, is directly related to the development and complication of international relations and business projects, to such an extent that the existing international treaties are explicitly foreseen  by some states as insufficiently reliable to achieve legal certainty and justice in the sphere of the access to justice, and especially  at the stage of recognition and enforcement of foreign state courts judgments.

This is expressed, inter alia, in  the fact that even having in place the system of international commercial arbitration, which uses the system of arbitration courts that has been tested for centuries, this system being based on the formation of the judiciary, appointed by the parties to the dispute and / or in accordance with the rules chosen by the parties, to resolve the dispute, the states are faced with the need to respond to the apparent lack of protection, independence, and competence of the arbitrators. This gives rise to arbitration decisions that do not meet the requirements of legal justice in the eyes of the state courts, designed to decide about the possibility of recognition and enforcement within their jurisdiction of foreign commercial arbitration awards, on the grounds of international treaties, and  their own constitutional rules of national legal order.

State justice, based on the principle of jura novit curia and having three main stages of verifying the compliance of a court ruling with the law in the broad sense, is opposed in the legal field by arbitration awards, whose authors are not required to know the law like the state courts, and, as a rule, do not bear the risks of their awards’ cancellation for this motive.

At the same time, the consequences of arbitral awards can have such a significance for society that a state which acts on behalf of the whole nation and in its interests cannot allow the risks associated with insufficient protection and / or insufficient competence of arbitrators in the international commercial disputes. In this regard, we are witnessing the emergence of a significant number of specially created state courts, whose activities are specifically aimed at considering disputes of international nature, and the judgments of which will also require recognition and enforcement on the territory of foreign states.

As we know, there are legal orders that authorize their courts to recognize and enforce foreign judicial decisions in their territory, in the absence of a relevant international treaty, and other legal orders that do not authorize their courts to make judgments on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judicial decisions in the absence of an international treaty. The emerging paradoxical situation leads to an imbalance in the relations between states.

This imbalance can sometimes be overcome by the practice of courts based on the principle of cooperation between states, as well as on international courtesy and reciprocity. At the same time, the international relations are now acquiring such quality and quantity that the international community is looking for ways to universalize relations in this area, in order to ensure access to justice at all stages.

The creation of state based international commercial courts for international disputes, the adoption of the Hague Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters in 2019, as well as the Hague Convention 2005 on the Agreement on the selection of courts, all that reflects the newest stage in the development of private international law and procedure, which requires international brainstorming sessions, an understanding of the capabilities of each legal system in ensuring the accessibility and urgency of justice as an obligation of states, coming from the principle of cooperation enshrined in the UN Charter and binding all the states of the planet Earth.

In this regard, the Journal of «Pravovedenie» (Jurisprudence) opens a call for papers for the articles in a special issue of the journal dedicated to the cooperation of states, in ensuring access to justice at the stage of recognition and enforcement of decisions of foreign state courts on its territory.

For these reasons, we would respectfully like to invite authors to contribute to this issue of the Journal, and offer their articles on these issues of private international law and process.

Articles are to be written in English or in Russian, and may be of length from 0.75 to 2 copyright sheets (author sheet is a unit of measurement of 40,000 characters, including spaces)). The articles are to be uploaded to the journal website at:

https://pravovedenie.spbu.ru/about/submissions

When editing your article, please follow our style guide, available on our website.

We need to receive your article no later than May 1, 2021.

Articles are subject to review in accordance with the rules of the Journal.

We shall be very thankful if you let us know in advance of your plans to participate in the issue, as we have to plan the volume of the printing.

Please send in anticipation a message about your intention to submit an article for this special issue of the journal to the following email address: pravovedenie@spbu.ru

Guest Editors

Gabriele Crespi Reghizzi, Doctor of Laws,

Full Professor of the Civil Law Department at Saint Petersburg State University;

former Ordinarius, University of Pavia

Andrey E. Zuev, Attorney-at-law, Contracted Professor of the Department of International law at Saint Petersburg State University, Member of the Russian Association of International law

Further information here.

For those who are interested in the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention see also the HCCH/Bonn University Conference on 25 and 26 September 2020.

New article on ‘The ascertainment of the applicable law in the absence of choice in India and South Africa: a shared future in the BRICS’

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Written by Saloni Khanderia

Associate Professor Saloni Khanderia (Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India) recently published a new paper in the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal on ‘The ascertainment of the applicable law in the absence of choice in India and South Africa: a shared future in the BRICS’. The article may be accessed here.