Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional, vol. 10

Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional, vol. 10, nr. 1, has just been released. Cuadernos publishes research papers on private international law, uniform law and comparative private law twice a year (March and October). The journal accepts manuscripts in all main European languages (to submit a paper click here).

The complete number as well as each single contribution can be accessed and downloaded  for free.

Save the date: Conference on Punitive Damages and European Private International Law in Milan, 11 May 2018

On 11 May 2018 the Department of Italian and Supranational Public Law of the University of Milan will host a conference  on Punitive Damages and European Private International Law: State of the Art and Future Developments, in cooperation with the Interest Group on Private International law of the Italian Society of International Law and with the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale.

The conference takes inspiration from a recent revirement of the Italian Corte di Cassazione (Cass., S.U., 5 July 2017, No 16601) and aims at analysing the private international issues involved by the recognition of  punitive damages within European legal orders.

Speakers and discussants include:

  • Giulio Ponzanelli (Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
  • Lotte Meurkens (Maastricht University)
  • Pietro Franzina (University of Ferrara)
  • Chiara Tuo (University of Genova)
  • Amélie Skierka (Wilmer Hale LLP)
  • Antonio Leandro (University of Bari)
  • Astrid Stadler (Universität Konstanz)
  • Olivera Boskovic (Université Paris Descartes)
  • Alex Mills (University College London)
  • Giacomo Biagioni (University of Cagliari)
  • Cedric Vanleenhove (Ghent University)
  • Wolfgang Wurmnest (Universität Augsburg)
  • Ornella Feraci (University of Siena)

The complete programme is available here.

Admission is free. Participants are kindly asked to register by 4 May 2018 here.

For information please contact conference.pil.milan@gmail.com.

 

 

Update on ‘This one is next: the Netherlands Commercial Court!’

A brief update on our previous post regarding the approval of the establishment of the Netherlands Commercial Court by the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer). The bill is now scheduled for rubber-stamping by the Senate (Eerste Kamer) on 27 March 2018. This makes the kick-off date of 1 July 2018 realistic.

We believe that this court will strengthen international commercial complex litigation in the Netherlands, and it offers business litigants an alternative to arbitration and high quality commercial courts in other countries. See also (for Dutch readers) Eddy Bauw and Xandra Kramer, ‘Commercial Court’ is uitkomst voor complexe internationale handelszaken, Het Financieele Dagblad, 11 October 2017.

More news will follow soon.

 

 

Our previous post:

This one is next: the Netherlands Commercial Court!

(PhD candidate, postdoc researcher and PI ERC project Building EU Civil Justice)

Following up on our previous post, asking which international commercial court would be established next, the adoption of the proposal for the Netherlands Commercial Court by the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) today answers the question. It will still have to pass the Senate (Eerste Kamer), but this should only be a matter of time. The Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) is expected to open its doors on 1 July 2018 or shortly after.

The NCC is a specialized court established to meet the growing need for efficient dispute resolution in cross-border civil and commercial cases. This court is established as a special chamber of the Amsterdam District Court and of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. Key features are that proceedings will take place in the English language, and before a panel of judges selected for their wide expertise in international commercial litigation and their English language skills.

To accommodate the demand for efficient court proceedings in these cases a special set of rules of procedure has been developed. The draft Rules of Procedure NCC can be consulted here in English and in Dutch. It goes without saying that the court is equipped with the necessary court technology.

The Netherlands prides itself on having one of the most efficient court systems in the world, as is also indicated in the Rule of Law Index – in the 2017-2018 Report it was ranked first in Civil Justice, and 5th in overall performance. The establishment of the NCC should also be understood from this perspective. According to the website of the Dutch judiciary, the NCC distinguishes itself by its pragmatic approach and active case management, allowing it to handle complex cases within short timeframes, and on the basis of fixed fees.

The proposed new EU conflict-of-law rules on the assignment of claims: a seminar in Ferrara

As noted by Marta Requejo in an earlier post, the European Commission has published on 12 March 2018 a proposal for a regulation on the law applicable to the third-party effects of assignments of claims.

On 4 April 2018, a seminar (in English) will take place at the Department of Law of the University of Ferrara under the title Voluntary Assignment and Contractual Subrogation under EU Private International Law. The Commission proposal will, of course, be one of the key topics of the seminar.

Speakers include Martin Gebauer (University of Tübingen), Antonio Leandro (University of Bari), Alina Ontanu (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Riccardo Manfrini (lawyer in Treviso). The seminar will be moderated by Alberto Malatesta (LIUC University Castellanza).

Further information may be found here.

Capital Markets Union: Proposal on Assignment of Claims

On March 12th, the Commission has issued a proposal on the law applicable to third party effects of assignments of claims. The main purpose of the proposed regulation would be to supplement Art 14 of the Rome I Regulation, which is silent on the proprietary effects of assignments. The main rule under the proposal is that third party effects of assignments of claims are to be governed by the law of the habitual residence of the assignor, with a few defined exceptions.

Click here to access the proposal, COM(2018) 96 final.

Cross-border insolvency in Europe: case law and best practices

SaveComp is a project co-funded by the European Union whose goal is to collect and exchange best practices in the field of insolvency and pre-insolvency cross-border proceedings.

The project has now been concluded, and the final deliverables are available online.

These are a collection of more than 500 decisions regarding the EU Insolvency Regulation, available through the Unalex database, and a Final study, edited by Ilaria Queirolo (University of Genoa) and Stefano Dominelli (University of Milan), and authored by Stephan Biehl, Jan Brodec, Janeen Carruthers, José Juan Castelló Pastor, Rolef J. de Weijs, Tsvetelina Dimitrova, Carlos Esplugues Mota, Francisco Gómez Fonseca, Urs Peter Gruber, Boriana Musseva, Nikolay Natov, Vasil Pandov, Monika Pauknerová, Magdalena Pfeiffer, Dana Rone, Arthur Salomons, Dafina Sarbinova, Alexander Schley, Emil Tsanev, Teodora Tsenova, C.G. van der Plas and Aukje A.H. van Hoek.

The project, led by the University of Genoa, involved the Universities of Valencia, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Mainz, Prague and Valencia, the Turiba University in Riga, the Institute of Private International Law in Sofia and IPR Verlag.

Job-Opening in Italy: Public Call for 24 Senior Researcher Positions («Rita Levi Montalcini Call»)

The Italian Ministry for Education, University, and Research (Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, MIUR) has issued a public call for  24 researcher positions.

The call is open to scholars of all nationalities who have spent three years working at a non-Italian research center or university and have been awarded a PhD degree, or equivalent, after 31 October 2011 and by 31 October 2014.

The winner of the call will work as a Senior Researcher with an initial 3-year working contract (Ricercatore a tempo determinato, tipologia B) that leads to Associate Tenured Track Professorship subject to National Scientific Habilitation (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale, «ASN»).

The English translation of the Ministerial Decree is available at the following address: (http://cervelli.cineca.it/).

The deadline to submit the application is 28 March 2018, h. 24.00 (Italian local time).

***

In the context of this call, the University of Milan, Department of International, Legal, Historical and Political Studies (http://eng.intgiurpol.unimi.it/ecm/home) wishes to express its interest to welcome outstanding researchers in the areas of Public and Private International Law, EU Law, Comparative Law who would like to apply.

For additional information please contact Dr. Stefano Dominelli (stefano.dominelli@unimi.it).

Workshop on Private International Law of IP Rights

This call for papers is provided for by Jeanne Huang.

The issue of cross border protection of intellectual property (IP) was very important and explained the use of bilateral and multilateral treaties such as the Berne Convention and the Paris Convention. One of the fundamental principles underlying these treaties was territoriality and the national treatment principle. However, the advent of the 21st century brought digitisation and globalisation, which have significantly impacted upon the territoriality protection. Finding the best way to protect IP within the context of globalisation and digitisation was the most fundamental question that the workshop sought to answer. We invite colleagues working on private international law and IP to submit expressions of interest to present at the workshop, which will be held at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales on Saturday, 18 August 2018, from 9:30 am -5:00 pm. The workshop is designed to allow researchers working in the field of private international law and IP to deliver work-in-progress papers to their peers. We particularly welcome submissions to discuss and debate the draft International Law Association Guidelines of Intellectual Property and Private International Law, available here.

We are keen to receive proposals that focus on private-international-law issues in cross-border IP disputes, such as:

  • Jurisdiction,
  • Applicable Law,
  • Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments,
  • Arbitration or
  • Private international law issues in smart contracts, blockchain transactions and other digitalized transactions.

For paper proposals, speakers are to submit a title and 150-200 word abstract, along with a one-page CV for potential inclusion in the workshop. Please send your proposal to Jeanne.Huang@unsw.edu.au by 15 April 2018.

Social Media and the Protection of Privacy: Current Gaps and Future Directions in European Private International Law

Anna Bizer, doctoral student at the University of Freiburg, and I have just published an article on “Social Media and the Protection of Privacy: Current Gaps and Future Directions in European Private International Law” in the International Journal of Data Science and Analytics.

The article considers the current situation in European private international law regarding the protection of privacy and personality rights in social media. When privacy infringements occur on the internet, difficult questions as to determining jurisdiction and the applicable law arise. This field is so far only partially governed by European Union law and still leaves a gap that must be filled by the domestic choice-of-law rules of the member states. The article addresses these problems taking into account the recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The full text is available here.

Secure your seat at the global Conference “HCCH 125 – Ways Forward: Challenges and Opportunities in an Increasingly Connected World” at Early Bird Rates by Friday 9 March!

By the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law 

Get your registration now to have the chance to hear from leading Experts and to discuss with them the opportunities for, and challenges to, private international law and the evolution of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH).

Our Experts, including Professor Jürgen Basedow, who will deliver the keynote, Lord Collins of Mapesbury, The Hon Diana Bryant AO QC, Professor Richard Fentiman, Professor Horatia Muir-Watts, Professor José Moreno Rodríguez, Justice Fausto Pocar and Professor Burkhard Hess, to name only a few, will discuss a wide range of issues, including:

  • global trends in private international law and its importance to globalisation and an “open society”;
  • the general role of private international law in an increasingly connected world;
  • the importance of private international law into facilitating the protection of human rights (with a particular focus on family issues and child protection) and to promoting trade, commerce and investment; and
  • the relationship between public and private international law and what, if any, consequences may be the result of a possible convergence.

In addition, the Experts will explore how the HCCH can continue to be the pre-eminent global international organisation that develops innovative private international law solutions.

The draft programme for this global Conference, including all speakers, can be accessed on the Conference website located at: http://www.hcch125.org/programme.php.

The Conference is held in conjunction with the HCCH’s 125th Anniversary. It will take place from 18 to 20 April 2018 in Hong Kong, and is organised by the HCCH with the generous support of the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong SAR.

See you in Hong Kong!