The second issue of 2022 of Giustizia Consensuale (published by Editoriale Scientifica) has just been released, and it features:

Ferruccio Auletta and Alberto Massera, Giustizia consensuale e p.a.: l’accordo bonario per i lavori, i servizi e le forniture nel quadro degli ‘altri rimedi alternativi all’azione giurisdizionale’ (Consensual Justice and Public Administration: The Amicable Agreement for Jobs, Services and Supplies in the Framework of ‘Other Alternative Remedies to Court Proceedings’; in Italian)

The paper examines the present state of the Amicable Agreement. Along with other alternative dispute resolution tools, such as the technical advisory board, arbitration, and negotiated settlements, the Amicable Agreement provides an alternative to litigation in the area of public procurement. Thanks to their experience in the field of public procurement within the Arbitration Chamber of public contracts of the Italian National Anticorruption Authority, the authors incorporate a practitioner’s perspective into their analysis of the Amicable Agreement by referring to case law and to a broad range of doctrinal and legal sources.

Paolo Duret, Soft law, ADR, sussidiarietà: una triade armonica (Soft Law, ADR, Subsidiarity: A Harmonic Triad; in Italian)

The present era is witnessing the simultaneous development of two phenomena: on the one hand, the steady increase in the use of the called soft law, which has expanded from the domain of international law to domestic legal systems; on the other hand, the widespread resort to instruments of dispute resolution that are alternative to litigation (ADR). The paper aims at assessing and examining the connection between soft law and ADR, both in a retrospective and prospective view, focusing in particular on emerging issues such as the recourse to ‘nudging’ and new technologies, along with forms of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). The principle of subsidiarity acts as a common denominator between the two aforementioned phenomena. In particular, it allows shedding light on the meaning and implications of the relationship between soft law and ADR within the framework of a novel understanding of the State and public administration.

Roberto Bartoli, Una breve introduzione alla giustizia riparativa nell’ambito della giustizia punitiva (A Brief Introduction to Restorative Justice in the Context of Punitive Justice; in Italian)

Restorative justice and punitive justice belong to different paradigms. Therefore, understanding this paradigm shift is key to the understanding of restorative justice itself. Through a ‘close’ comparison between these two paradigms, the author aims to capture the distinctive features of restorative justice in the context of criminal offences, i.e. community justice, dialogic justice, justice that attempts to heal the pain caused by criminal wrongdoing, and non-violent justice. Restorative justice has the potential to foster revolutionary change, especially in instances where restorative justice can provide a procedural tool that is complementary to punitive justice and a material alternative to punishment.

Beatrice Zuffi, Azione di classe e ADR: un binomio in via di definizione (Class Action and ADR: A Pairing in the Making; in Italian)

The paper provides a comparative review of selected legal systems (namely: the U.S.A., the Netherlands, and Belgium) which are at the forefront of fostering the use of ADR in compensatory class actions through laws and regulations. The author then analyses the Italian legislation on class action introduced by Law No 31 of 2019, focusing in particular on the solutions adopted to promote settlement agreements and assessing the feasibility of other alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation, negotiation, and arbitration in connection with or in lieu of the three-phase trial under Art. 840 bis ff. of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure.

 

Observatory on Legislation and Regulations

Mauro Bove, I verbali che concludono la mediazione nel d.lgs. n. 149 del 2022 (Mediation Reports under Legislative Decree No 149 of 2022; in Italian)

The paper analyses the discipline of mediation reports under Legislative Decree No 149 of 2022, highlighting its conformity to the provisions of Legislative Decree No 28 of 2010. The author outlines the features and scope of the procedures applicable to instances where a mediated settlement is not achieved and instances where mediation results in a settlement agreement to be included in the mediation report. In particular, the author examines the innovative regulation of mediation reports, which requires the use of digital signatures where mediation takes place online.

Alberto M. Tedoldi, La mediazione civile e commerciale nel quadro della riforma ovvero: omeopatia del processo (Civil and Commercial Mediation in the Framework of the Reform: Homeopathy of the Process; in Italian)

The essay focuses on and looks to expand the knowledge of civil and commercial mediation as regulated by Legislative Decree No 28 of 2010 amended by Legislative Decree No 149 of 2022. The legislative provisions appear to foster the use and development of mediation as a full-fledged dispute resolution process, beyond its function as a tool complementary to litigation. In this, mediation provides an appropriate and comprehensive dispute resolution instrument which addresses the legal relationship in its entirety, rather than the single components of res in judicium deducta, and allows achieving an all-round, durable settlement. ‘The civil process is dead, long live the mediation!’.

Pietro Ortolani, The Resolution of Content Moderation Disputes under the Digital Services Act

Online content on social media platforms gives rise to a wide range of disputes. Content moderation can thus be understood as a form of online dispute resolution, whereby the platforms often balance legal entitlements against each other. This article looks at content moderation through the lens of procedural law, providing an overview of the different dispute resolution avenues under the Digital Services Act (DSA). First, the article sets the scene by describing the overall architecture of the DSA. Against this background, specific provisions are scrutinized, dealing with notice and action mechanisms, statement of reasons, internal complaint handling, and out-of-court dispute settlement. Furthermore, the article considers the interplay between the DSA and the European regime of cross-border litigation. Finally, some general conclusions are drawn regarding the DSA’S ‘procedure before substance’ regulatory approach.

 

Observatory on Practices

Antonio Briguglio, Conciliazione e arbitrato. Contaminazioni (Conciliation and Arbitration. Cross-fertilization; in Italian)

In this paper, the author addresses the topic of the interplay between conciliation and arbitration. In spite of the former being a non-adjudicative ADR procedure and the latter a fully adjudicative ADR process, there are some aspects of cross-fertilization between the two. The author pays particular attention to ‘conciliatory’ elements, whose relevance is greater in arbitral awards than in judicial decisions. In the second part of the paper, the author focuses in detail on the recent Singapore Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, which introduces a different element of cross-fertilization between arbitration and conciliation. In particular, the author investigates the meaning and practical implications of the Convention, which basically puts settlement agreements on an equal footing with arbitral awards for purposes of international recognition and enforcement.

Silvana Dalla Bontà, La (nuova) introduzione e trattazione della causa nel processo di prime cure e i poteri lato sensu conciliativi del giudice. Un innesto possibile? (The (New) Introduction and Handling of the Case in the First-Instance Proceedings and the Court’s Conciliatory Powers Lato Sensu. A Possible Graft?; in Italian)

After providing an overview of the new Italian regulation on pleadings and hearings in civil cases before the courts of first instance as introduced by Legislative Decree No 149 of 2022, the paper focuses on the conciliatory powers of the courts, i.e. court-ordered mediation, judicial conciliation, and judicial offer to settle. In particular, the analysis aims to explore if, when, and how these judicial conciliatory powers could be effectively exercised at the new pleading and hearing stages. While uncovering the weaknesses of the recent reform of Italian civil procedure, the author argues that the development of good practices would provide a solution to most of the issues raised by the new legislation. To that end, Civil Justice Observatories could play a pivotal role in achieving lasting solutions through a bottom-up approach that fosters the interaction of different civil justice actors.

Carolina Mancuso and Angela M. Felicetti, Sistemi di dispute resolution per le università: primi spunti di riflessione (Dispute Resolution Systems for Universities: First Considerations; in Italian)

The paper aims to explore some innovative foreign teaching and research experiences (namely, in Spain and in the United States) concerning the dissemination of mediation, conflict management techniques and, more broadly, the culture of alternative dispute resolution in academia. The analysis intends to connect such initiatives with the vibrant Italian panorama, which is rich in experiential teaching initiatives and infused with its own developing tradition of conflict management through student ombudspersons. The ultimate goal of the investigation is to identify new directions for the dissemination of the ADR culture in Italian high education institutions.

 

In addition to the foregoing, this issue features the following book review by Luciana Breggia: Tommaso GRECO, La legge della fiducia. Alle radici del diritto (The Law of Trust. At the Roots of Law; in Italian), Bari-Roma, Editori Laterza, (2021; reprint 2022), VII-XVI, 1-171.

 

The INSOL Europe Academic Forum (IEAF) is inviting submission for its 19^th annual conference, taking place from Wednesday 11 – Thursday 12 October 2023 in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). Expressions of interest are invited for the delivery of research papers within the overall theme of the academic conference: “The Perpetual Renewal of European Insolvency Law”.

The conference is intended to focus on, inter alia, the following overall topics:

• Public and social policy and the impact on corporate rescue, and vice versa
• Cross-border issues (recognition, coordination)
• Asset tracing (including crypto assets)
• Competition for cases as a driving force for legislative reform
• International organisations update
• Sustainability and corporate restructuring
• Environmental claims in insolvency
• Transaction avoidance eclipsed in preventive restructuring procedures
• Pre-packs rehabilitated
• Asset partitioning: prudent entrepreneurship or manifestation of opportunism
• Modern issues surrounding directors’ duties to file for insolvency
• The impact and benefit (or not) of creditors’ committees
• EU Preventive Restructuring Directive

The IEAF board also invites submissions on other topics that fall with in the scope of the overall theme of the conference.

Conference methodology

In line with the practice established in our past academic conferences, the intention for the autumn conference is to have research papers that challenge existing approaches, stimulate debate and ask, and attempt to answer, comparative and interdisciplinary questions within the above broadly defined theme. Accordingly, proposals are invited that do more than just outline a topic of interest in respect of any given jurisdiction, but seek to understand, analyse and critique the fundamentals of insolvency and restructuring systems in ways that are relevant across jurisdictions and across fields of academic inquiry. Contributions must be in English.

Presenting at the IEAF conference

Expressions of interest in delivering a paper should be sent by email on or before 1 March 2023 to the IEAF’s Deputy Chair, Dr. Jennifer Gant.

Authors of papers selected for presentation will benefit from a waiver of the participation fee for the academic conference, however, they will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs. A limited number of travel grants are available for junior scholars invited to present.

For further information, see: www.insol-europe.org/academic-forum-events

This post was written by Jachin Van Doninck (SEPIL coordinator, Vrije Universiteit Brussels) and Jerca Kramberger Škerl (University of Ljubljana)

It is fair to say that the attention for sustainability and sustainable development has seen a steady increase. The past decade, the United Nations has set out the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), based on the urgent need to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. These SDGs are finding their way into policy making on every level and are also inspiring research in the legal field.[i] Recent scholarship has raised awareness for the potential of private international law to strengthen the SDGs’ plan of action (e.g. the seminal work edited by R. MICHAELS, V. RUIZ ABOU-NIGM and H. VAN LOON, 2021).[ii] Private International Law is also and increasingly being classified as a governance tool[iii] of a political nature.[iv]

The SEPIL network, funded by the EUTOPIA UNIVERSITY alliance explores the sustainability of European private international law as a system, i.e. in itself. Thus, the project’s intention was to move away from existing research on how private international law can be instrumentalized for the purpose of attaining the greater good (e.g. the Shell cases in The Netherlands and in the UK, reported on the conflictoflaws blog), and to question to what extent sustainability can (or must) exert a system-building function within this area of the law. Taking into account that PIL acts as potent tool for achieving the SDGs, the research group delved into the question of the sustainability of this tool in itself, thus ‘operating’ mainly within the SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

SEPIL organised two closed seminars in Ljubljana (29-30 September 2022) and Brussels (24-25 October 2022). The goals of the meetings were threefold:

• to catch up with the state of the art of the research on sustainability and law, both regarding the individual SDGs and the sustainability of law;
• to try to delimitate the question(s) of PIL as a tool to achieve sustainable development and sustainability as a tool to enhance PIL;
• to explore the research potential of the aforementioned SEPIL idea.

The Ljubljana edition was kicked off by Anna Maria Wilmot (VUB), who presented an outline of her current PhD research on the interplay between sustainability and the Belgian system of civil adjudication. She explained how any attempt at a systemic appraisal of the sustainability of European private international law would have to begin with a clear understanding of sustainability as a layered concept. Jachin Van Doninck (also at VUB) connected Anna Maria’s research with the SEPIL project by elaborating on how legal scholarship and the courts are heavily involved in instrumentalizing private international law for the purpose of attaining sustainability and sustainable development. He pointed out that a fundamental analysis of the sustainability of private international law itself is lacking, which is precisely where SEPIL’s research focus would lie. University of Ljubljana’s Jerca Kramberger Škerl continued with an overview of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and a short presentation on how private international law can, first, serve as a tool to attain those goals, and second, adapt itself to respect those goals. In the afternoon, these SDGs were made concrete through topical examples. A first one was offered by University of Gothenburg’s Anna Wallerman Ghavanini through her presentation on judicial protection for victims of discrimination in EU private international law, explaining that effective access to justice (SDG 16) for victims of discrimination (SDG 5) reveals shortcomings in the current private international law framework. Second, University of Ljubljana’s Filip Dougan focused on the interplay between the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and the EU private international law. Erik Björling, also from the University of Gothenburg, then challenged our thinking with the question “Can retrospective civil procedure be prospective?”. Using notions of procedural legal theory (naming, blaming, claiming, rational discourse, reduction of complexity), he touched on several core issues of private international law such as jurisdiction, choice of law and enforcement. The stage had been set for the Brussels edition.

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A new law on international commercial arbitration was published on the 4^th of February in Greece. It is the fruit of the efforts by a committee established by the Ministry of Justice. The previous law nr. 2735/1999 is abolished.

The new law nr. 5016/2023 consists of 59 articles, whereas the predecessor had only 37 articles. Both laws are based on the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. The main novelties of the recent law are the following:

• Article 11 covers the issue of the validity of the arbitration agreement.
• Article 16 introduces a provision for multiparty arbitration.
• Article 22 regulates the issue of the arbitrator’s liability.
• Article 24 introduces a provision for the unification of multiple arbitrations.
• Article 35 contains a special rule for the production of documents and the submission of evidence.
• Last but not least, Article 46 sets the stage for the foundation of Arbitration Centers by private companies or public law corporations, such as Bar Associations. Some of them have already established Arbitration Centers (mostly if not exclusively for purely domestic disputes) in the major cities of the country, such as Athens and Thessaloniki. The new law grants them access to international commercial disputes.

On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 30th monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (CET). Tobias Helms (Universität Marburg) will speak, in German, about the topic

the Proposal for a Council Regulation on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition of Decisions and Acceptance of Authentic Instruments in Matters of Parenthood.