Online conference on Sustainable Finance in European Jurisdictions, 29 and 30 April 2022

/in /by

The Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, Justus Liebig University Giessen and Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) are organizing the conference Sustainable Finance in European Jurisdictions, with the aim of investigating from a comparative law perspective the regulation underpinning the capital flow into sustainable enterprises. The conference will take place at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest on 29 and 30 April 2022 and will also be transmitted via Zoom.

The conference brings together academics to present their findings on 14 different European jurisdictions, seeking to discuss regulation in order to address inconsistencies and identify the path forward. As the challenges faced in this field are global, the necessity for international collaboration appears crucial. Identifying the national regulatory interests and eventual conflicts pave the way to reform and harmonisation.

Attendance is free of charge, however prior registration is mandatory.

See the conference agenda and registration form.

Cross Border Legal Issues Dialogue Seminar Series – ‘From Certainty to Uncertainty – CISG in Hong Kong’ by Prof. Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit (Online, 29 September 2022)

/in /by

The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Comparative and Transnational Law is organising the seminar From Certainty to Uncertainty – CISG in Hong Kong

On 29th September 2021 at 12:30–2:00pm (Hong Kong Time), the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passed the Sale of Goods (United Nations Convention) Ordinance (Cap. 641) in order to give effect to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980) (CISG). The Ordinance is expected to come into force at some points in 2022. While the CISG seems like a successful international treaty with (currently) 94 State Parties, yet it is not uncommon for international commercial parties to in fact “opt out” or exclude its application as per the mechanism provided for in Article 6. Not all provisions in the CISG are written in a clear manner. Certain concepts contained therein are unfamiliar to lawyers trained in the common law legal tradition. This seminar is to argue that the decision to introduce the CISG into Hong Kong was in fact the decision to introduce uncertainty into an area of law which was once certain with well-supported statutes, case law authorities grounded upon the solid common law foundation, and advanced private international law and dispute resolution mechanisms.

About the speaker:

Dr Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit is a Lecturer in Maritime Law within the Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania. He is also holding a position of a Research Associate within the Research Centre for Private International Law in Emerging Countries, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Supporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association. His research interests lie in commercial conflict of laws (private international law), insurance law, private aspects of admiralty and maritime law, carriage of goods by sea, international sale of goods carried by sea, and aspects of international arbitration. His recent publications include: Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Dharmita Prasad (eds), Blurry Boundaries of Public and Private International Law: Towards Convergence or Divergent Still (Springer Nature 2022), Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Sai Ramani Garimella (eds), Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (Thomson Reuters Hong Kong Limited 2019), Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Sai Ramani Garimella (eds), China’s One Belt One Road Initiative and Private International Law (Routledge 2018)

CPD credit is available upon application and subject to accreditation by the Law Society of Hong Kong (currently pending).

Register here by 5 pm (Hong Kong time) on 26 May 2022 to attend the seminar.

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Section 1782 (& Other Circuit Splits Regarding Arbitration) at the U.S. Supreme Court

/in /by

The Center for International Legal Education at Pitt Law and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators–North America Branch are jointly hosting a hybrid panel event on 21 April from 1-5ET.

This event will bring together academics, arbitrators, and counsel to discuss strategic considerations, best practices, and the legal discord in procuring third-party discovery in aid of arbitration. Top of the agenda will be a discussion of the recent Supreme Court argument regarding 28 U.S.C § 1782, which has given rise to nationwide discord regarding whether parties in international arbitrations can ask federal courts to order U.S. discovery in aid of arbitral proceedings.

Registration for both virtual and in-person attendance in Pittsburgh can be found here.

CILE-CIArb Event

Transnational Litigation Blog

/in /by

A new blog devoted to transnational litigation — Transnational Litigation Blog, or TLB — is now officially up and running. The primary focus of TLB is on transnational litigation in U.S. courts (both state and federal). It covers notable new cases and recent scholarship and provides commentary on decisions and developments. The founding editors of TLB are John Coyle (North Carolina), Bill Dodge (UC-Davis), Maggie Gardner (Cornell), and Ingrid Brunk Wuerth (Vanderbilt). A link to the blog can be found here.

Saudi Arabia has joined the HCCH Apostille Convention

/in /by

Last week Saudi Arabia acceded to the HCCH Apostille Convention. The Apostille Convention will enter into force for Saudi Arabia on 7 December 2022. The HCCH news item is available here.

This accession is remarkable in two ways.  First, it clearly signals an increased interest in the Apostille Convention in the Middle East. In this regard, it should be noted that the Apostille Convention entered into force for Bahrain on 31 December 2013 and for Oman on 30 January 2012. For a list of Contracting Parties, click here.

Secondly, it will greatly facilitate the ease with which public documents circulate in this region (and globally) as in some of these countries a legalization, especially for commercial documents, is either very expensive or the fees are dependent on a percentage of the total amount of the invoice or a tabular fee. See for an example here. The price of an Apostille should be, after all, reasonable.

Online Seminar BEUC Judges & Collective Redress

/in /by

                    Judges & collective redress:

new perspectives and opportunities for judiciary

          Thursday 12 May 2022, 15:00 to 17:30 CEST

       This online event will be held in English and is reserved for judges and members of judiciaries.

 

                            >>> REGISTER HERE <<<

Judges may play an important role in collective redress actions following mass harm situations. Mass harm situations refer to cases where a number of persons are harmed by the same illegal practices relating to the violation of their rights by one or more traders or other persons. Collective redress actions may seek the cessation of such practices and/or compensation. The fact that such disputes concern large numbers of persons raises specific procedural challenges but also offers opportunities in terms of efficient administration of justice.

In the context of the EU’s Representative Actions Directive, which will come into application in June 2023, judges will be called upon to undertake specific tasks. Depending on the national rules transposing the Directive, they may be required to assess the admissibility and merits of the actions, to ensure that consumers are appropriately represented and informed, to verify that the interests of all represented parties are well-protected, etc. The objective of this workshop is to raise awareness on collective redress and to exchange on the roles of judges in collective redress actions.

During a panel discussion, three judges with recognised expertise in the field of collective redress will share their insight and experience:

Mr. Fabian Reuschle (judge at the Stuttgart Regional court – Landgericht – Germany). Fabian Reuschle actively participated in the adoption of the German Capital Markets Model Case Act (KapMuG) establishing a lead case procedure for the collective handling of capital market-related actions.

Sir Peter Roth (judge at the London High Court & UK Competition Appeal Tribunal). Sir Peter presided over a collective litigation against MasterCard lodged on behalf of 46 million consumers.

Mr. Jeroen Chorus (retired judge, formerly at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, the Netherlands). Jeroen Chorus was notably in charge of the Dexia and Shell mass settlement with consequences on consumers in multiple European jurisdictions.

Programme:

15:00-15:05 Welcome
15:05-15:15 Setting the scene: What does collective redress mean for judges? (Stefaan Voet, KU Leuven University)
15:15 – 16:30 Panel discussion with:

  • Judge Roth
  • Judge Chorus
  • Judge Reuschle

Panel moderated by Maria José Azar-Baud (University of Paris-Saclay, France) & Ianika Tzankova (University of Tilburg, the Netherlands)
16:30-17:15 Questions & Answers session with the audience (moderated by Magdalena Tulibacka, Oxford University, UK/Emory  University – United States and with the participation of the representatives of the Directorate-General for Justice & Consumers of the European Commission
17:15-17:30 Concluding remarks

This project is funded by the European Union.

Attendance to the event is free but registration is mandatory. The number of registrations is limited. Therefore, please register as soon as possible via the following link.

For questions, please contact us.

The Effect of Choice of Court Agreements on Third Parties: Lecture by Professor Yeo Tiong Min

/1 Comment/in /by

The Yong Pung How Professorship of Law Lecture 2022 will be held online on Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 5:00 to 6:30pm Singapore time. The speaker, Professor Yeo Tiong Min, SC (Hon), who holds the Yong Pung How Professorship of Law chair at the Singapore Management University, will speak on ‘ The Effect of Choice of Court Agreements on Third Parties’. The synopsis for the talk is as follows:

“The effect of choice of court agreements on the exercise of jurisdiction of the Singapore court between contracting parties at common law has received clarification in Singapore law in recent years. The position is also clear under the SICC Rules and the Choice of Court Agreements Act. The effect on third parties is less clear. In this lecture, the effect of choice of court agreements on the position of third parties under the legal regimes above will be considered, from the perspective of both conflict of laws and the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act in domestic Singapore law.”

Attendance at the webinar is complimentary. More information and the link to register can be found here.

Munich Dispute Resolution Day on 6 May 2022: Human Rights Cases before Civil Courts and Arbitral Tribunals in Germany

/in /by

by Wolfgang Hau, University of Munich

This year’s Dispute Resolution Day of the Munich Center for Dispute Resolution on 6 May is dedicated to the above mentioned highly topical issue: Can companies in Germany be held responsible for human rights violations that have occurred somewhere in the global supply chain? Are civil lawsuits and commercial arbitration at all suitable for enforcing international human rights obligations of business enterprises? Such and related questions will be examined and discussed by renowned speakers. The conference will be held in German at the University of Munich. You can find the programme and registration information here:

https://www.mucdr.jura.uni-muenchen.de/munich_dispute_resolution_day/drd-2022-flyer.pdf

Registration now open: The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention – Bonn University / HCCH Conference (9 and 10 September 2022)

/in /by

 

 

Conference

The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention:

Cornerstones – Prospects – Outlook

 

Registration now open!

 

 

Dates:                       Friday, 9 September 2022, and Saturday, 10 September 2022 

Venue:                      Universitätsclub Bonn, Konviktstraße 9, D – 53113 Bonn 

Registration:          sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de 

 

Registration fee: € 200.-
Young Scholars rate (limited capacity): € 100.-
Conference Dinner on 9 September 2022:                         € 50.-

Registration: Please register with sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de. Clearly indicate whether you want to benefit from the young scholars’ reduction of the conference fees and whether you want to participate in the conference dinner. You will receive an invoice for the respective conference fee and, if applicable, for the conference dinner. Please make sure that we receive your payment at least two weeks in advance. After receiving your payment we will send out a confirmation of your registration. This confirmation will allow you to access the conference hall and the conference dinner.

Please note: Access will only be granted if you are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Please confirm in your registration that you are, and attach an e-copy of your vaccination document. Please follow further instructions on site. Thank you for your cooperation.

Further information: https://www.jura.uni-bonn.de/professur-prof-dr-weller/the-hcch-2019-judgments-convention-cornerstones-prospects-outlook-conference-on-9-and-10-september-2022

 

Programme

 

Friday, 9 September 2022

 

8.30 a.m. Registration
9.00 a.m. Welcome notes

Prof Dr Wulf-Henning Roth, Director of the Zentrum für Europäisches Wirtschaftsrecht, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany

Dr Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary General of the HCCH

 
  Part I: Cornerstones

1. Scope of application

Prof Dr Xandra Kramer, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Utrecht University, Netherlands

2. Judgments, Recognition, Enforcement

Prof Dr Wolfgang Hau, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany

3. Indirect jurisdiction

Prof Dr Pietro Franzina, Catholic University of Milan, Italy

4. Grounds for refusal

Dr Marcos Dotta Salgueiro, Adj. Professor of Private International Law, Law Faculty, UR, Uruguay; Director of International Law Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uruguay

5. Trust management: Establishment of relations between Contracting States

Dr João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, First Secretary, HCCH / Dr Cristina Mariottini, Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for International, European and Regulatory Law Luxemburg

 
1.00 p.m.

 

 Lunch Break

 
  Part II: Prospects for the World

1. The HCCH System for choice of court agreements: Relationship of the HCCH Judgments Convention 2019 to the HCCH 2005 Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

Prof Dr Paul Beaumont, University of Stirling, United Kingdom

2. European Union

Andreas Stein, Head of Unit, DG JUST – A1 “Civil Justice”, European Commission

3. Canada, USA

Professor Linda J. Silberman, Clarence D. Ashley Professor of Law, Co-Director, Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law, New York University School of Law, USA

Professor Geneviève Saumier, Peter M. Laing Q.C. Professor of Law, McGill Faculty of Law, Canada

4. Southeast European Neighbouring and EU Candidate Countries

Prof Dr Ilija Rumenov, Associate Professor at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia
8.00 p.m. Conference Dinner (€ 50.-)

 

Saturday, 10 September 2022

 

9.00 a.m. Part II: Prospects for the World (continued)

 

5. Middle East and North Africa (including Gulf Cooperation Council)

Prof Dr Beligh Elbalti, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Law and Politics at Osaka University, Japan

6. Sub-Saharan Africa (including Commonwealth of Nations)

Prof Dr Abubakri Yekini, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Prof Dr Chukwuma Okoli, Postdoctoral Researcher in Private International Law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute, Netherlands

7. Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR)

Prof Dr Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Director of Internationalisation, Senior Lecturer in International Private Law, School of Law, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

8. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Prof Dr Adeline Chong, Associate Professor of Law, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore

9. China (including Belt and Road Initiative)

Prof Dr Zheng (Sophia) Tang, University of Newcastle, United Kingdom

 
1.00 p.m.

 

 Lunch Break

 
  Part III: Outlook

1. Lessons from the Genesis of the Judgments Project

Dr Ning Zhao, Senior Legal Officer, HCCH

2. International Commercial Arbitration and Judicial Cooperation in civil matters: Towards an Integrated Approach

José Angelo Estrella-Faria, Principal Legal Officer and Head, Legislative Branch, International Trade Law Division, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations; Former Secretary General of UNIDROIT

3. General Synthesis and Future Perspectives

Hans van Loon, Former Secretary General of the HCCH

‘Austerity policies and litigation costs reforms’ (Erasmus School of Law, 20 April 2022, online)

/in /by

In the context of the Vici project ‘Affordable Access to Justice’, the project team (Erasmus School of Law) is organising a series of online seminars dedicated to the Trends and Challenges in Costs and Funding of Civil Justice.

The next session is scheduled for Wednesday, 20 April 2022 (14:00-16:00 CET) on the topic: Austerity policies and litigation costs reforms.

The relationship between access to justice, efficiency of courts, and litigation costs has never been an easy one. Yet, finding a proper balance has never been more challenging than in recent times. The EU economic crises of the last decade and austerity policies deeply affected justice budgets in several EU Member States and triggered justice reforms, particularly in the area of litigation costs. Building on the experiences of three EU jurisdictions that have been greatly affected by such developments (namely, Greece, Portugal, and Spain), the seminar will assess the impact of austerity measures on access to justice.

Speakers: Panagiotis Perakis (Vice President CCBE), Paula Costa e Silva (Lisbon University), Fernando Gascón Inchausti (Complutense University of Madrid)

To attend the online event, please register here.

With thanks to Adriani Dori for the tip-off.