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Forcing a Square Peg into a Round Hole – The Actio Pauliana and the Brussels Ia Regulation
Earlier today, the Court of Justice held that, under certain circumstances, special jurisdiction for an actio pauliana can be based on Art. 7(1) Brussels Ia (Case C-337/17 Feniks).
The actio pauliana is an instrument provided by the national laws of several EU member states that allows the creditor to challenge fraudulent acts by their debtor that have been committed to the creditor’s detriment. The ECJ already had several opportunities to decide on the availability of individual grounds of special jurisdiction for such an action, but has reliably denied their availability. In today’s decision however, the Court confirmed the availability of special jurisdiction for matters relating to contract, contrary to the proposition of AG Bobek (Opinion delivered on 21 June 2018). Read more
International commercial courts: should the EU be next? – EP study building competence in commercial law
By Erlis Themeli, Xandra Kramer, and Georgia Antonopoulou, Erasmus University Rotterdam (postdoc researcher, PI, and PhD candidate ERC project Building EU Civil Justice)
Previous posts on this blog have described the emerging international commercial and business courts in various Member States. While the primary aim is and should be improving the dispute resolution system for businesses, the establishment of these courts also points to the increase of competitive activities by certain Member States that try to attract international commercial litigation. Triggered by the need to facilitate business, prospects of financial gain, and more recently also by the supposed vacuum that Brexit will create, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium in particular have been busy establishing outlets for international commercial litigants. One of the previous posts by the present authors dedicated to these developments asked who will be next to enter the competition game started by these countries. In another post, Giesela Rühl suggested that the EU could be the next. Read more
Genocide by Expropriation – New Tendencies in US State Immunity Law for Art-Related Holocaust Litigations
On 10 July 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rendered its judgment in the matter of Alan Philipps et al. v. the Federal Republic of Germany and the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz.
This case involves a claim by heirs of Holocaust victims for restitution of the „Welfenschatz“ (Guelph Treasure), a collection of medieval relics and devotional art housed for generations in the Cathedral of Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany. This treasure is now on display at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin (Museum of Decorative Arts) which is run by the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz. The value of the treasure is estimated to amount to USD 250 million (according to the claim for damages raised in the proceedings). Read more
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Conference at the University of Milan: EU Private International Law: a Look into the Future 50 Years after the Entry into Force of the 1968 Brussels Convention
Michele Grassi (University of Milan) has kindly shared the following announcement with us:
The Department of Italian and Supranational Public Law of the University of Milan will host, on September 14 and 15, a conference on “EU Private International Law: a Look into the Future 50 Years after the Entry into Force of the 1968 Brussels Convention”, in cooperation with the European Group for Private International Law. The event is co-founded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU (Jean Monnet Module on Family and Succession Law Matters in EU Private International Law and Jean Monnet Module on EU Private International Law Rules on Obligations in a Digitalised World).
The conference will consider the relationship of EU PIL acts with third States and the new perspectives and gaps to fill in the EU judicial cooperation in civil matters. Speakers and chairs of the panels include: Fausto Pocar (University of Milan, Emeritus), Hans van Loon (former Secretary-General of the HCCH), Pietro Franzina (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan), Christian Kohler (University of Saarland, Emeritus) Zeno Crespi Reghizzi (University of Milan), Patrick Kinsch (University of Luxembourg), Etienne Pataut (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), Cristina González Beilfuss (University of Barcelona), Luigi Fumagalli (University of Milan), Andrea Bonomi (University of Lausanne), Francesca Villata (University of Milan), Támas Szabados (University of Budapest), Stefania Bariatti (University of Milan), Andreas Stein (EU Commission).
Participation is free of charge, but you are kindly asked to register at the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/SYhcX0pi1e
The flyer can be found here; for further information, feel free to contact michele.grassi@unimi.it.
Out Now: “Turning away from Multilateralism – International Law in Danger?” (Proceedings of the German Society of International Law, Issue 51)
Recently, the German Society of International Law (DGIR) has published the proceedings of its 37 Biennial Conference held in Heidelberg from 9 to 11 March 2022. The volume is devoted to the – very timely – topic of “Turning away from Multilateralism – International Law in Danger?” and contains five contributions (in German) explicitly discussing issues related to Private International Law:
New Article published in the Journal of Comparative Law in Africa
A new private international law article was recently published online in the Journal of Comparative Law in Africa. The title is: MK Quartey & TE Coleman, “The Law Applicable to Tortious Liability: A Comparative Analysis of Article 4 of the Rome II Regulation and Private International Law in Ghana”
The abstract reads as follows: