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On the Global Community of Private International Law – Impressions from Brazil

From August 3-5 this year, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro hosted the 7th biennial conference of the Journal of Private International Law. Ably organized by Nadia de Araujo and Daniela Vargas from the host institution, together with Paul Beaumont from Aberdeen, the conference was a great success, as concerns both the quality and quantity of the presentations. Instead of a conference report, I want to provide some, undoubtedly subjective, impressions as concerns the emerging global community of private international law.

First, no less than 168 participants attended, from all over the world. The Journal conference has, by now, become something like a World Congress of Private International Law. This is no small achievement. The Journal of Private International Law started out in 2005 as a very doctrinal publication focusing primarily on common law systems and European private international law. Fittingly, the first two conferences took place in the UK. It was a very wise decision to move, after that, to cities in other countries—New York (2009), Milan (2011), Madrid (2013) and now, after a return to the UK (Cambridge) for the ten-year anniversary in 2015, Rio de Janeiro (2017). By now, it can be said that Journal and conference both really represent the world. And what is emerging is a global community that comes together at these and other events.

Second, this first Journal conference in Latin America was an excellent opportunity to showcase the tremendous developments of the discipline on this Continent. Latin America, the region that created the Código Bustamante, has long produced excellent scholars in private international law. However, for some time the discipline appeared, at least to the outside observer, marginalized, caught between a very doctrinal approach on the one side and a very philosophical one on the other, both often without connection to actual practice. In recent years, this has changed, for a number of reasons: the Hague Conference established a bureau, led by Ignacio Goicoechea; a young generation of scholars connects theory and practice, doctrine and interdisciplinarity; legislators are, at long last, replacing antiquated legislation. Many Latin American scholars and practitioners at the conference proved that interest and quality. But the best sign for the vitality of the field were the many excellent Brazilian students who followed the conference with enthusiasm and expertise.

Third, and finally, this emerging globalization captures all regions, but not to the same degree. The great importance of Latin America in Rio was no surprise. Nor was the great role that European private international law, a testament not only both to the European background of the journal and the more generous travel budgets in European universities, but also to the legislative and scholarly developments in Europe. Asia was somewhat less well represented, as far as I could see, despite exciting developments there (including current work on Asian Principles of Private International Law), but several presentations dealt with Asian development. The most palpable absence concerned the United States. There were only two participants from the US, fewer than there were Nigerians. In a not so distant past, US private international law was the avant-garde of the discipline worldwide. When the Second Restatement was being discussed, the whole world was watching what the conflicts revolution would yield. Now, a third Restatement is underway. But I heard no word about that from participants in Rio, and the Restatement’s reporters did not use the occasion to advertise their project. The United States is no longer leading the globalization of the field. Will it at least follow?

Grounds for Refusal of Recognition of (Quasi-) Annex Judgements in the Recast European Insolvency Regulation

Written by Zoltán Fabók, Fellow of INSOL International, Counsel at DLA Piper (Hungary) and PhD Candidate at Nottingham Trent University

Insolvency-related (annex) actions and judgements fall within the scope of the Recast European Insolvency Regulation (‘Recast EIR’). That instrument both determines international jurisdiction regarding annex actions and sets up a simplified recognition system for annex judgements. However, tension between the Recast EIR’s provisions on jurisdiction and recognition arises when a court of a state different from the state of insolvency erroneously assumes jurisdiction for annex actions. Such ‘quasi-annex’ judgements rendered by foreign courts erroneously assuming jurisdiction threaten the integrity of the insolvency proceedings. Besides, the quasi-annex judgements may violate the effectiveness and efficiency of the insolvency proceedings as well as the principle of legal certainty.

In my paper, it is argued that even the current legal framework may offer some ways to avoid the recognition of such quasi-annex judgements. First, the scope of the public policy exception may be extended in order to protect the integrity of the insolvency proceedings from the quasi-annex judgements rendered by foreign courts erroneously assuming jurisdiction. Second, it may be argued that quasi-annex judgements do not equal real annex judgements and therefore do not enjoy the automatic recognition system provided by the Recast EIR. At the same time, their close connection to the insolvency proceedings – disregarded by the forum erroneously assuming jurisdiction – may exclude quasi-annex judgements from the scope of the Brussels Ibis Regulation, as well. As a consequence, those quasi-annex judgements may fall within the gap between the two regulations, meaning that no European instrument instructs the courts of the member state addressed to recognise quasi-annex judgements.

My research article has been accepted for publication by International Insolvency Review. The paper can be accessed in the Early View section at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/iir.1284/full.

Egyptian Court of Cassation on the application of the Hague Service Convention

[The author wishes to thank Justice Hossam Hesham Sadek, Vice President of the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation, and reporting judge in the case at hand, for granting access to the Supreme Court’s ruling].

1.  Introduction

In a recent ruling (22/05/2017), the Egyptian Court of Cassation tackled with the issue of service of process abroad. The facts of the case were the following: The claimant (and appellant) was an Egyptian Medical Equipment company, situated in Cairo. The respondents and appellees were a Chinese company, with its seat in Nanshan district, Shenzen, the Egyptian General Organization for Import and Export Control, and an Egyptian company, with its seat in Heliopolis, Cairo.

2. Facts and instance ruling

The Appellant filed a lawsuit against the Chinese Company and the Second Appellee at Cairo Court of Appeal, requesting a judgment obliging the First Appellee to pay the amount of ten million Egyptian pounds as monetary and moral compensation resulting from the contract’s termination. The Appellant asserted that it had been assigned as the sole agent of the First Appellee in Egypt, for selling ultrasonic wave devices, and that it was unexpectedly notified by the First Appellee that the contract was terminated.

The first instance court ordered that the lawsuit be dismissed for lack of proper service to the Chinese company. The Appellant claimed that service had been effected through the Public Prosecution Office, following all necessary procedures through diplomatic channels in China, pursuant to article 13 (9) of the Egyptian Civil and Commercial Code of Procedure (CCCP), and by notification of the claim to the first Appellee’s legal representative (Commercial Agent) pursuant to article 13 (5) CCCP.

Article 13 (9) CCCP states that, if no international treaty or a specific provision of law is applicable, service shall be made by delivering the documents to the public prosecutor, who then forwards them to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to be delivered through diplomatic channels to the country of destination. Art. 13 (5) CCCP stipulates that, if service is addressed to a foreign company that has a branch or agent in Egypt, domestic service shall be effected (i.e. to the branch or agent located in Egypt).

3. The Supreme Court ruling

The Court of Cassation referred initially to Art. 13 (5) & (9) CCCP. It then mentioned Articles 3 & 14 of the Judicial Cooperation Treaty on Civil, Commercial and Criminal Matters between the Arab Republic of Egypt and The People’s Republic of China, signed on 21/4/1994, which stipulates that: “For the purposes of requesting and providing judicial assistance, parties shall communicate through their central authorities unless otherwise provided for in this Treaty. Central authorities of both parties are represented by the Ministries of Justice. Both parties shall serve judicial documents in civil and commercial matters pursuant to Hague Convention on the service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in civil or Commercial Matters concluded on 15/11/1965’’.

Based on the above, the Court of Cassation decided as follows: The Hague Convention exclusively stipulates methods, means and conditions for serving judicial documents unless agreed between the Parties on other methods pursuant to Article 11 of the same Convention, and obliges the judge to stay proceedings, save when a document was served by a method prescribed by the internal law of the State addressed, or when the document was actually served to the defendant in its residence under one of the methods prescribed in the Convention in sufficient time to enable him to arrange for his defence.

Since the legislator has permitted in Article 13(5) CCCP that foreign companies may be served by delivering a copy to its branch or agent in Egypt, their existence is considered a question of fact under the exclusive competence of the court. Accordingly, the Court of Cassation confirmed the instance decision, which ruled that service made to the first Appellee through the third appellee (Trade And Importing Company in Heliopolis), ostensibly being its commercial agent and representative, was improper, since the representative of the latter denied its relation with the first Appellee.

Finally, delivering the document to the Public Prosecution in order to take necessary actions towards service by diplomatic channels is not sufficient, because notice was not delivered / served to the first Appellee.

4. Conclusion

The judgment offers a valuable insight into the practice of Egyptian courts in regards to notification of documents abroad. It is noteworthy that the Court of Cassation examined carefully all legal regimes related to the subject matter: It referred to domestic law (CCCP), the Egyptian – Chinese bilateral treaty, and the multilateral convention, to which the bilateral convention refers. The question whether service of process abroad was necessary or not was decided on a substantive level: Given that the appellant failed to demonstrate that the third appellee was the representative of the Chinese company, the court rightfully considered that service solely to the local Transmission Authority through the Prosecutor’s Office does not suffice. Hence, whenever the Hague Service Convention applies, the Court of Cassation dismisses fictitious service (remise au parquet).

News

Book Discussion: The private side of transforming our world – UN sustainable development goals 2030 and the role of private international law

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Dec 7, 14:00-17:00

Asser Instituut and Online.

More Information and registration here.

Virtual Workshop (in German) on December 6: Christiane Wendehorst on Crypto-Assets in Private International Law

On Tuesday, December 6, 2022, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its 28th monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 11:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. (CEST). Prof. Christiane Wendehorst (University of Vienna) will speak, in German, about the topic

Crypto-Assets in Private International Law

The presentation will be followed by open discussion. All are welcome. More information and sign-up here.

If you want to be invited to these events in the future, please write to veranstaltungen@mpipriv.de.

Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP) No 3/2022: Abstracts

 The third issue of 2022 of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP, published by CEDAM) was just released. It features:

Giovanna Adinolfi, Professor at the University Milan, States’ Economic Measures to Counter Cyberattacks: Disentangling Their (Il)Legitimacy under International Law

The present contribution draws the attention on measures adopted by States to tackle actual or potential cross-border cyberattacks and that may have an impact on international commercial transactions. With a look to the more recent practice, the distinction is proposed between response measures (addressed against those held responsible for cyber operations that have caused an injury to the target State) and anticipatory or preventive measures (intended to prevent cyberattacks). Against this backdrop, the issue is addressed as to whether both types of measures represent international unlawful acts which find a justification within the international legal order.

Bruno Barel, Associate Professor at the University of Padua, Le notificazioni nello spazio giuridico europeo dopo il regolamento (UE) 2020/1784 (Service of Documents in the European Judicial Area after Regulation (EU) 2020/1784) [in Italian]

The second recast of the uniform rules on the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters introduced three innovative elements of particular relevance to the original framework, that dates back to the year 2000 (and which had already been subjected to recasting in 2007). Two of these novel provisions relate to the technological evolution of remote communications, and they consist of the institution of a common IT system for the telematic transmission of acts and documents between national authorities and of the – albeit timid and prudent – opening to direct forms of service by electronic means between individuals, thus surpassing the mediation of authorities. The third – and equally careful – novel provision attempts to reinforce the assistance between the authorities of different Member States aimed at identifying the address of the person to be served. Moreover, the most innovative part of the regulation will be fully operational only in 2025, in expectation of the full development of the decentralised IT system.

The following comments are also featured:

Pietro Franzina, Professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart – Milan,  Il ruolo degli Incoterms nella determinazione convenzionale del luogo della consegna: note critiche sulla giurisprudenza della Cassazione (The Role of Incoterms in the Determination by Agreement of the Place of Delivery: Critical Notes on the Case Law of the Italian Court of Cassation) [in Italian]

By a recent ruling (Order No 20633 of 28 June 2022), the Italian Supreme Court addressed the issue of the role played by Incoterms in the determination of the place of delivery of the goods for the purposes of Article 7 No 1(b), of Regulation No 1215/2012 of 20 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. As in previous rulings on the same subject, the Supreme Court was reluctant to regard the incorporation of Incoterms into a contract as signalling the parties’ agreement on the place of delivery. Specifically, the Supreme Court dismissed the claim by the Italian seller that the contract in question had been agreed “EXW” its own premises in Italy: the Court acknowledged that the goods had in fact been picked up by a carrier hired by the buyer at the seller’s premises, but found that the parties had failed to agree “clearly” on the place of delivery, as it could not be established that the parties had unequivocally intended to make the seller’s premises the place of delivery of the goods for the purposes of jurisdiction. The paper contends that the approach of the Italian Supreme Court contradicts the principles laid down by the Court of Justice in Car Trim and Electrosteel. The approach is unpersuasive in two respects. First, the Supreme Court regards the parties’ agreement on the place of delivery as a derogation from the “general rule” whereby delivery must be understood to be due, for jurisdictional purposes, at the place of final destination of the goods (whereas, according to the Court of Justice, the latter is just a residual rule, which applies where the parties have failed to agree on the place of delivery). Secondly, the Supreme Court disregards the rules of interpretation adopted by the International Chamber of Commerce to describe the parties’ obligations under the different Incoterms, and follows, instead, its own understanding of the Incoterms concerned: actually, the Supreme Court asserted in the decision reviewed that, “as a rule”, the Incoterm EXW only relates to the allocation of the costs of transport and the transfer of risk, and has no bearing as such on the determination of jurisdiction.

Michele Grassi, Research Fellow at the University of Milan, Riconoscimento del rapporto di filiazione omogenitoriale e libertà di circolazione all’interno dell’Unione europea (Recognition of Same-Sex Parentage and Freedom of Movement within the European Union) [in Italian]

This paper aims to provide a critical analysis of the judgment rendered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Pancharevo case, where the Court was confronted with the sensitive issue of same-sex parenthood and its recognition in the context of free movement rights within the Union. The investigation focuses on the functional approach adopted by the Court of Justice in the application of the mutual recognition principle, and its possible implications on the recognition of same-sex parenthood for wider purposes, not directly linked to the exercise of free movement rights

Finally, this issue features the following book review by Francesca C. Villata, Professor at the University of Milan: Jason Grant ALLEN, Peter HUNN (eds.), Smart Legal Contracts. Computable Law in Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2022, pp. XIV-513.