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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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Review of: Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (Ferrari, Rosenfeld, & Kotuby Jr.)
Franco Ferrari, Friedrich Rosenfeld, & Charles T. Kotuby Jr., Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards: A Concise Guide to the New York Convention’s Uniform Regime
Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2023
178 pp. Hardback : £72 eBook: £20
Out Now: The Brussels I-bis Regulation (Lazic & Mankowski)
Vesna Lazic and Peter Mankowski, The Brussels I-bis Regulation: Interpretation and Implementation, Edward Elgar 2023 (602 pp)
This impressive book on the Brussels I-bis Regulation has just been published. It results from a project headed by Vesna Lazic (Utrecht University/T.M.C. Asser Institute) and the late Peter Mankowski (formerly University of Hamburg), in co-operation with Lucia Pein (Hamburg University), entitled ‘Regulation Brussels Ia: a standard for free circulation of judgments and mutual trust in the European Union’ (JUDGTRUST) funded by the European Commission’s Justice Programme (JUST-AG-2017/JUST-JCOO-AG-2017). The research for this project consisted among others of a questionnaire and national reports from all the Member States on the application of the Regulation. This book provides an extensive overview of the CJEU rulings and analysis of case law, which will be of great importance for future reference and the ongoing evaluation and revision of the Brussels I-bis Regulation.
Anchor defendants and exclusive distribution agreements under Article 8(1) of the Bru I bis Regulation – CJEU in Beverage City Polska, C-832/21
How does the anchor defendant mechanism operate in the realm of EU trade marks and actions on trade mark infringement? Is the existence of an exclusive distribution agreement between the defendants sufficient to rely on this mechanism? Those are the questions that the Court of justice addresses in its judgment handed down this morning in the case Beverage City Polska, C-832/21.