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Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP) No 4/2021: Abstracts
The fourth issue of 2021 of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP, published by CEDAM) was just released. It features:
Antonietta Di Blase, (formerly) Professor at the University “Roma Tre”, Genitorialità della coppia omosessuale e riconoscimento dello status filiationis nell’ordinamento italiano (Same-Sex Couples and Recognition of Parentage in the Italian Legal System) [in Italian]
This paper addresses the recognition of the status of the child when a same-sex couple accesses techniques of assisted reproduction abroad. According to recent European and Italian Constitutional case law, a form of legal recognition in favor of both partners is due when at least one of them is genetically linked to the child, on account of the duty to grant the child’s identity within a family. The need and the legal form of recognition has to be assessed in the light of the interests of the child, which should prevail over national rules limiting the use of medically assisted reproduction.
Luigi Fumagalli, Professor at the University of Milan, Problemi vecchi e nuovi nella cooperazione per l’assunzione delle prove all’estero in materia civile: la rifusione della disciplina nell’Unione europea (Old and New Problems in the Cooperation for the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil Matters: The Recasting of the EU Regime) [in Italian]
The analysis of Regulation (EU) 2020/1783 of 25 November 2020 provides an opportunity to review the overall regulatory framework of cooperation in the taking of evidence applicable in the relations between the Member States of the European Union, to underline the elements of novelty or to detect the critical issues that still exist. It shows that the mechanisms envisaged appear to be suitable for achieving the objectives which the uniform framework sets itself: they oblige the authorities of the Member States to cooperate, almost without exception; the instruments by which this is achieved are shown to be capable of allowing, in reasonably short terms and without excessive formalism, the taking, in a manner which is absolutely tolerable for the Member State in which it is carried out, of evidence that can be used in the proceedings for which it is required. The main novelty profile consists in the wide space left to the use of communication technologies for the implementation of judicial assistance mechanisms: they mark the distance with respect to the oldest communication tools and touch each “segment” of the overall activity through which evidence is taken in a State other than that of the trial. However, the framework defined by Regulation 2020/1783 continues to suffer from certain limitations. In the first place, one cannot fail to highlight a series of formal (relating to the Italian version of the text) or conceptual inaccuracies. Alongside this, it should be noted the strong constraints that derive, for the implementation of the assistance procedures brought by the Regulation, from domestic procedural law, which the European legislation has not modified (nor has it intended to modify). Within these limits, the rules laid down appear, however, to take into account the complexity of the procedural mechanisms involved in the implementation of international judicial assistance procedures, and mark a step forward in the integration between the systems, laying the foundations for further developments.
Alberto Malatesta, Professor at the University “Cattaneo LIUC” in Castellanza, Circolazione delle sentenze tra Unione europea e Regno Unito: a favore di una cooperazione in seno alla Conferenza dell’Aja (Circulation of Judgments between the European Union and the United Kingdom: In Support of a Cooperation in the Framework of the Hague Conference) [in Italian]
This essay outlines the various options for a future cooperation between the EU and the UK in the field of recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. After examining some alternatives, it focuses especially on the 2007 Lugano Convention, which appears to be a good tool for this purpose. However, pursuant to Art. 72(3) of the Convention itself, the EU has recently objected to the UK’s application of accession. The Author explains the reasons why the EU’s position is appropriate from the point of view of the Member States’ interests and upholds the Hague Conference of Private International Law as the best venue where cooperation between the EU and the UK can be strengthened.
The following comments are also featured:
Silvia Marino, Associate Professor at the University of Insubria, La climate change litigation nella prospettiva del diritto internazionale privato e processuale (Climate Change Litigation from the Perspective of Private International and Procedural Law) [in Italian]
The present article tackles the classic private international law issues in the field of climate change litigation. The introduction offers a definition of climate change litigation according to the current case-law. The article then proceeds to investigate international law commitments on climate change and environmental protection, noting that no specific international conventions exist on the subject-matter. Therefore, the EU system within the civil judicial cooperation appears relevant. Against this background, Regulations EU No 1215/2012 and No 864/2007 are examined in the light of the climate change litigation, stressing their potential solutions and problems within this field. In this framework, some recent suggestions and proposals for the improvement of the private international law systems in the human rights’ field are discussed. Finally, the concluding remarks pay due attention to the efficiencies of the current EU system, yearning for a more articulated international cooperation in all the possible involved facets.
Emilia Maria Magrone, Researcher at the University of Bari, Pluralità di fonti per la tutela di un minore straniero presente in Italia e necessità di un loro coordinamento (Plurality of Sources in the Protection of a Foreign Child Present in Italy and Need for Coordination) [in Italian]
This article analyses a decree issued by the Court of Appeal of Bari rejecting the complaint of an Albanian citizen against a previous decree of the Family Tribunal of Bari. The Tribunal had ordered the forfeiture of the woman from parental responsibility towards her young child (an Albanian citizen, as well) and other measures for the protection of the child. The cross-border features of the case have provided the opportunity for highlighting the different regulatory sources likely to be applied in the field of protection of foreign children such as Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, the 1996 Hague Convention on the protection of children and the Italian rules on jurisdiction and applicable law, and to verify whether the relevant rules relating to both jurisdiction and applicable law have been correctly applied. In this regard, the decree of the Court of Appeal is substantially compliant with the best interests of the child, but raises some perplexities for the failure to ascertain the habitual residence of the child and consequently for having applied the internal rule on tacit acceptance of jurisdiction rather than Article 8 of Regulation No 2201/2003. Another unclear aspect of the Court’s ruling is that it did not specify on the basis of which conflict-of-law rule Italian law was applied.
In addition to the foregoing, in this issue Fausto Pocar, Professor Emeritus at the University of Milan, penned a moving tribute in memoriam of Professor Alegría Borrás.
Finally, this issue features the following book review by Francesca C. Villata, Professor at the University of Milan: Andrew DICKINSON, Edwin PEEL (eds), A Conflict of Laws Companion. Essays in Honour of Adrian Briggs, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021, pp. XLIX-377.
Opinion of Advocate General Szpunar of 24 February 2022, Case C-501/20 – M P A v L C D N M T, on the concept of ‘habitual residence’ for Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, Regulation (EC) No 4/2009, and the impact of Article 47 of the EU Charta on Fundamental Rights
Today, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar delivered his Opinion in the above mentioned case on the concept of „habitual residence“ under Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000, as well as under Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations, as well as impacts of Article 47 of the EU Charta on Fundamental Rights in relation to a forum necessitatis as referred to in Article 7 of Regulation No 4/2009.
Opening by a quote from the General Course of 1986 by Paul Lagarde for the Hague Academy of International Law „ ‘The principle of proximity … is nearest to life and is a title of nobility. It carries with it a lesson in modesty by teaching us that no political will, no judge, however pure his or her intention, can claim jurisdiction, in the long term, to rule according to his or her laws on life relationships that are outside his or her discretion.’, the Opinion results, after careful deliberation, in the following elements for a concept of „habitual residence“:
„1. The spouses’ status as contract staff of the European Union in a third State is not a decisive factor in determining the place of habitual residence, whether in the meaning of Articles 3 and 8 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000, or Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations.
2. It is not possible, for the purposes of determining the children’s place of habitual residence, within the meaning of Article 8 of Regulation No 2201/2003, only to take into consideration criteria such as the mother’s nationality, the fact that she resided in a Member State before her marriage, the nationality of the minor children and their birth in that Member State.
3. With regard to the application for divorce, if the court seised cannot establish its jurisdiction on the basis of Articles 3 to 5 of Regulation No 2201/2003, Article 6 of that regulation then precludes the application of the residual clause contained in Article 7(1) of that regulation and, consequently, the defendant – a national of a Member State – can be sued only before the courts of that Member State.
So far as concerns parental responsibility, if the court seised does not have jurisdiction under Articles 8 to 13 of Regulation No 2201/2003, Article 14 of that regulation applies regardless of the children’s place of habitual residence and the nationality of the defendant.
4. Article 7 of Regulation No 4/2009 must be interpreted as meaning that the state of necessity may result from exceptional, very serious or emergency situations such that proceedings cannot reasonably be brought or conducted or would be impossible in a third State with which the dispute is closely connected. Those conditions are met, in particular, when the court of the third State with which the dispute is closely connected refuses to exercise jurisdiction or there are abusive procedural requirements, when, due to civil unrest or natural disasters, it is dangerous to go to certain places and the third State’s normal activity is affected, and, lastly, when access to justice is unduly hampered, in particular when legal representation is prohibitively expensive, when the length of proceedings is excessively long, when there is serious corruption within the judicial system, or when there are failures concerning the fundamental requirements for a fair hearing or systemic failures. The parties are not required to demonstrate that they initiated or attempted to initiate proceedings in that State with a negative result.
5. Articles 7 and 14 of Regulation No 2201/2003, relating to subsidiary jurisdiction in matters of divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment respectively, and Article 7 of Regulation No 4/2009, with regard to the forum necessitatis in matters relating to maintenance, must be interpreted by the court seised in the light of Article 47 of the Charter. National rules on residual jurisdiction, including those relating to the forum necessitatis, must be applied in the light of that same article.“
These findings have emerged from a reference by the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona (Provincial Court, Barcelona), by judgment of 15 September 2020, in which no less than six rather detailed questions were raised (para.) 26, with a view to the following facts (paras. 17 et seq.):
„17. M P A, a citizen of Spanish nationality, and LC D N M T, a citizen of Portuguese nationality, were married on 25 August 2010 at the Spanish Embassy in Guinea-Bissau. They have two minor children, born on 10 October 2007 and 30 July 2012 in Manresa (Barcelona, Spain). The children have dual Spanish and Portuguese nationality.
18. The spouses lived in Guinea-Bissau from August 2010 to February 2015 and then moved to Lomé (Togo). Following their de facto separation, in July 2018, the applicant in the main proceedings and the children continued to reside in the marital home in Togo and the spouse resided in a hotel in that country.
19. The spouses are both employed by the European Commission as contract staff of the European Union in its delegation in Togo. The referring court states that contract staff – servants of the European Union in the EU Member States – have the status of diplomatic staff of the European Union only in the country of employment.
20. On 6 March 2019, the applicant in the main proceedings brought an application before the Juzgado de Primera Instancia de Manresa (Court of First Instance, Manresa, Spain) for divorce and sought the dissolution of the matrimonial property, the determination of the regime and procedures for exercising custody and parental responsibility over the minor children, the grant of a maintenance allowance for the children and rules for the use of the family home in Lomé. She also requested the adoption of interim measures.
21. The defendant in the main proceedings claimed that the Juzgado de Primera Instancia de Manresa (Court of First Instance, Manresa) did not have international jurisdiction. By order of 9 September 2019, the court declared that it lacked international jurisdiction to hear the case on the ground that the parties were not habitually resident in Spain.
22. The applicant in the main proceedings brought an appeal against that decision before the referring court. She claims that both spouses enjoy diplomatic status as accredited servants of the European Union in the country of employment and that this status extends to the minor children.“
New Book: Blurry Boundaries of Public and Private International Law
A new book entitled Blurry Boundaries of Public and Private International Law: Towards Convergence or Divergent Still? and co-edited by Dr Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit (of the University of Tasmania) and Dharmita Prasad (Jindal Global Law School, O.P Jindal Global University) has just been released by Springer.
The description states that the book examines interactions and discusses intersectionality between public international law and private international law. With contributions from scholars from the USA, Canada, Australia, India, and the EU, this book brings out truly international perspectives on the topic. The contributions are arranged in four themes — Public international law and private international law: historical and theoretical considerations of the boundary; Harmonisation of private international law by public international law instruments: evaluation of process, problems and effectiveness; Case studies of intersectionality between public international law and private international law; and Future trends in the relationship between public international law and private international law.
The Foreword by Ralf Michaels is followed by these chapters:
Chapter 1: Public International Law and Private International Law: Setting scene for intersectionality – Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Dharmita Prasad
Chapter 2 – Private International Law’s origins as a branch of the universal law of nations – Marco Basile
Chapter 3 – Recognition – A story of how the two worlds meet – Dulce Lopes
Chapter 4 – Forum non conveniens in Australia – how much weight should be given to comity? – Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit
Chapter 5 – International rule of law and its relation to harmonisation – Dharmita Prasad
Chapter 6 – A quest for the missing link in the resolution of international investment disputes affecting host states’ citizens under public and private international law – Richard Mlambe
Chapter 7 – Visualising the role of international rule of law in claim funding by third parties – Gautam Mohanty
Chapter 8 – Article 79 CISG: Testing the effectiveness of the CISG in international trade through the lens of the COVID-19 outbreak – Nevena Jevremovic
Chapter 9 – Determination of legal effects of COVID-19 related export bans and restrictions on international sale of goods contracts: Interplay between public and private international law – Burcu Yuksel Ripley and Ulku Halatci Ulusoy
Chapter 10 – Private International Law vs Public International Law: Competing complimentary intersectionality in CISG Article 79? Peter Mazzacano
Chapter 11 – Blocking Statutes: Private individuals finding themselves in interstate conflicts – Marcel Gernert
Chapter 12 – When public international law meets EU private international law: an insight on the European Court of Justice case law dealing with immunity vis-à-vis the application of the Brussels Regime – Maria Barral Martinez
Chapter 13 – Children’s rights law and private international law: What do referencing patterns reveal about their relation? – Tine Van Hof
Chapter 14 – Ringfencing data? – Perspectives on sovereignty and localisation from India – Sai Ramani Garimella and Parthiban B
Chapter 15 – Private international law and public international law – increasing convergence or divergence as usual? – Poomintr Sooksripaisarnkit and Dharmita Prasad
For further details of the book please refer to the respective Springer webpage.
It is worthy of mention that the editors are in the process of planning an online “book launch” event at some point within the second quarter of 2022. Details once finalised will also be announced in this portal.