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CJEU Rules on jurisdiction in actions brought by the injured party against the insurer and the insured (BT v Seguros Catalana Occidente, EB, Case C-708/20)
In its Judgment BT v Seguros Catalana Occidente, EB, Case C-708/20, rendered on 9 December 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted Article 13 Brussels Ibis Regulation. Amongst other things, the provision at hand takes into consideration direct actions of the injured party against the insurer domiciled in a Member State. Two main scenarios are taken into account. Either the injured party starts proceedings against the insured, and the insurer joins proceedings at a second moment, or the damaged party brings a direct action against the insurer. In this last case, the court having jurisdiction over the insurer shall have jurisdiction over the insured as well (that is, the contractually weaker party).
In Seguros Catalana Occidente, the damaged party, domiciled in the UK, spent some time at a holiday accommodation in Spain, and was there injured due to a fall on the patio. The insurance company of the immovable property was Spanish, and the insured/owner of the premises where the accident occurred, and who previously entered into an accommodation contract allowing the stay of the injured party, was domiciled in Ireland. By making use of its own forum actoris under Article 13(2) Brussels Ibis Regulation, the injured party started proceedings against the insurance company before British courts. British courts were also seised by the injured party for an action in damages against the insured party/owner of the property, who contested jurisdiction arguing that Article 13(3) Brussels Ibis was not applicable as a claim for damages arising from alleged negligence in the provision of a holiday accommodation would not constitute an ‘insurance claim’ (para. 18).
Whereas the nature of the injured person’s direct action against the insurer under national law is irrelevant for the purposes of qualifying an action as falling within the notion of ‘insurance matters’ (as already noted in C-463/06), the CJEU accedes to the interpretation that a claim against an insured for damages arising from alleged negligence in the provision of holiday accommodation does not fall within the scope of Article 13(3) Brussels Ibis Regulation, rather it being a matter of tort. For the section on insurance matters to be applicable, ‘the action before the court must necessarily raise a question relating to rights and obligations arising out of an insurance relationship between the parties to that action’ (para. 30). In other words, ‘a claim brought by the injured person against the policyholder … cannot be considered to be an insurance claim merely because that claim and the claim made directly against the insurer have their origin in the same facts or there is a dispute between the insurer and the injured person relating to the validity or effect of the insurance policy’ (para. 31).
In the CJEU’s eye, allowing the injured party to bring an action unrelated to insurance matters against the insured on the basis of Article 13(3) Brussels Ibis would circumvent the rules of that regulation concerning jurisdiction in matters of tort and lead to the effect that damaged parties could start proceedings against insurers before their own forum actoris under Article 13(2) ‘in order, subsequently, to bring an action against the insured, as a third party to those proceedings, on the basis of Article 13(3)’ (para. 36).
JPIL-SMU Virtual Conference on Conflicts of Jurisdiction on 23 to 24 June 2022 and postponement of the biennial JPIL Conference until 2023
The Journal of Private International Law and the Singapore Management University will hold a virtual conference on 23 to 24 June 2022. The theme of the conference is Conflicts of Jurisdiction. The conference is designed to assist with the ongoing work of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on Jurisdiction. The speakers are leading private international law scholars and experts, many of whom are directly involved in the ongoing negotiations at the HCCH. Registration to attend the conference will open nearer the time.
The biennial Journal of Private International Law Conference has been delayed until 2023 in order to enable it to take place in person at the Singapore Management University. This conference will be based on a call for papers. We will announce further details in due course.
Conference on Conflicts of Jurisdiction
23-24 June 2022
Organised by the Journal of Private International Law and the Singapore Management University
(SGT=Singapore Time; BST=British Summer Time)
Day 1
Session 1 Thursday 23 June 2022 – The Common Law Approaches to Conflicts of Jurisdiction
Chair: Professor Jonathan Harris (QC) (King’s College London)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 18.00-18.05 SGT
11.00-11.05 BST |
Professor Jonathan Harris (QC) (King’s College London) | Welcome by Chair |
| 18.05-18.10 SGT
11.05-11.10 BST |
Dean of Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University | Opening comments |
| 18.10-18.35 SGT
11.10-11.35 BST |
Professor Campbell McLachlan QC (Victoria University, New Zealand) | Overview of some key issues in relation to conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 18.35-19.00 SGT
11.35-12.00 BST |
Dr Ardavan Arzandeh (National University of Singapore) | The Scottish, English and Singapore approach of forum non conveniens in conflicts of jurisdiction cases |
| 19.00-19.25 SGT
12.00-12.25 BST |
Professor Ronald Brand (University of Pittsburgh) | The US approach to forum non conveniens in conflicts of jurisdiction cases |
| 19.25-19.50 SGT
12.25-12.50 BST |
Professor Mary Keyes (Griffith University) | The Australian approach to forum non conveniens in conflicts of jurisdiction cases |
| 19.50-20.05 SGT
12.50-13.05 BST |
Q&A | |
| 20.05-20.20 SGT
13.05-13.20 BST |
Break |
Session 2 Thursday 23 June 2022 – Civilian Approaches to Conflicts of Jurisdiction
Chair: Professor Kei Takeshita (Hitotsubashi University and Chair of the HCCH Working Group on Jurisdiction)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 20.20-20.25 SGT
13.20-13.25 BST |
Professor Kei Takeshita (Hitotsubashi University and Chair of the HCCH Working Group on Jurisdiction) | Welcome by Chair |
| 20.25-20.50 SGT
13.25-13.50 BST |
Professor Tanja Domej (University of Zurich) | The EU and Lugano Convention approaches to conflicts of jurisdiction for internal cases (ie within the EU or between Contracting States to the Lugano Convention) |
| 20.50-21.15 SGT
13.50-14.15 BST |
Professor Geert Van Calster (KU Leuven) | The EU approach to conflicts of jurisdiction with non-EU and Lugano States (Articles 33 and 34 of Brussels Ia Regulation)
|
| 21.15-21.40 SGT
14.15-14.40 BST |
Professors Nadia De Araujo and Marcelo De Nardi (Brazil) | Latin American approaches to conflicts of jurisdiction in international cases
|
| 21.40-22.05 SGT
14.40-15.05 BST |
Professor Zheng (Sophia) Tang (University of Wuhan and Newcastle University) | Chinese and some other civilian approaches in Asia to conflicts of jurisdiction
|
| 22.05-22.20 SGT
15.05-15.20 BST |
Q&A |
Day 2
Session 3 Friday 24 June 2022 – Work at the Hague Conference on Private International Law on Conflicts of Jurisdiction
Chair: Professor Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 18.00-18.05 SGT
11.00-11.05 BST |
Professor Paul Beaumont (University of Stirling) | Welcome by Chair |
| 18.05-18.30 SGT
11.05-11.30 BST |
Professor Fausto Pocar (University of Milan) | The work on the Judgments Project in the Hague in the 1990s culminating in the interim text of 2001 |
| 18.30-18.55 SGT
11.30-11.55 BST |
Professor David McClean (University of Sheffield) | Lessons from family law notably the provisions on conflicts of jurisdiction including transfers of jurisdiction in the Child Protection Convention 1996 |
| 18.55-19.20 SGT
11.55-12.20 BST |
Dr João Ribeiro-Bidaoui (First Secretary, HCCH) | The revived Jurisdiction Project in the Hague – from Experts’ Group to Working Group – possible solutions on conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 19.20-19.45 SGT
12.20-12.45 BST |
Professor Matthias Lehmann (University of Vienna) | Challenges and opportunities for a new binding global instrument on conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 19.45-20.00 SGT
12.45-13.00 BST |
Q&A | |
| 20.00-20.15 SGT
13.00-13.15 BST |
Break |
Session 4 Friday 24 June 2022 – Work at the Hague Conference on Private International Law on Conflicts of Jurisdiction (continued)
Chair: Dr Adeline Chong (Singapore Management University)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 20.15-20.20 SGT
13.15-13.20 BST |
Dr Adeline Chong (Singapore Management University) | Welcome by Chair |
| 20.20-20.45 SGT
13.20-13.45 BST |
Professor Trevor Hartley (London School of Economics) | Balancing forum non conveniens and lis pendens (same parties and same subject matter) in a new global instrument on conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 20.45-21.10 SGT
13.45-14.10 BST |
Professor Yeo Tiong Min (Singapore Management University) | Dealing with related actions in a new global instrument on conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 21.10-21.35 SGT
14.10-14.35 BST |
Professor Franco Ferrari (NYU) | Conflicts between courts and arbitration in international cases and how to resolve them in a new global instrument on conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 21.35-22.00 SGT
14.35-15.00 BST |
Justice Anselmo Reyes (Singapore International Commercial Court and Doshisha University) | International commercial courts’ approaches to conflicts of jurisdiction and how they fit with a new global instrument on conflicts of jurisdiction |
| 22.00-22.15 SGT
15.00-15.15 BST |
Q&A | |
| 22.15-22.20 SGT
15.15-15.20 BST |
Professor Jonathan Harris, Professor Paul Beaumont, Dr Adeline Chong | Closing remarks |
2021 UNCITRAL ASIA PACIFIC DAY UNCITRAL RCAP-UM JOINT CONFERENCE 2021 CONQUERING THE COVID: ENHANCING ECONOMIC RECOVERY THROUGH HARMONIZATION OF LAW GOVERNING MSMES
On 17 December 2021, the UNCITRAL RCAPUM Joint Conference, an event celebrating the 2021 UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day, is scheduled in the University of Macau (Macau SAR) under the title “Conquering the COVID: Enhancing Economic Recovery through Harmonization of Law Governing MSMEs”. This is the annual conference rising from the successful cooperation between the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RCAP) and the University of Macau since 2014. The UNCITRAL RCAP-UM Joint Conference 2021 intends to bring together a group of distinguished experts and scholars to analyze contemporary issues related to the current agenda of UNCITRAL impacting MSMEs and the legal instruments resulting from its previous works. The conference will focus on the following tracks: 1. MSMEs formation: simplification of practices in business registration and transformation of business establishment procedures. 2. Creating congenial legal environment for MSMEs in special economic zones through legal harmonization: regional developments including the Guangdong-Macao in-depth Cooperation Zone. 3. MSME Financing: Financial support, access to credit, and sustainable finance for MSMEs & MSE insolvency, further efforts of UNCITRAL to simplify insolvency procedures, and unify insolvency law. 4. Promotion of viable dispute resolution mechanisms for MSMEs through adaptation of arbitration and mediation. 5. Contemporary legal developments facilitating the establishment and the successful operation of the MSMEs.
As the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) seeks to progressively harmonize and modernize trade laws by preparing and promoting the adoption and use of legislative and nonlegislative instruments in several key areas of commercial law. UNCITRAL RCAP (Incheon, Republic of Korea) was inaugurated in 2012 to promote the work of UNCITRAL in the Asia-Pacific region and provide technical assistance to the states concerning the implementation and uniform interpretation of UNCITRAL texts, thereby diminishing legal obstacles to global commercial transactions. University of Macau, founded in 1981, is the leading comprehensive public university in Macau. It is a resourceful and ambitious educational institution with unique Sino-European heritage and global connections. In 2017, it was ranked within the top-50 universities in Asia by the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings. It has also been ranked within the top-100 Asian University Rankings in QS World University Rankings. The Faculty of Law of the University of Macau, responsible for organizing the conference, is the oldest law school in Macau. With its diversemultilingual programs and teaching staff of international background, the Faculty has been playing a vital role in promoting legal education and research in Macau and contributing to the build-up of the local legal system. In addition, the Faculty of Law has also successfully held many high-level international conferences and meetings on a range of legal topics.
The registration for the conference is free of charge. Participants should complete registration in advance and obtain confirmation to secure a place at the conference. The deadline for registration is 15 December 2021. The conference will be held on 17 December 2021 in a mixed format (online and offline). The speakers and participants from outside Macau are invited to take part in the conference via Zoom. The conference will start at 9:30 a.m. (Macau time) and may end late in the evening to accommodate speakers and participants from different time zones.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT US AT LAW.UMUNCITRAL@UM.EDU.MO