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Call for papers: Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law
Your articles on private (and public) aspects of European and International Law may now be submitted for publication in Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law. The BYEIL also welcomes comments, book reviews and notes on recent case law.
The currently open call for papers welcomes submissions falling within the above description, as well as ones related to the CISG marking the 40th anniversary of the convention. The call, with the contact details, is available BYEIL call for papers 2020.
Useful reading in times of corona and just released: The Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-Link under the HCCH 1970 Evidence Convention
Yesterday the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) announced the publication of the Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-Link under the 1970 Evidence Convention. It is available in both English and French.
Needless to say that this publication comes in very handy in times of COVID-19 as borders are closed and travel is hampered. Hopefully, it will encourage Contracting States and everyone involved in cross-border litigation to make further use of videoconference in the taking of evidence abroad.
See our previous post here for some quick thoughts on the Guide. And in this regard, see pages 46 to 49 of the Guide. See also its Glossary; I include two main concepts below:
Direct taking of evidence
“The procedure of taking of evidence whereby the authority in the Requesting State before which proceedings are pending conducts the witness / expert examination directly.”
Indirect taking of evidence
“The procedure of taking of evidence whereby an authority in the Requested State in whose territory the witness / expert is located conducts the witness / expert examination.”
It is the direct taking of evidence that video-link is usually meant to facilitate but of course it can also assist in the indirect taking of evidence (e.g. the parties and representatives may be present by video-link).
The HCCH news item is available here.
The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Prospects for Judicial Cooperation in Civil Matters between the EU and Third Countries – Conference on 25 and 26 September 2020, University of Bonn, Germany – Final Programme
Dear CoL Readers,
While we are all deeply concerned about the still growing dimensions of the coronavirus pandemic, we did not want to give up working on the programme of our conference.
Thanks to the HCCH, the Bonn PIL colleagues and our distinguished speakers, there is now a fantastic programme we would like to bring to your attention in this post (see below).
Meanwhile, we will closely follow the instructions of the University of Bonn as well as the German local and federal governments and travel restrictions in other countries to see whether the conference can take place on site. We have not yet given up optimism in this respect. Yet, safety must be first. This is why we are setting up structures for a video conference via zoom in case we need it. We assume that all of you would agree to proceeding via zoom if necessary. We will take a final and corona risk-averse decision on this during July and keep you posted. Please do not hesitate to register with us (sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de) if you wish to be updated by email.
Looking forward to seeing you in Bonn in September!
***
Brexit has become reality – one more reason to think about the EU’s Judicial Cooperation with third states:
The largest proportion of EU economic growth in the 21st century is expected to arise in trade with third countries. This is why the EU is building up trade relations with many states and other regional integration communities in all parts of the world. The latest example is the EU-MERCOSUR Association Agreement concluded on 28 June 2019. With the United Kingdom’s exit of the Union on 31 January 2020, extra-EU trade with neighboring countries will further increase in importance. Another challenge for the EU is China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, a powerful global development strategy that includes overland as well as sea routes in more than 100 states around the globe.
The increasing volume of trade with third states will inevitably lead to a rise in the number and importance of commercial disputes. This makes mechanisms for their orderly and efficient resolution indispensable. China is already setting up infrastructures for commercial dispute resolution alongside its belts and roads. In contrast, there seems to be no elaborate EU strategy on judicial cooperation in civil matters with countries outside of the Union, despite the DG Trade’s realisation that “trade is no longer just about trade”. Especially, there is no coherent plan for establishing mechanisms for the coordination of cross-border dispute resolution and the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments. This is a glaring gap in the EU’s policy making in external trade relations.
This is why the Bonn group of PIL colleagues – Moritz Brinkmann, Nina Dethloff, Matthias Lehmann, Philipp Reuss, and Matthias Weller – will host a conference on Friday and Saturday, 25 and 26 September 2020, at the University of Bonn that seeks to explore ways in which judicial cooperation in civil matters between the EU and third countries can be improved by the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention as an important driver, if not game changer, of legal certainty in cross-border commercial relations.
The list of speakers includes internationally leading scholars, practitioners and experts from the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), the European Commission (DG Trade, DG Justice), and and the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz)
The Conference is co-hosted by the HCCH as one of the first European events for discussing the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention. The Conference will be further supported by the Zentrum für europäisches Wirtschaftsrecht at the University of Bonn and The International Litigation Exchange (ILEX).
The Organizers will kindly ask participants to contribute with € 100.- to the costs of the event (includes conference dinner).
Dates:
Friday, 25 September 2020, and Saturday, 26 September 2020.
Venue:
Friday:
Universitätsclub Bonn, Konviktstraße 9, D – 53113 Bonn
Saturday:
Main Auditorium (Aula), Hauptgebäude, Am Hof 21, 53113 Bonn
Registration: sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de
Registration Fee: € 100.-
To be transferred to the following account (you will receive confirmation of your registration only after payment was booked on this account):
Bonn Conference 2020
IBAN: DE71 5001 0517 0092 1751 07
BIC: INGDDEFF (ING-Diba Bank)
Programme
Friday, 25 September 2020
1.30 p.m. Registration
2 p.m. Welcome note
Prof Dr Wulf-Henning Roth, University of Bonn, Director of the Zentrum für Europäisches Wirtschaftsrecht (ZEW)
Dr Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary General of the HCCH (video message)
2.10 p.m. Part 1: Chances and Challenges of the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention
Chairs of Part 1: Prof Dr Matthias Weller / Prof Dr Matthias Lehmann
Keynote: Hague Conference’s Perspective and Experiences
Hans van Loon, Former Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, The Hague
- Scope of application
Prof Dr Xandra Kramer, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
- Judgments, Recognition, Enforcement
Prof Dr Wolfgang Hau, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Discussion
3.30 p.m. Coffee Break
4.00 p.m. Part II: Chances and Challenges of the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention
Chairs of Part 2: Prof Dr Nina Dethloff / Prof Dr Moritz Brinkmann
- Jurisdictional filters
Prof Dr Pietro Franzina, Catholic University of Milan
- Grounds for refusal
Prof Dr Francisco Garcimartín Alférez, University of Madrid
Discussion
5.30 p.m. Panel Discussion: Prospects for Judicial Cooperation in Civil Matters between the EU and Third Countries
Chairs of Part 3: Prof Dr Matthias Weller / Prof Dr Matthias Lehmann
Colin Brown, Unit Dispute Settlement and Legal Aspects of Trade Policy, DG Trade (tbc)
Andreas Stein, Head of Unit, DG JUST – A1 “Civil Justice”
Dr Jan Teubel, German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection
RA Dr Heiko Heppner, Attorney at Law (New York), Barrister and Solicitor Advocate (England and Wales), Chair of ILEX, Head of Dispute Resolution, Partner Dentons, Frankfurt
and perhaps more…
Discussion
7 p.m. Conference Dinner
Saturday, 26 September 2020
9.00 a.m. The context of the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention
Chairs of Part 4: Prof Dr Moritz Brinkmann / Prof Dr Philipp Reuss
- Lessons from the Genesis of the Judgments Project
Dr Ning Zhao, Senior Legal Officer, HCCH
- Relation to the HCCH 2005 Convention on Choice of Court Agreements
Prof Paul Beaumont, University of Stirling
- Relations to the Brussels Regime / Lugano Convention
Prof Marie-Elodie Ancel, Université Paris-Est Créteil
- Brexit…
Dr Pippa Rogerson, Reader in Private International Law, Faculty of Law, Cambridge
Discussion
11:00 a.m. Coffee Break
11:30 a.m. Chairs of Part 5: Prof Dr Nina Dethloff / Prof Dr Matthias Lehmann
- South European Neighbouring and Candidate Countries
Ass. Prof Dr Ilija Rumenov, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia
- MERCOSUR
Dr Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Director of Internationalisation, Senior Lecturer in International Private Law, School of Law, University of Edinburgh
- China (OBOR)
Prof Zheng (Sophia) Tang, University of Newcastle
- International Commercial Arbitration
Jose Angelo Estrella-Faria, Senior Legal Officer UNCITRAL Secretariat, International Trade Law Division Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations, Former Secretary General of UNIDROIT
Discussion
1.30 p.m. Closing Remarks
Dr João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, First Secretary, HCCH