Tag Archive for: Rome III

Swiss Institute of Comparative Law: 24e Journée de DIP on International Family Law

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On Friday, 16th March 2012, the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (ISDC) will host the 24th Journée de droit international privé, organised in collaboration with the University of Lausanne (Center of Comparative Law, European Law and International Law – CDCEI). The conference will analyse the latest developments in international family law, under a Swiss and an EU perspective : “Derniers développements suisses et européens en droit international privé de la famille”. Here’s the programme:

Mot de bienvenue par les organisateurs (09h00 – 09h10):

  • Christina Schmid (Directrice à l’Institut suisse de droit comparé);
  • Andrea Bonomi (Directeur CDCEI de l’Université de Lausanne).

Première Session (09h10 – 11h00)
Le divorce et ses conséquences:

  • La révision du droit international privé du divorce et de la  prévoyance professionnelle, Gian Paolo Romano (Professeur, Université de Genève);
  • Le droit applicable en matière de divorce selon le règlement  européen Rome III, Cristina Gonzalez Beilfuss (Professeure, Université de Barcelone);
  • Le droit applicable aux conséquences patrimoniales du divorce  dans les Etats de l’Union européenne, Andrea Bonomi (Professeur, Université de Lausanne)
  • Discussion et questions.

11h00 – 11h30 Café offert par l’Association des Alumni et Amis de l’ISDC (AiSDC)

Deuxième Session (11h30 – 13h00)
Le mariage et les actes d’état civil:

  • IPR Aspekte der Zwangsheiraten, Lukas Bopp (Dr. iur., Avocat à Bâle);
  • Le droit du nom entre réformes législatives et évolution du contexte européen, Michel Montini (Avocat à Neuchâtel, Maître de conférence à l’Université de Fribourg);
  • Discussion et questions.

13h00 – 14h30 Déjeuner

Troisième Session (14h30 – 16h30)
La protection des mineurs:

  • Nouvelles de La Haye : la Sixième réunion de la Commission  spéciale sur les Conventions de 1980 et 1996, Joëlle Küng (Collaboratrice juridique, Conférence de La Haye  de droit international privé);
  • La jurisprudence relative au règlement européen  Bruxelles II bis, Bea Verschraegen (Professeure, Université de Vienne);
  • La réforme du règlement européen Bruxelles II bis, Daria Solenik (Collaboratrice scientifique à l’ISDC);
  • Discussion et questions.

The conference will be held in French and German (no translation is provided). For further information (including fees) see the conference’s programme and the registration form.

(Many thanks to Prof. Andrea Bonomi)

Franzina (Ed.), Commentary on Rome III Regulation

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The Italian journal Le Nuove Leggi Civili Commentate  has published in its latest issue (no. 6/2011) an extensive commentary of the Rome III Regulation (Council Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010, implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation). The same journal had published, back in 2009, the first article-by-article comment of the Rome I Reg. (see our previous post here).

The commentary has been written, under the editorship of Pietro Franzina (Univ. of Ferrara), by a team of Italian scholars: Giacomo Biagioni (Univ. of Cagliari), Zeno Crespi Reghizzi (Univ. of Milano), Antonio Leandro (Univ. of Bari) and Giulia Rossolillo (Univ. of Pavia). Here’s the comments’ list:

Introductory remarks: P. Franzina, Z. Crespi Reghizzi; Art. 1: G. Rossolillo; Arts. 2-3: P. Franzina; Art. 4: A. Leandro; Arts. 5-7: G. Biagioni; Art. 8: Z. Crespi Reghizzi; Art. 9: G. Rossolillo; Arts. 10-13: A. Leandro; Arts. 14-15: P. Franzina; Art. 16: G. Rossolillo; Art. 17: G. Biagioni; Art. 18: Z. Crespi Reghizzi; Art. 19: G. Biagioni; Art. 20: G. Rossolillo; Art. 21: Z. Crespi Reghizzi.

A detailed table of contents is available here.

Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional, Issue 2/2011

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The second issue for 2011 of the Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional, the Spanish journal published twice a year by the Área de Derecho Internacional Privado of Univ. Carlos III of Madrid under the editorship of Alfonso Luis Calvo-Caravaca (Univ. Carlos III) and Javier Carrascosa-González (Univ. of Murcia), has been recently published. It contains seventeen articles, shorter articles and casenotes, encompassing a wide range of topics in conflict of laws, conflict of jurisdictions and uniform law, all freely available for download. The journal’s website provides a very useful search function, by which contents can be browsed by issue of publication, author, title, keywords, abstract and fulltext.

Here’s the table of contents of issue 2/2011 (each contribution is accompanied by an abstract in English):

Estudios

  • José Mª Alcántara, Frazer Hunt, Svante O. Johansson, Barry Oland, Kay Pysden, Milos Pohunek, Jan Ramberg, Douglas G. Schmitt, William Tetley, C.M.Q.C, Julio Vidal, A Blue Print for a Worldwide Multimodal Regime;
  • Nuno Andrade Pisarra, Breves considerações sobre a lei aplicável ao contrato de seguro;
  • María José Cervell Hortal, Pacientes en la Unión Europea: libertad restringida y vigilada;
  • Sara Lidia Feldstein de Cárdenas, Luciane Klein Vieira, La noción de consumidor en el Mercosur;
  • Pietro Franzina, The law applicable to divorce and legal separation under Regulation (EU) no. 1259/2010 of 20 December 2010;
  • Federico F. Garau Sobrino, Las fuentes españolas en materia de obligaciones alimenticias. ¿Hacia un Derecho Internacional Privado extravagante?;
  • Cesáreo Gutiérrez Espada, La adhesión española (2011) a la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre las inmunidades jurisdiccionales de los Estados y de sus bienes (2005);
  • Francesco Seatzu, La proposta per la riforma del Regolamento «Bruxelles I» e i provvedimenti provvisori;
  • Sara Tonolo, L’Italia e il resto del mondo nel pensiero di Pasquale Stanislao Mancini.

Varia

  • Ana-Paloma Abarca Junco, Marina Vargas-Gómez Urrutia, Vecindad civil de la mujer casada: nuevas reflexiones en torno a la inconstitucionalidad sobrevenida del art. 14.4 C.c. y la retroactividad de la Constitución española en relación a los modos de adquisición de su vecindad civil;
  • Elisa Baroncini, La politica cinese sulle esportazioni dinanzi al sistema di risoluzione delle controversie dell’OMC: il report del Panel nel caso China – Raw Materials;
  • Pilar Juárez Pérez, La inevitable extensión de la ciudadanía de la Unión: a propósito de la STJUE de 8 de marzo de 2011 (asunto Ruiz Zambrano);
  • Carlos Llorente Gómez de Segura, “Forum non conveniens” revisited: el caso Spanair;
  • Pilar Maestre Casas, El pasajero aéreo desprotegido: obstáculos a la tutela judicial en litigios transfronterizos por incumplimientos de las compañías aéreas (A propósito de la STJUE de 9 julio 2009, Rehder, As. C-204/08);
  • María Dolores Ortiz Vidal, Ilonka Fürstin von Sayn-Wittgenstein: una princesa en el Derecho internacional privado;
  • Esther Portela Vázquez, La Convención de la UNESCO sobre la Protección del Patrimonio Subacuático. Principios Generales;
  • Alessandra Zanobetti, Employment contracts and the Rome Convention: the Koelzsch ruling of the European Court of Justice.

(Many thanks to Federico Garau, Conflictus Legum blog, for the tip-off)

Rome III Regulation Published in the Official Journal

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The Rome III regulation (see our most recent post here, with links to the previous ones) has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union n. L 343 of 29 December 2010. The official reference is the following: Council Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010 of 20 December 2010 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation (OJ n. L 343, p. 10 ff.).

Pursuant to its Art. 21(2), the regulation should apply from 21 June 2012 in the 14 Member States which currently participate in the enhanced cooperation (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia).

Art. 18 (Transitional provisions) provides that “[the] regulation shall apply only to legal proceedings instituted and to agreements of the kind referred to in Article 5 [choice of the applicable law by the spouses] concluded as from 21 June 2012”. The same article stipulates that “effect shall also be given to an agreement on the choice of the applicable law concluded before 21 June 2012, provided that it complies with Articles 6 and 7” (rules governing material and formal validity of the agreement). As regards proceedings commenced in the court of a participating Member State before 21 June 2012, the regulation will be without prejudice to pacta de lege utenda concluded in accordance with the law of that State (Art. 18(2)).

In order to make national rules concerning formal and procedural requirements of an optio legis fully accessible, Art. 17 (applicable from 21 June 2011) requires the participating Member States to communicate any relevant information in respect thereof  to the Commission, which will make them publicly available, in particular through the website of the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters.

(Many thanks to Federico Garau – Conflictus Legum blog – for the tip-off)

Rome III Regulation Adopted by Council

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As a Christmas gift for European PIL scholars, the first enhanced cooperation in the history of the EU has been achieved in the field of conflict of laws (on the origin of the initiative see our previous post here).

The Council, in its meeting of 20 December 2010, adopted the Rome III regulation implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation (for previous steps of the procedure, see here and here). As of mid-2012 (18 months after its adoption, pursuant to Art. 21), the Rome III reg. will apply in the 14 Member States which have been authorised to participate in the enhanced cooperation by Council decision no. 2010/405/EU: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia. Further Member States which wish to participate may do so in accordance with the second or third subparagraph of Article 331(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The text of the new regulation is available in Council doc. no. 17523/10 of 17 December 2010; after the signing of the President of the Council, it will be soon published in the Official Journal. The regulation is accompanied by a Declaration of the Council regarding the insertion of a provision on forum necessitatis in reg. no. 2201/2003, worded as follows:

The Council invites the Commission to submit at its earliest convenience to the Council and to the European Parliament a proposal for the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 with the aim of providing a forum in those cases where the courts that have jurisdiction are all situated in Member States whose law either does not provide for divorce or does not deem the marriage in question valid for the purposes of divorce proceedings (forum necessitatis).

The European Parliament, merely consulted under the special legislative procedure provided by Art. 81(3) TFEU for measures concerning family law, gave its opinion on 15 December 2010 (informal contacts with the Council have ensured that the EP views were taken into account in the final text). In the preamble of the legislative resolution, the EP called “on the Commission to submit a proposal for amendment of Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, limited to the addition of a clause on forum necessitatis, as a matter of great urgency before the promised general review of that Regulation”.

Many thanks to Federico Garau (Conflictus Legum blog) and to Marina Castellaneta for the tip-off.

Rome III: Agreement in Council on the Text of the New Rules on Divorce and Legal Separation

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The JHA Council, in its meeting held on 3 December 2010 in Brussels, agreed on the text (doc. n. 17045/10) of the Rome III regulation implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation (see our previous post here).

As stated in the Council’s press release (doc. n. 17151/10),

The new rules will apply to all participating member states as of mid-2012. Other EU member states which are not yet ready but wish to join this pioneer group at a later stage will be able to do so. The agreement also constitutes the implementation of the first enhanced cooperation in the history of the EU.

For its adoption two more procedural steps are necessary:  The European Parliament is expected to adopt an opinion on the file in its December plenary session.  The Council will then adopt the new rules without discussion, most likely at the Environment Council on 20 December 2010.

Upon the adoption, the regulation will be accompanied by declarations by the Council (on forum necessitatis), and by the Commission, Malta and Finland on a new controversial art. 7a (“Differences in national law”): see Annexes I, II, III and IV to doc. n. 17046/10.

The position of the European Parliament, under examination in the JURI Committee, can be found in the Draft report prepared by rapporteur Tadeusz Zwiefka (see, in particular, the Explanatory Statement) and additional amendments.

EP Workshop on Civil Justice: “How to facilitate the life of European families and citizens?”

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On 30 November 2010 the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs will host in Brussels an interparliamentary workshop on Civil Justice, organized in collaboration with the national parliaments of the Member States: “How to facilitate the life of European families and citizens?“. The conference is structured in 4 parts, and can be watched live in video streaming on the EP’s website:

Morning Sessions (h 9.30 – 13.00):

  • Opening
  • I. Family Law: Latest Developments and the Way Forward;
  • II. Cross-Border Successions.

Afternoon Sessions (h 15 – 18.30):

  • III. Parental Responsibility and the Protection Of Children;
  • IV. Civil Status;
  • Conclusions.

Each session will include speakers from the EP, national parliaments and the Commission, as well as the academic world and practitioners: a detailed draft programme is available here.

Here’s a presentation of the event:

Removing the legal and administrative barriers that citizens face when they start a family life in a Member State other than their own will be at the centre of the Workshop on Civil Justice which will take place in the European Parliament on 30 November.

The Workshop, which will be attended by EU and national parlamentarians, will be composed of four thematic sessions. The first two sessions will present the “state of play” in the drafting of new legal instruments in the field of European family law and the law of succession.

The third session will focus on child protection in cross-border situations. The topics of parental responsibility, including the controversial issue of the recognition of surrogacy agreements, as well as of international adoption will be addressed therein. Legal practitioners and academics will report on the current situation as it stands in several Member States.

The last session will provide an overview of the current difficulties faced by citizens in proving their civil status in cross-border situations. In this regard, a number of actions ranging from the suppression of the legalisation formalities of civil status acts to the interconnection of civil status registers will be presented. The challenging idea of creating a European “civil status” document will also be discussed.

Finally, the Workshop will  also include speeches from Melchior Wathelet, Belgian State Secretary for Family Policy, on the achievements of the Belgian Presidency in the field of family law and Viviane Reding, European Commission (EC) Vice-President, on the actions planned by the EC in this field.

Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional, vol. 2/2010

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The second issue for 2010 of the Cuadernos de Derecho Transnacional, the Spanish journal published twice a year by the Área de Derecho Internacional Privado of Univ. Carlos III of Madrid under the editorship of Alfonso Luis Calvo-Caravaca (Univ. Carlos III) and Javier Carrascosa-González (Univ. of Murcia), has been recently published. It contains twenty articles, shorter articles and casenotes, encompassing a wide range of topics in conflict of laws, conflict of jurisdictions and uniform law, all freely available for download from the journal’s website.

Here’s the table of contents (each contribution is accompanied by an abstract in English):

Estudios

  • José María Alcántara, Frazer Hunt, Svante O. Johansson, Barry Oland, Kay Pysden, Jan Ramberg, Douglas G. Schmitt, William Tetley C.M., Q. C., Julio Vidal, Particular concerns with regard to the Rotterdam Rules;
  • Giacomo Biagioni, Tecniche internazionalprivatistiche fondate sulla volontà delle parti nel Diritto dell’Unione Europea;
  • Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, Celia Caamiña Domínguez, L’incorporation au régime juridique espagnol de la normative communautaire de restitution de biens culturels;
  • Federico F. Garau Sobrino, Los acuerdos atributivos de jurisdicción en Derecho Procesal Civil Internacional español;
  • Miguel Gómez Jene, Concurso y arbitraje internacional;
  • Carlos Llorente Gómez de Segua, Las Reglas de Rotterdam (II);
  • Olivia Lopes Pegna, La proposta di cooperazione rafforzata sulla legge applicabile a separazione e divorzio: profili problematici;
  • Agustín Luna Serrano, Hacia el abandono de la mención de la causa en la conformación definitoria del contrato;
  • Maria João Matias Fernandez, O Direito aplicável aos negócios relativos a instrumentos financeiros: a disciplina introduzida pelo novo Regulamento comunitário sobre a lei aplicável às obrigações contratuais («Roma I»);
  • Juan Jorge Piernas López, The notion of State aid and regulation in the EU: drawing the shape of a moving target;
  • María José Santos Morón, Forma contractual y “desarmonización” comunitaria.

Varia

  • Celia Caamiña Domínguez, Las resoluciones de restitución de menores en la Unión Europea: el caso Rinau;
  • Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, Javier Carrascosa González, Notas breves sobre la Sentencia del TJUE (Sala Cuarta) de 20 mayo 2010 (Bilas: asunto C-111/09): la sumisión tácita en los litigios internacionales de seguro, consumo y trabajo;
  • Cristina Campiglio, Il foro della residenza abituale del coniuge nel Regolamento (CE) N° 2201/2003: note a margine delle prime pronunce italiane;
  • Antonia Durán Ayango, El concepto de orden público internacional y el derecho a un proceso justo. Nota a la STJCE de 2 de abril de 2009;
  • Antonia Durán Ayango, El concepto de parte en el proceso de exequátur. Nota a la STJCE de 23 de abril de 2009;
  • Pilar Juárez Pérez, Dieciocho años de ciudadanía de la Unión: ¿hacia una figura emancipada?;
  • Pilar Maestre Casas, Doble nacionalidad y forum patriae en divorcios internacionales;
  • Giulia Rossolillo, Convenzioni concluse dagli Stati Membri e Diritto processuale civile internazionale dell’Unione Europea: interpretazione conforme o rispetto degli obblighi internazionali?;
  • Julia Suderow, Cuestiones de jurisdicción internacional en torno a la aplicación privada del Derecho antitrust: forum shopping y “demandas torpedo”.

See also our previous posts on issues 1/2009 and 2/2009 of the CDT. The journal’s website provides a very useful search function, by which contents can be browsed by issue of publication, author, title, keywords, abstract and fulltext.

(Many thanks to Pietro Franzina, University of Ferrara, for the tip-off)

Rome III Reg.: Council Adopts Decision Authorising Enhanced Cooperation on the Law Applicable to Divorce

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On Monday, 12 July 2010, the Council adopted a decision authorising 14 Member States (Spain, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, Austria, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Belgium, Latvia, Malta and Portugal) to participate in the first enhanced cooperation in the history of the European Union, on the law applicable to divorce and legal separation (see the provisional version of the Council’s press release, doc. no. 12077/10, at p. 15).

As we reported in our previous posts, the initiative for an enhanced cooperation in the field originated in 2008, when the Council noted that there were insurmountable difficulties in reaching the required unanimity in order to adopt the Commission’s proposal amending the Brussels IIa Regulation and introducing rules concerning applicable law in matrimonial matters (Rome III reg.).

The first formal steps of the procedure are summarised as follows in Council document no. 10288/10 of 1 June 2010:

[…] Greece, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, Austria, Romania and Slovenia addressed a request to the Commission by letters dated 28 July 2008 indicating that they wished to establish enhanced cooperation between them in the area of applicable law in matrimonial matters and that they expected the Commission to submit a proposal to the Council to that end. Bulgaria addressed an identical request to the Commission by a letter dated 12 August 2008 and France by a letter dated 12 January 2009. On 3 March 2010, Greece withdrew its request. Germany, Belgium, Latvia and Malta joined the request by letters dated respectively 15 April 2010, 22 April 2010, 17 May 2010 and 31 May 2010. In total, thirteen Member States have thus requested enhanced cooperation.

On 31 March 2010 the Commission presented to the Council:

(a) a proposal for a Council Decision authorising enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation [COM(2010)104 fin./2 of 30 March 2010]; and

(b) a proposal for a Council Regulation (EU) implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation [COM(2010)105 fin./2 of 30 March 2010: the proposed “Rome III” reg.].

The Commission assessed the legal conditions for enhanced cooperation in the explanatory memorandum to the proposal for a Council Decision authorising enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation.

On 1 June 2010 the Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee of the European Parliament voted unanimously for the proposal for a Council Decision authorising enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation.

The JHA Council, on 3-4 June 2010, reached a political agreement on the matter, and transmitted the draft decision to the Parliament, in order to obtain its consent to the enhanced cooperation,  pursuant to Art. 329(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (see JHA Council’s press release, doc. no. 10630/10).

On 16 June 2010 the plenary session of the European Parliament approved a legislative resolution giving its consent to the draft decision, that was finally adopted by the Council on 12 July 2010.

It is interesting to note that the Parliament in its resolution has called on the Council to adopt a decision pursuant to Article 333(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union stipulating that, when it comes to the proposal for a Council Regulation implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation, it will act under the ordinary legislative procedure (formerly known as codecision), and not under the special legislative procedure provided for in Article 81(3) of the TFEU, under which EP is merely consulted.

As regards the text of the Rome III reg., it is currently under discussion in the Council, on the basis of the Commission’s March proposal. The latest available text is contained in Council document no. 10153/10 of 1 June 2010: at their latest meeting on 4 June 2010, Justice ministers agreed on a general approach on key elements (see Council Secretariat’s factsheet of  4 June 2010).