Tag Archive for: torts

Who can bite the Apple? The CJEU can shape the future of online damages and collective actions

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Written by Eduardo Silva de Freitas (Erasmus University Rotterdam), member of the Vici project Affordable Access to Justice, financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), www.euciviljustice.eu.  

 

Introduction

In the final weeks leading up to Christmas in 2023, the District Court of Amsterdam referred a set of questions to the CJEU (DC Amsterdam, 20 December 2023, ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2023:8330; in Dutch). These questions, if comprehensively addressed, have the potential to bring clarity to longstanding debates regarding jurisdictional conflicts in collective actions. Despite being rooted in competition law with its unique intricacies, the issues surrounding the determination of online damage locations hold the promise of illuminating pertinent questions. Moreover, the forthcoming judgment is expected to provide insights into the centralization of jurisdiction in collective actions within a specific Member State, an aspect currently unclear. Recalling our previous discussion on the Dutch class action under the WAMCA in this blog, it is crucial to emphasize that, under the WAMCA, only one representative action can be allowed to proceed for the same event. In instances where multiple representative foundations seek to bring proceedings for the same event without reaching a settlement up to a certain point during the proceedings, the court will appoint an exclusive representative. This procedural detail adds an additional layer of complexity to the dynamics of collective actions under the WAMCA.

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Book: Marongiu Buonaiuti, Le obbligazioni non contrattuali nel diritto internazionale privato

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FMB-Le-obbligazioni-non-contrattuali__1338079.gifFabrizio Marongiu Buonaiuti (Univ. of Macerata) has recently published “Le obbligazioni non contrattuali nel diritto internazionale privato” (Non-contractual Obligations in Private International Law ) (Giuffrè, 2013). An abstract has been kindly provided by the author (the complete table of contents is available on the publisher’s website):

The volume deals with non-contractual obligations in private international law, addressing both issues related to jurisdiction and to conflict of laws.

As concerns jurisdiction, the volume discusses the problems posed by the application of the rules on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters as contained in EC Regulation No. 44/2001 (s.c. “Brussels I”) to disputes concerning non-contractual obligations. Special attention is devoted to the specific rule of jurisdiction in matters of tort or delict under Article 5.3 of the said Regulation (to be replaced, without modifications as to the substance, by Article 7.2 of EU Regulation No. 1215/2012 providing for its recast) and to its coordination with the other rules of jurisdiction. The volume addresses also the more recent case law of the European Court of Justice concerning the application of the said rule to non-contractual obligations arising from activities performed through the Internet and implying violations either of privacy and personality rights or of intellectual property rights.

As concerns conflict of laws, the volume examines the rules contained in EC Regulation No. 864/2007 (s.c. “Rome II”) on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, stressing parallelism and differences in respect of the solutions achieved as concerns jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regulation. Furthermore, the volume deals with the problems of coordination of the conflict of laws rules as contained in the Rome II Regulation with the rules contained in international conventions applicable in the field concerned, to which the Regulation grants priority. The volume finally addresses the domestic rules on conflict of laws as contained in Law No. 218 of 31 May 1995 providing for the reform of the Italian system of private international law, which apply residually to non-contractual obligations not governed by the Regulation.

Title: “Le obbligazioni non contrattuali nel diritto internazionale privato“, by Fabrizio Marongiu Buonaiuti, Giuffrè (series: Pubblicazioni del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza dell’Università degli Studi di Macerata, Nuova serie, vol. 139), Milano, 2013, X – 254 pages.

ISBN: 9788814182419. Price: EUR 26. Available at Giuffrè.