Conferences & Seminars

• The added value of the two day-long seminar consist of delivering in-depth insights on highly specialized topics pertaining to diversified aspects of family law (e.g. cross-border divorce and parental responsibility).
• The seminar is designed to provide the basic training in this field of European Law.
• The training will be carried out by leading academics and practitioners, expert speakers will be called to expand upon such aspects as jurisdiction, applicable law, EU instruments, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to the subjects of the seminar.
• In order to combine the theoretical approach with a more concrete one, workshop sessions will also be organized in order to provide a widened knowledge on EU legislation and case-law and facilitate the exchange of best practices.
• Target audience: Judges and prosecutors from all EU Member States

More info

Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) – Seminar on the “Status of Judges in Europe” – Tallinn (Estonia), 14 and 15 June 2018

• More info

Punitive Damages and European Private International Law: State of the Art and Future Developments – Milan, 11 May 2018

Fully updated for 2018 to include all major statutory and case law developments | Interactive program based on tested litigation scenarios | Delegates will receive a detailed Europa Law Analysis Pack & structured advice outlines for all case studies | 6 CPD Points

Presenter; Graeme Wood.

Overview

With the expansion of the European Union since its inception, EU cross border litigation has become increasingly common and with it a host of issues that are peculiar to this form of litigation. Of all those issues jurisdiction has proved the most difficult and controversial. David Joseph QC in his work on this area states that ‘Frequently more time and effort is expanded in resolving the question of jurisdiction than any other issue’. As the EU continues to implement its overriding policy to harmonise and standardise the rules in various areas of civil litigation before the courts of member states it has never been so important for those involved in this area to be fully appraised of the applicable rules. This seminar will explore the jurisdictional rules for cross-border disputes as contained in Regulation 44/2001 (‘Brussels I’) and Regulation 2215/2012 (The Brussels I Re-cast Regulation). This program will be of interest and relevance to any legal practitioner whose practice encompasses cross-border litigation within the territory of the EU. It will also be relevant to any corporate manager, executive or business person who has dealings with companies in any EU member state.

Example areas covered during the program

• What are the rules for deciding which of several EU courts can hear a particular case?
• How can a party in England prevent proceedings taking place in another EU country?
• Are the parties free to agree the law that will govern their contract in the event of a dispute?
• The application and effect of the Judgments Regulation (Regulation 44/2001)
• The scope of Brussels I – the effect on arbitration proceedings
• Article 2 – the distinction with traditional jurisdiction
• The use of jurisdiction clauses in commercial contracts-Article 23
• When the courts of EU member states are afforded exclusive jurisdiction–Article 22
• Staying proceedings in England – the doctrine of forum non conveniens-the approach of the Court of Justice to stays on this basis – Owusu v Jackson
• The use of anti-suit injunctions to restrain the breach of jurisdiction clauses – Turner v Grovit
• The special rules for contract and tort cases–Article 5
• Dealing with duplicate proceedings in multiple EU states
• The use of interim remedies in intra-EU disputes
• Key changes introduced by the Brussels I Re-Cast Regulation

DATE AND TIME

• Thu 26 April 2018 – 09:30 – 17:00 BST – Central London TBA
• Thu 27 September 2018 – 09:30 – 17:00 BST – Central London TBA
• Thu 15 November 2018 – 09:30 – 17:00 GMT – Central London TBA

How European is European Private International Law?– Berlin, 2-3 March 2018

• The conference, organized by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Basedow (Max Planck Institute Hamburg), Prof. Dr. Jan von Hein (University of Freiburg), Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Kieninger (University of Würzburg) and Prof. Dr. Giesela Rühl (University of Jena), aims to shed light on the present lack of “Europeanness” of European private international law and to discuss how European private international law can become more truly European in the future.
• Over the course of the last decades, the European legislature has adopted a total of 18 Regulations in the area of private international law (including civil procedure). The resulting substantial degree of legislative unification has been described as the first true Europeanisation of private international law and even as a kind of “European Choice of Law Revolution”. However, until today it is largely unclear whether the far-reaching unification of the “law on the books” has turned private international law into a truly European “law in action”: To what extent is European private international law actually based on uniform European rules common to all Member States rather than on state treaties or instruments of enhanced cooperation? Is the way academics and practitioners analyze and interpret European private international law really different from previously existing domestic approaches to private international law? Or is the actual application and interpretations of European private international law rather still influenced or even dominated by national legal traditions, leading to a defragmentation of a supposedly uniform body of law?
• Bringing together academics and practitioners from all over Europe, the conference will provide a platform to answer those questions.
• More info
• Flyer

IPS 2017 – IP Summit 2017 – The Pan-European Intellectual Property Summit – Brussels 7 December 2017

Special Commission on the Judgments Project – Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) – 13-17 November 2017

• Preliminary Documents:
  • Prel. Doc. No 6 of September 2017 – Note on the concept of “Purposeful and Substantial Connection” in Article 5(1)(g) and 5(1)(n)(ii) of the February 2017 draft Convention (prepared by Professor Ronald A. Brand and Dr Cristina M. Mariottini
  • February 2017 draft Convention
  • 2016 preliminary draft Convention
  • Glossary of the Judgments Project

• Information Documents 
  • Info. Doc. No 6 of January 2017 – Report on Intersessional Work on Intellectual Property Related Matters – only available on Secure Portal
  • Info. Doc. No 5 of July 2016 – Provisions on Costs
  • Info. Doc. No 4 of June 2016 – “Civil or Commercial Matters” / “Acta Iure Imperii”
    • Supporting documents for Info. Doc. No 4

Shiraka Training Programme – Administration of Justice 2017-2018 – 12 – 21 November 2017

• The Netherlands-Arab Partnership (Shiraka) was launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a successor to the Matra South Programme. Shiraka aims to support the sustainable democratic transition and is dedicated to contribute to the political developments in the Arab region. One of the components of this partnership is the Shiraka Training Programme (STP), an instrument for enforcement of the bilateral relations between the Netherlands and eligible countries at government level.
• This year’s professional development course on ‘Administration of Justice’ is being implemented by the T.M.C. Asser Instituut. The course consists of a theoretical and practical component, as well as study visits. The objective of this course is for civil servants, judges and prosecutors working in the field of administration of justice to share their knowledge and skills enabling them to lead and inspire the modernisation of the judiciary and prosecution services. The course also aims to strengthen participants’ ties with the Netherlands and the Dutch government; especially between Dutch civil servants and their counterparts in the target countries.
• More info on eligible countries, course outline and content, dates, location and costs language

Meeting of the ELI SIG ‘Dispute Resolution’ in Barcelona, ES – 20 October 2017

• On 20 October 2017, the Members of the ELI ‘Dispute Resolution’ SIG will meet for the fifth time to discuss the papers submitted following the meeting in April 2017 in Leuven, and to plan ahead. The meeting will be organised by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, and will be hosted by Professor Aura Esther Vilalta Nicuesa.

• The Conference, jointly organized by the Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law in Luxembourg and the Vrije Universiteit, Brussel, intends to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the challenges to the protection of privacy in the Digital Age. Full programme

66^th EJN contact points meeting of the European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters – Regulation(EU) No 655/2014 on EAPO and Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 creating a European Order for Payment Procedure – 5 October 2017

arch 2018

Second meeting of the ILA Committee on the Rules of Procedure of International Courts and Tribunals – MPI Luxembourg for Procedural Law  – 22 and 23 September 2017.