July 2020 - international litigation blog
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July 2020

July 29, 2020 In Uncategorized By Quentin Decleve

Political Agreement to Make Cross-Border European Justice Faster and More Accessible in Civil and Commercial Matters

On 30 June 2020, the European Parliament (the EP) and the Council of the European Union (the Council) reached an agreement to amend Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters (the Taking of Evidence Regulation) and Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (the Service of Documents Regulation) (together the Regulations).

The amendments to those Regulations aim to make cross-border European justice more accessible, faster, cheaper and more straightforward, in particular by increasing legal certainty and decreasing judicial delays and undue costs for citizens.READ MORE

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July 24, 2020 In Act of State doctrine, State immunity By Quentin Decleve

CJEU Rules on Interplay between State Immunity and Brussels I Regulation

On 7 May 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the CJEU) issued its judgment in LG and others v. Rina SPA and another (Case C-641/18) in which it recalled that the customary international law principle of immunity from jurisdiction did not preclude the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the Brussels I Regulation)[1] if the defendant, who invokes that principle, does not exercise sovereign public powers.

The case relates to the sinking, in February 2006, of a passenger’s ship (under the flag of the Republic of Panama) in the Red Sea. Following that event, the victims of the sinking brought an action for damages, before an Italian court, against the Italian companies that carried out the ship classification and certification operations on behalf of the Republic of Panama. The victims essentially alleged that the sinking of the ship had been caused by these operations.

The Italian companies, however, asserted that the Italian courts lacked jurisdiction to rule on the matter since the classification and certification operations which they conducted on behalf of Panama were a manifestation of the sovereign powers of that State.READ MORE

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July 6, 2020 In Uncategorized By Quentin Decleve

European Parliament and Council Reach Political Agreement on EU Collective Representative Actions

On 22 June 2020, the European Parliament (the EP) announced that it reached a political agreement with the Council of the European Union (the Council) on the final text of the Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers (the Collective Representative Actions Directive) (See here, here and here). This agreement is the result of interinstitutional negotiations that started on 9 January 2020.

The Collective Representative Actions Directive will introduce harmonised rules that aim to facilitate redress for consumers in case of widespread infringements of their rights in more than one EU Member State, while at the same time provide safeguards against abusive recourses. Collective representative actions will enable consumers to seek redress in a wide range of areas such as general consumer law, data protection, financial services, travel and tourism, energy, telecommunications, environment and health or train passenger rights.READ MORE

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