Private International Law
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS PIL?....................................................................................................................... 4
WHAT IS PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW?....................................................................................................................5
SOURCES...............................................................................................................................................................5
WHAT DOES PIL DEAL WITH: THREE MAIN QUESTIONS OF PIL.........................................................................................6
EXAMPLES OF PIL & FORUM SHOPPING......................................................................................................................6
Beckham & Depp case – Libel shopping & SLAPP............................................................................................6
Trump vs. BBC case – Libel shopping...............................................................................................................7
Kate Middleton Privacy Case............................................................................................................................8
Book review gone wrong, and suing in France for 1960s-70s war..................................................................8
PIL’s Human side: child abduction....................................................................................................................8
HCCH – Hague Conference/Conférence de La Haye.........................................................................................8
Insolvency: forum shopping, recognition & enforcement – Nyrstar Arrest.....................................................9
Divorce tourism................................................................................................................................................9
Bargaining power/outsourcing........................................................................................................................9
Environment / Human Rights...........................................................................................................................9
Dutch relatives of Palestinians who were killed in Israeli bombings...............................................................9
Brexit................................................................................................................................................................9
CONFLICT OF LAWS IN THE EU - JURISDICTION.............................................................................................. 10
THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN LAW ON THE PIL OF THE MEMBER STATES............................................................................12
Legal basis for EU PIL.....................................................................................................................................12
In general.......................................................................................................................................................15
HISTORY..............................................................................................................................................................15
Making of the Brussels Convention................................................................................................................15
Excursus – Von Savigny..................................................................................................................................17
Lugano Convention and Tampere meeting....................................................................................................19
Brussels-I Convention.....................................................................................................................................20
Brussels Ibis & Brussles-Ia Regulations..........................................................................................................21
GOALS................................................................................................................................................................ 23
MUTUAL TRUST – THE OVERRIDING PRINCIPLE............................................................................................................24
SCOPE OF APPLICATION: SUBJECT MATTER.................................................................................................................26
EXCLUSIONS FROM THE SCOPE OF APPLICATION..........................................................................................................38
SCOPE OF APPLICATION: RATIONE PERSONAE.............................................................................................................39
Domicile – art. 62 and 63...............................................................................................................................39
THE JURISDICTION RULES OF THE REGULATION: A MATRIX.............................................................................................41
EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION – ART. 24.........................................................................................................................41
Article 24(1) – Rights in rem and tenancies of immovable property.............................................................42
Article 24(2) – Validity of company (decisions)..............................................................................................49
Article 24(3) – Validity of entries in public registers......................................................................................52
Article 24(4) – IPRs.........................................................................................................................................52
Art. 25(5) – Enforcement of judgement.........................................................................................................53
Reflexive application of A24?.........................................................................................................................53
JURISDICTION BY APPEARANCE – ARTICLE 26..............................................................................................................55
PROTECTED CATEGORIES – ART. 10-23.....................................................................................................................56
Consumers, art. 17-19....................................................................................................................................57
Employment contracts...................................................................................................................................66
CHOICE OF COURT AGREEMENTS – ART. 25...............................................................................................................69
The overall intention of COC-agreements......................................................................................................70
Reflexive effect for art. 25?............................................................................................................................70
Art. 25.............................................................................................................................................................70
Particular legal relationship...........................................................................................................................71
Expression vs. formation of consent..............................................................................................................71
Unilateral / hybrid / asymmetrical COC-agreements....................................................................................73
1
, Law applicable to the formation of consent..................................................................................................75
Party Autonomy vs Limits of the Lex Fori Prorogati.......................................................................................76
Choice of court and non-parties.....................................................................................................................78
GENERAL JURISDICTION – ARTICLE 4.........................................................................................................................79
SPECIAL JURISDICTION – ART. 7-9............................................................................................................................79
Art. 7.1 – Contract..........................................................................................................................................80
Article 7(2): Forum delicti...............................................................................................................................89
How to distinguish between ‘contract’ (7.1) and ‘torts’ (7.2)?....................................................................100
Re A 7(5) branch jurisdiction........................................................................................................................103
Art. 8 – Special jurisdiction – multiple parties..............................................................................................104
RESIDUAL JURISDICTION – ARTICLE 6......................................................................................................................110
LOSS OF JURISDICTION – ARTICLES 29-34...............................................................................................................110
Art. 29 – lis pendens.....................................................................................................................................111
Art. 31...........................................................................................................................................................112
Art. 30...........................................................................................................................................................113
Art. 32...........................................................................................................................................................113
Art 33-34: lis alibi pendens and third States................................................................................................114
ART. 35 – PROVISIONAL OR PROTECTIVE MEASURES..................................................................................................123
ART. 36-60 – RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT.....................................................................................................124
ART. 1 – SCOPE OF APPLICATION...........................................................................................................................127
APPLICABLE LAW....................................................................................................................................... 130
HISTORY............................................................................................................................................................130
PRELIMINARY REMARKS........................................................................................................................................131
MAIN PRINCIPLES................................................................................................................................................131
EXCLUSION OF RENVOI.........................................................................................................................................132
UNIVERSAL APPLICATION......................................................................................................................................132
TEMPORAL APPLICATION...................................................................................................................................... 133
TERRITORIAL APPLICATION....................................................................................................................................134
MATERIAL APPLICATION.......................................................................................................................................134
Contractual obligations v. non-contractual obligations..............................................................................134
Material application: exceptions..................................................................................................................135
RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER CONVENTIONS...............................................................................................................137
APPLICABLE LAW. NO ‘MATRIX’ PER SE....................................................................................................................137
APPLICABLE LAW – ROME I......................................................................................................................... 138
CHOICE OF LAW (ART. 3)......................................................................................................................................138
PROTECTED CATEGORIES (AS 5-8)..........................................................................................................................142
Art. 5 and 7...................................................................................................................................................142
Art. 6 and 8...................................................................................................................................................142
APPLICABLE LAW ROME I: ABSENCE OF CHOICE (ART. 4).............................................................................................148
Art. 4 Rome Convention (before Rome I).....................................................................................................148
Art. 4 Rome I.................................................................................................................................................149
Step [1].........................................................................................................................................................149
Step [2].........................................................................................................................................................150
Step [3].........................................................................................................................................................151
Step [4].........................................................................................................................................................152
APPLICABLE LAW ROME I: PARTICULAR ISSUES..........................................................................................................152
Consent and material validity: art. 10..........................................................................................................152
Formal validity: art. 11. Favor negotis.........................................................................................................153
Incapacity: art. 13........................................................................................................................................153
Three levels of correction: art. 3.3 – 3.4 – 9 – 21.........................................................................................154
HAGUE PRINCIPLES ON CHOICE OF LAW IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS......................................................159
CHOICE OF LAW FOR NON-STATE LAW IN ROME I.......................................................................................160
CHOICE OF LAW (COL)........................................................................................................................................160
FROM CONVENTION TO REGULATION: GREEN PAPER..................................................................................................161
2
, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE (MPI).............................................................................................................................161
MPI: Uniform Private Law Conventions.......................................................................................................161
MPI: General Principles................................................................................................................................162
MPI: Lex mercatoria.....................................................................................................................................162
ARTICLE 3.2 OF THE PROPOSAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE......................................................................................162
RECITAL 13 OF THE PREAMBLE..............................................................................................................................163
Different interpretation................................................................................................................................163
Recital 13: more context..............................................................................................................................164
Recital 13: Schrödinger's recital [OPINION].................................................................................................164
RECITAL 14 OF THE PREAMBLE..............................................................................................................................164
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................................................165
Belgium........................................................................................................................................................165
The Netherlands...........................................................................................................................................165
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................166
APPLICABLE LAW ROME II.......................................................................................................................... 166
SCOPE OF APPLICATION – ART. 1...........................................................................................................................166
PROCEDURAL MATTERS........................................................................................................................................167
ART. 4 – GENERAL RULE......................................................................................................................................170
SPECIFIC TORTS – ART. 5-9...................................................................................................................................172
Art. 5 – Product liability................................................................................................................................173
Art. 6 – Unfair competition and acts restricting free competition...............................................................173
Art. 7 – Environmental damage...................................................................................................................175
Art. 8 – Infringement of intellectual property rights....................................................................................177
Art. 9 – Industrial action...............................................................................................................................177
ART. 10-12 – UNJUST ENRICHMENT, NEGOTIORUM GESTIO AND CULPA IN CONTRAHENDO...............................................177
ART. 14 – CHOICE OF LAW...................................................................................................................................177
APPLICABLE LAW ROME II: PARTICULAR ISSUES.........................................................................................................178
ON A HIDING TO NOWHERE?...................................................................................................................... 179
WHY DO WE SUE THEM IN EUROPE AND /OR ‘GLOBAL NORTH’?.................................................................................183
SOME CORE TERMINOLOGY...................................................................................................................................183
SPV’s and duty of care..................................................................................................................................183
Duty of care vis-à-vis third parties...............................................................................................................184
STEP 1: JURISDICTION..........................................................................................................................................187
UK - England.................................................................................................................................................189
The Netherlands...........................................................................................................................................192
STEP 2: APPLICABLE LAW.....................................................................................................................................193
US: ALIEN TORT STATUTE AND BHR......................................................................................................................194
ATS-use.........................................................................................................................................................194
Hesitations...................................................................................................................................................194
US vs. EU.......................................................................................................................................................196
DIVESTMENT OPERATIONS TO AVOID LIABILITY..........................................................................................................196
How do corporations manage these risks?..................................................................................................198
Regulators in the ‘Global South’ often sanction these divestments............................................................199
CLIMATE JUSTICE LITIGATION. PROCEDURAL ISSUES AND CONFLICT OF LAWS............................................201
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................201
MAIN TYPES OF CLAIM.........................................................................................................................................202
JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT..........................................................................................................................203
‘PUBLIC’ V ‘PRIVATE’ INTERNATIONAL LAW...............................................................................................................204
THE ‘INTERNATIONAL’ ELEMENT REQUIRED TO TRIGGER PIL.........................................................................................205
BRUSSELS IA: ARTICLES 33-34 BIA AND CPR...........................................................................................................205
EU: APPLICABLE LAW – ARTICLE 7 ROME II.............................................................................................................206
‘FOREIGN ACT OF STATE’ AND LINK WITH CS3D.......................................................................................................211
IN SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................. 211
3
,INSOLVENCY.............................................................................................................................................. 212
A BIT OF HISTORY................................................................................................................................................212
THE RELATION BETWEEN BIA AND THE EIR..............................................................................................................214
IS THIS PIGEON TAILING........................................................................................................................................214
ANNEX A.......................................................................................................................................................... 216
Belgium........................................................................................................................................................216
Netherlands..................................................................................................................................................216
UK – pre Brexit..............................................................................................................................................216
CONSEQUENTIAL RESTRUCTURING TOURISM.............................................................................................................217
Plenty of continental European companies making resort to English schemes of arrangements...............217
Insolvency tourism post Brexit.....................................................................................................................218
VIS ATTRACTIVA CONCURSUS.................................................................................................................................221
COMI.............................................................................................................................................................. 222
Determination of COMI – Look-back periods...............................................................................................223
COMI indications..........................................................................................................................................224
APPLICABLE LAW.................................................................................................................................................226
Gleichlauf.....................................................................................................................................................226
Important exception: the pauliana..............................................................................................................226
About free movement of establishment......................................................................................................227
SECONDARY PROCEDURES.....................................................................................................................................228
Articles
CJEU case
National case
Introduction: What is PIL?
4
,What is Private International Law?
A new language – PIL has as many applications as private law. SO all the private law things that we
have seen before (tort, contract, insolvency, adoption, marriage, inheritance, estate planning,
corporate law) is also in PIL application. But we don’t have the time to learn all this. So in this class,
we will see the language and structure of PIL using the area of civil and commercial litigation. Using
this framework, we can better understand the other subjects within PIL.
Statutes vs. case law – Until 2004, there was no Belgian act on PIL. There are still civil law countries
that have no act, and where everything is still with case law. Now we have European statutes, but
these statutes are very case law driven, because the concepts used in this are very opaque and not
well explained. To be able to interpret the statutes, to understand them, you need to know the
cases.
What is PIL?
1. Concerns ‘private’ law, concerns ‘international’ scenarios: the ‘international’ referring to the
factual matrix: not the source of law
- Private – The facts of the case engage with private law, not public law, not administrative law
- International – does not relate to the sources of law. There are international sources of PIL,
but these are largely national rules. But in the case of the EU, the national rules are largely
harmonized in many EU rules. But that is recent. These are always regulations.
- ≠ public international law – however there are a few areas where there is overlap
o F.e. foreign sovereign immunity – to what degree can a government be sued? And
when you have secured a claim against a government, how can you have that
enforced in another jurisdiction.
o F.e. Euroclear case
2. Deals with issues arising in cross-border civil / commercial legal relationships
- F.e. How do you serve someone? How does the legal team of Trump secure the minutes of
the electoral meetings by the persons that made this documentary available? How does a US
citizen makes sure that people in the UK are ordered to preserve documentation?
- We have seen how that works in a national situation – gerechtelijk privaatrecht = CPR = civil
procedure rules
3. Important differences with public international law, international criminal law, civil procedure
rules
4. Patchwork (spaghetti bowl?) of sources (international, regional, national, soft law…)
Sources
Our focus Art 81 TFEU Other sources
Brussels Ia Regulation (1) The Union shall develop judicial cooperation Brussels IIa Regulation
Rome I Regulation in civil matters having cross-border Rome III Regulation
Rome II Regulation implications, based on the principle of mutual Maintenance Regulation,..
recognition of judgments... Such cooperation
Insolvency Regulation Hague Treaties (link on slide)
may include the adoption of measures for the
Art. 81 TFEU approximation of the laws and regulations of Lugano Convention 2007
the Member States. Hague Judgments
Convention 2019
5
,What does PIL deal with: Three main questions of PIL
1. Which court(s) can hear a case?
- What court has jurisdiction / which courts have jurisdiction?
- ‘Competent court’ is not a good term – jurisdiction or forum are better words
- Sometimes there is a choice
2. Which law applies?
- Which laws will be applied by the court once the courts are ceased?
- Applicable law = lex causae ≈ conflict of laws ≈ governing law ≈ proper law
- A court in Leuven will not always apply Belgian law. It can also use f.e. German law. That is
routine. If a judge does use their own law, it is called ‘Gleichlauf’
3. What is the effect of a judgment in a foreign country?
- Once you have secured a judgement, how do you get a judgement executed? = recognition
and enforcement
- Execution of the judgement – BE: excecutie-verdrag
- F.e. You have a good judgement of a Leuven court – The father in the UK has to return the
children to the Belgian jurisdiction – the judge may have applied English law to reach that
decision, but now there has to be a way to have the Belgian judgement enforced in the UK
Cooperation: evidence, service of documents, witness statements etc
Shopping in the three stages – We go through the rules that answer these three questions. Know that
you can shop in all of the three stages. So the question is not so much how to trough the three
questions, the question is more: what court do I want to hear this case, and what law do I want to
have applied? And might there be problems with enforcement in my countries, because there is little
point for practice reasons in securing a beautiful judgement on the basis of a good law, if
subsequently, you cannot convince the judge to enforce the judgements.
Examples of PIL & forum shopping
Forum shopping = you shop for a forum where you want to end up
Beckham & Depp case – Libel shopping & SLAPP
Facts Beckham case – Lady X was interviewed for a magazine and she told the magazine that she had
slept with David Beckham. The claims were clearly bogus because the date and place did not match,
David could not have been there to cheat. The story still came in the magazine
Does UK have jurisdiction - In English courts, there will very easily be liability if you sue lady X or the
magazine. But you have to be able to go to an English courts. In this case English courts would not
have accepted jurisdiction. David was resident in the USA, the facts happened in the USA, the
magazine was printed in the USA, and the facts were not put on the internet in a ‘.uk’ form but only
in a ‘.com’ form. The only link with UK is that Beckham is a national there. But that is not enough for
the UK courts to accept jurisdiction. The lawyers of Beckhem knew this. (For a French judge, this
would be enough to accept jurisdiction)
UK vs. US law –
6
, - Under UK liable law, the defendant in a liable case needs to show that what they said was
not libelous or that is was not true. That us a high bar – if the case were in the UK, Lady X
would not have been able to show this.
- Under US liable law, the claimant needs to show that what the defendant said was not true.
Beckham could have shown this. But in the case where the claimant is a celebrity, they also
need to show that the lies were said with malicious intent, that lady X wants to destroy
Beckham’s reputation. That is a very high bar, so USA law is more attractive to lady X.
Johny Depp case in the UK – This is the reason he first went to England, where he sued some
newspapers, who said that Depp was a wife-beater. The newspapers had to say that this was the
truth, and they managed to do so.
- Why did the newspapers win? Because the context of the case was a SLAPP. A SLAPP
(Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) is a lawsuit used by powerful actors (f.e.
Depp) to intimidate and silence critics such as journalists, activists, or scientists. Instead of
aiming to win in court, the goal is to burden the defendant with high legal costs, stress, and
lengthy procedures, discouraging them from speaking out on matters of public interest. This
was done a lot because in common law countries, the loosing party pays the costs of the
other party.
Johny Depp Case in the USA – After that Depp sues in the US, in Virginia. The newspapers also
published that Depp abused Heard. The US had jurisdiction because there were the printing presses
of the newspapers (locus delicti commissi, the place where the delict is committed). He does not go
to California, the place where Depp and Heard were resident, because that state has very stringent
SLAPP rules. So Depp forums shops his way into Virginia and he wins.
Slide – Depp case:
- Virginia is the ‘locus delicti commissi’: printing presses and servers of the Washington Post,
in which Ms Heard made her allegedly defamatory statements, are located in Virginia
- Unlike CAL (domicile of both), Virginia does not have robust ‘anti-SLAPP’ laws
- Note the very different outcome in US v UK (where the defendants were tabloids).
- Both apply their own defamation laws: ‘Gleichlauf’
o UK (*E&W*): defendant in a libel case needs to show that what they said (actually:
what the judge establishes as the true meaning of what they said), was true: ‘truth
defence’. In the case of Mr Depp, judge held that the allegations on the civil law
standard of balance of probabilities, were substantially true.
o US (State) defamation law: claimant needs to show that what defendant said, was
untrue. In the case of public figures, you also need to show ‘malicious intent’
- UK (*E&W) laws notoriously claimant friendly but judge arguably detected DARVO tactics:
‘deny, attack, reverse victim and offender"
- US (State) defamation laws notoriously defendant friendly in the case of VIPs, but: in front of
a jury…
Trump vs. BBC case – Libel shopping
Trump sues the BBC in Florida, USA because a show made Trump look bad, which was bad for his
reputation. Trump sues them in libel. Because Trump is a celebrity, he will have to show
- Untruth and malicious intent
- Territorial link to Florida – There is no locus deliciti commissi does not exist in Florida
7
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS PIL?....................................................................................................................... 4
WHAT IS PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW?....................................................................................................................5
SOURCES...............................................................................................................................................................5
WHAT DOES PIL DEAL WITH: THREE MAIN QUESTIONS OF PIL.........................................................................................6
EXAMPLES OF PIL & FORUM SHOPPING......................................................................................................................6
Beckham & Depp case – Libel shopping & SLAPP............................................................................................6
Trump vs. BBC case – Libel shopping...............................................................................................................7
Kate Middleton Privacy Case............................................................................................................................8
Book review gone wrong, and suing in France for 1960s-70s war..................................................................8
PIL’s Human side: child abduction....................................................................................................................8
HCCH – Hague Conference/Conférence de La Haye.........................................................................................8
Insolvency: forum shopping, recognition & enforcement – Nyrstar Arrest.....................................................9
Divorce tourism................................................................................................................................................9
Bargaining power/outsourcing........................................................................................................................9
Environment / Human Rights...........................................................................................................................9
Dutch relatives of Palestinians who were killed in Israeli bombings...............................................................9
Brexit................................................................................................................................................................9
CONFLICT OF LAWS IN THE EU - JURISDICTION.............................................................................................. 10
THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN LAW ON THE PIL OF THE MEMBER STATES............................................................................12
Legal basis for EU PIL.....................................................................................................................................12
In general.......................................................................................................................................................15
HISTORY..............................................................................................................................................................15
Making of the Brussels Convention................................................................................................................15
Excursus – Von Savigny..................................................................................................................................17
Lugano Convention and Tampere meeting....................................................................................................19
Brussels-I Convention.....................................................................................................................................20
Brussels Ibis & Brussles-Ia Regulations..........................................................................................................21
GOALS................................................................................................................................................................ 23
MUTUAL TRUST – THE OVERRIDING PRINCIPLE............................................................................................................24
SCOPE OF APPLICATION: SUBJECT MATTER.................................................................................................................26
EXCLUSIONS FROM THE SCOPE OF APPLICATION..........................................................................................................38
SCOPE OF APPLICATION: RATIONE PERSONAE.............................................................................................................39
Domicile – art. 62 and 63...............................................................................................................................39
THE JURISDICTION RULES OF THE REGULATION: A MATRIX.............................................................................................41
EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION – ART. 24.........................................................................................................................41
Article 24(1) – Rights in rem and tenancies of immovable property.............................................................42
Article 24(2) – Validity of company (decisions)..............................................................................................49
Article 24(3) – Validity of entries in public registers......................................................................................52
Article 24(4) – IPRs.........................................................................................................................................52
Art. 25(5) – Enforcement of judgement.........................................................................................................53
Reflexive application of A24?.........................................................................................................................53
JURISDICTION BY APPEARANCE – ARTICLE 26..............................................................................................................55
PROTECTED CATEGORIES – ART. 10-23.....................................................................................................................56
Consumers, art. 17-19....................................................................................................................................57
Employment contracts...................................................................................................................................66
CHOICE OF COURT AGREEMENTS – ART. 25...............................................................................................................69
The overall intention of COC-agreements......................................................................................................70
Reflexive effect for art. 25?............................................................................................................................70
Art. 25.............................................................................................................................................................70
Particular legal relationship...........................................................................................................................71
Expression vs. formation of consent..............................................................................................................71
Unilateral / hybrid / asymmetrical COC-agreements....................................................................................73
1
, Law applicable to the formation of consent..................................................................................................75
Party Autonomy vs Limits of the Lex Fori Prorogati.......................................................................................76
Choice of court and non-parties.....................................................................................................................78
GENERAL JURISDICTION – ARTICLE 4.........................................................................................................................79
SPECIAL JURISDICTION – ART. 7-9............................................................................................................................79
Art. 7.1 – Contract..........................................................................................................................................80
Article 7(2): Forum delicti...............................................................................................................................89
How to distinguish between ‘contract’ (7.1) and ‘torts’ (7.2)?....................................................................100
Re A 7(5) branch jurisdiction........................................................................................................................103
Art. 8 – Special jurisdiction – multiple parties..............................................................................................104
RESIDUAL JURISDICTION – ARTICLE 6......................................................................................................................110
LOSS OF JURISDICTION – ARTICLES 29-34...............................................................................................................110
Art. 29 – lis pendens.....................................................................................................................................111
Art. 31...........................................................................................................................................................112
Art. 30...........................................................................................................................................................113
Art. 32...........................................................................................................................................................113
Art 33-34: lis alibi pendens and third States................................................................................................114
ART. 35 – PROVISIONAL OR PROTECTIVE MEASURES..................................................................................................123
ART. 36-60 – RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT.....................................................................................................124
ART. 1 – SCOPE OF APPLICATION...........................................................................................................................127
APPLICABLE LAW....................................................................................................................................... 130
HISTORY............................................................................................................................................................130
PRELIMINARY REMARKS........................................................................................................................................131
MAIN PRINCIPLES................................................................................................................................................131
EXCLUSION OF RENVOI.........................................................................................................................................132
UNIVERSAL APPLICATION......................................................................................................................................132
TEMPORAL APPLICATION...................................................................................................................................... 133
TERRITORIAL APPLICATION....................................................................................................................................134
MATERIAL APPLICATION.......................................................................................................................................134
Contractual obligations v. non-contractual obligations..............................................................................134
Material application: exceptions..................................................................................................................135
RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER CONVENTIONS...............................................................................................................137
APPLICABLE LAW. NO ‘MATRIX’ PER SE....................................................................................................................137
APPLICABLE LAW – ROME I......................................................................................................................... 138
CHOICE OF LAW (ART. 3)......................................................................................................................................138
PROTECTED CATEGORIES (AS 5-8)..........................................................................................................................142
Art. 5 and 7...................................................................................................................................................142
Art. 6 and 8...................................................................................................................................................142
APPLICABLE LAW ROME I: ABSENCE OF CHOICE (ART. 4).............................................................................................148
Art. 4 Rome Convention (before Rome I).....................................................................................................148
Art. 4 Rome I.................................................................................................................................................149
Step [1].........................................................................................................................................................149
Step [2].........................................................................................................................................................150
Step [3].........................................................................................................................................................151
Step [4].........................................................................................................................................................152
APPLICABLE LAW ROME I: PARTICULAR ISSUES..........................................................................................................152
Consent and material validity: art. 10..........................................................................................................152
Formal validity: art. 11. Favor negotis.........................................................................................................153
Incapacity: art. 13........................................................................................................................................153
Three levels of correction: art. 3.3 – 3.4 – 9 – 21.........................................................................................154
HAGUE PRINCIPLES ON CHOICE OF LAW IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS......................................................159
CHOICE OF LAW FOR NON-STATE LAW IN ROME I.......................................................................................160
CHOICE OF LAW (COL)........................................................................................................................................160
FROM CONVENTION TO REGULATION: GREEN PAPER..................................................................................................161
2
, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE (MPI).............................................................................................................................161
MPI: Uniform Private Law Conventions.......................................................................................................161
MPI: General Principles................................................................................................................................162
MPI: Lex mercatoria.....................................................................................................................................162
ARTICLE 3.2 OF THE PROPOSAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE......................................................................................162
RECITAL 13 OF THE PREAMBLE..............................................................................................................................163
Different interpretation................................................................................................................................163
Recital 13: more context..............................................................................................................................164
Recital 13: Schrödinger's recital [OPINION].................................................................................................164
RECITAL 14 OF THE PREAMBLE..............................................................................................................................164
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................................................165
Belgium........................................................................................................................................................165
The Netherlands...........................................................................................................................................165
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................166
APPLICABLE LAW ROME II.......................................................................................................................... 166
SCOPE OF APPLICATION – ART. 1...........................................................................................................................166
PROCEDURAL MATTERS........................................................................................................................................167
ART. 4 – GENERAL RULE......................................................................................................................................170
SPECIFIC TORTS – ART. 5-9...................................................................................................................................172
Art. 5 – Product liability................................................................................................................................173
Art. 6 – Unfair competition and acts restricting free competition...............................................................173
Art. 7 – Environmental damage...................................................................................................................175
Art. 8 – Infringement of intellectual property rights....................................................................................177
Art. 9 – Industrial action...............................................................................................................................177
ART. 10-12 – UNJUST ENRICHMENT, NEGOTIORUM GESTIO AND CULPA IN CONTRAHENDO...............................................177
ART. 14 – CHOICE OF LAW...................................................................................................................................177
APPLICABLE LAW ROME II: PARTICULAR ISSUES.........................................................................................................178
ON A HIDING TO NOWHERE?...................................................................................................................... 179
WHY DO WE SUE THEM IN EUROPE AND /OR ‘GLOBAL NORTH’?.................................................................................183
SOME CORE TERMINOLOGY...................................................................................................................................183
SPV’s and duty of care..................................................................................................................................183
Duty of care vis-à-vis third parties...............................................................................................................184
STEP 1: JURISDICTION..........................................................................................................................................187
UK - England.................................................................................................................................................189
The Netherlands...........................................................................................................................................192
STEP 2: APPLICABLE LAW.....................................................................................................................................193
US: ALIEN TORT STATUTE AND BHR......................................................................................................................194
ATS-use.........................................................................................................................................................194
Hesitations...................................................................................................................................................194
US vs. EU.......................................................................................................................................................196
DIVESTMENT OPERATIONS TO AVOID LIABILITY..........................................................................................................196
How do corporations manage these risks?..................................................................................................198
Regulators in the ‘Global South’ often sanction these divestments............................................................199
CLIMATE JUSTICE LITIGATION. PROCEDURAL ISSUES AND CONFLICT OF LAWS............................................201
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................201
MAIN TYPES OF CLAIM.........................................................................................................................................202
JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT..........................................................................................................................203
‘PUBLIC’ V ‘PRIVATE’ INTERNATIONAL LAW...............................................................................................................204
THE ‘INTERNATIONAL’ ELEMENT REQUIRED TO TRIGGER PIL.........................................................................................205
BRUSSELS IA: ARTICLES 33-34 BIA AND CPR...........................................................................................................205
EU: APPLICABLE LAW – ARTICLE 7 ROME II.............................................................................................................206
‘FOREIGN ACT OF STATE’ AND LINK WITH CS3D.......................................................................................................211
IN SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................. 211
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,INSOLVENCY.............................................................................................................................................. 212
A BIT OF HISTORY................................................................................................................................................212
THE RELATION BETWEEN BIA AND THE EIR..............................................................................................................214
IS THIS PIGEON TAILING........................................................................................................................................214
ANNEX A.......................................................................................................................................................... 216
Belgium........................................................................................................................................................216
Netherlands..................................................................................................................................................216
UK – pre Brexit..............................................................................................................................................216
CONSEQUENTIAL RESTRUCTURING TOURISM.............................................................................................................217
Plenty of continental European companies making resort to English schemes of arrangements...............217
Insolvency tourism post Brexit.....................................................................................................................218
VIS ATTRACTIVA CONCURSUS.................................................................................................................................221
COMI.............................................................................................................................................................. 222
Determination of COMI – Look-back periods...............................................................................................223
COMI indications..........................................................................................................................................224
APPLICABLE LAW.................................................................................................................................................226
Gleichlauf.....................................................................................................................................................226
Important exception: the pauliana..............................................................................................................226
About free movement of establishment......................................................................................................227
SECONDARY PROCEDURES.....................................................................................................................................228
Articles
CJEU case
National case
Introduction: What is PIL?
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,What is Private International Law?
A new language – PIL has as many applications as private law. SO all the private law things that we
have seen before (tort, contract, insolvency, adoption, marriage, inheritance, estate planning,
corporate law) is also in PIL application. But we don’t have the time to learn all this. So in this class,
we will see the language and structure of PIL using the area of civil and commercial litigation. Using
this framework, we can better understand the other subjects within PIL.
Statutes vs. case law – Until 2004, there was no Belgian act on PIL. There are still civil law countries
that have no act, and where everything is still with case law. Now we have European statutes, but
these statutes are very case law driven, because the concepts used in this are very opaque and not
well explained. To be able to interpret the statutes, to understand them, you need to know the
cases.
What is PIL?
1. Concerns ‘private’ law, concerns ‘international’ scenarios: the ‘international’ referring to the
factual matrix: not the source of law
- Private – The facts of the case engage with private law, not public law, not administrative law
- International – does not relate to the sources of law. There are international sources of PIL,
but these are largely national rules. But in the case of the EU, the national rules are largely
harmonized in many EU rules. But that is recent. These are always regulations.
- ≠ public international law – however there are a few areas where there is overlap
o F.e. foreign sovereign immunity – to what degree can a government be sued? And
when you have secured a claim against a government, how can you have that
enforced in another jurisdiction.
o F.e. Euroclear case
2. Deals with issues arising in cross-border civil / commercial legal relationships
- F.e. How do you serve someone? How does the legal team of Trump secure the minutes of
the electoral meetings by the persons that made this documentary available? How does a US
citizen makes sure that people in the UK are ordered to preserve documentation?
- We have seen how that works in a national situation – gerechtelijk privaatrecht = CPR = civil
procedure rules
3. Important differences with public international law, international criminal law, civil procedure
rules
4. Patchwork (spaghetti bowl?) of sources (international, regional, national, soft law…)
Sources
Our focus Art 81 TFEU Other sources
Brussels Ia Regulation (1) The Union shall develop judicial cooperation Brussels IIa Regulation
Rome I Regulation in civil matters having cross-border Rome III Regulation
Rome II Regulation implications, based on the principle of mutual Maintenance Regulation,..
recognition of judgments... Such cooperation
Insolvency Regulation Hague Treaties (link on slide)
may include the adoption of measures for the
Art. 81 TFEU approximation of the laws and regulations of Lugano Convention 2007
the Member States. Hague Judgments
Convention 2019
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,What does PIL deal with: Three main questions of PIL
1. Which court(s) can hear a case?
- What court has jurisdiction / which courts have jurisdiction?
- ‘Competent court’ is not a good term – jurisdiction or forum are better words
- Sometimes there is a choice
2. Which law applies?
- Which laws will be applied by the court once the courts are ceased?
- Applicable law = lex causae ≈ conflict of laws ≈ governing law ≈ proper law
- A court in Leuven will not always apply Belgian law. It can also use f.e. German law. That is
routine. If a judge does use their own law, it is called ‘Gleichlauf’
3. What is the effect of a judgment in a foreign country?
- Once you have secured a judgement, how do you get a judgement executed? = recognition
and enforcement
- Execution of the judgement – BE: excecutie-verdrag
- F.e. You have a good judgement of a Leuven court – The father in the UK has to return the
children to the Belgian jurisdiction – the judge may have applied English law to reach that
decision, but now there has to be a way to have the Belgian judgement enforced in the UK
Cooperation: evidence, service of documents, witness statements etc
Shopping in the three stages – We go through the rules that answer these three questions. Know that
you can shop in all of the three stages. So the question is not so much how to trough the three
questions, the question is more: what court do I want to hear this case, and what law do I want to
have applied? And might there be problems with enforcement in my countries, because there is little
point for practice reasons in securing a beautiful judgement on the basis of a good law, if
subsequently, you cannot convince the judge to enforce the judgements.
Examples of PIL & forum shopping
Forum shopping = you shop for a forum where you want to end up
Beckham & Depp case – Libel shopping & SLAPP
Facts Beckham case – Lady X was interviewed for a magazine and she told the magazine that she had
slept with David Beckham. The claims were clearly bogus because the date and place did not match,
David could not have been there to cheat. The story still came in the magazine
Does UK have jurisdiction - In English courts, there will very easily be liability if you sue lady X or the
magazine. But you have to be able to go to an English courts. In this case English courts would not
have accepted jurisdiction. David was resident in the USA, the facts happened in the USA, the
magazine was printed in the USA, and the facts were not put on the internet in a ‘.uk’ form but only
in a ‘.com’ form. The only link with UK is that Beckham is a national there. But that is not enough for
the UK courts to accept jurisdiction. The lawyers of Beckhem knew this. (For a French judge, this
would be enough to accept jurisdiction)
UK vs. US law –
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, - Under UK liable law, the defendant in a liable case needs to show that what they said was
not libelous or that is was not true. That us a high bar – if the case were in the UK, Lady X
would not have been able to show this.
- Under US liable law, the claimant needs to show that what the defendant said was not true.
Beckham could have shown this. But in the case where the claimant is a celebrity, they also
need to show that the lies were said with malicious intent, that lady X wants to destroy
Beckham’s reputation. That is a very high bar, so USA law is more attractive to lady X.
Johny Depp case in the UK – This is the reason he first went to England, where he sued some
newspapers, who said that Depp was a wife-beater. The newspapers had to say that this was the
truth, and they managed to do so.
- Why did the newspapers win? Because the context of the case was a SLAPP. A SLAPP
(Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) is a lawsuit used by powerful actors (f.e.
Depp) to intimidate and silence critics such as journalists, activists, or scientists. Instead of
aiming to win in court, the goal is to burden the defendant with high legal costs, stress, and
lengthy procedures, discouraging them from speaking out on matters of public interest. This
was done a lot because in common law countries, the loosing party pays the costs of the
other party.
Johny Depp Case in the USA – After that Depp sues in the US, in Virginia. The newspapers also
published that Depp abused Heard. The US had jurisdiction because there were the printing presses
of the newspapers (locus delicti commissi, the place where the delict is committed). He does not go
to California, the place where Depp and Heard were resident, because that state has very stringent
SLAPP rules. So Depp forums shops his way into Virginia and he wins.
Slide – Depp case:
- Virginia is the ‘locus delicti commissi’: printing presses and servers of the Washington Post,
in which Ms Heard made her allegedly defamatory statements, are located in Virginia
- Unlike CAL (domicile of both), Virginia does not have robust ‘anti-SLAPP’ laws
- Note the very different outcome in US v UK (where the defendants were tabloids).
- Both apply their own defamation laws: ‘Gleichlauf’
o UK (*E&W*): defendant in a libel case needs to show that what they said (actually:
what the judge establishes as the true meaning of what they said), was true: ‘truth
defence’. In the case of Mr Depp, judge held that the allegations on the civil law
standard of balance of probabilities, were substantially true.
o US (State) defamation law: claimant needs to show that what defendant said, was
untrue. In the case of public figures, you also need to show ‘malicious intent’
- UK (*E&W) laws notoriously claimant friendly but judge arguably detected DARVO tactics:
‘deny, attack, reverse victim and offender"
- US (State) defamation laws notoriously defendant friendly in the case of VIPs, but: in front of
a jury…
Trump vs. BBC case – Libel shopping
Trump sues the BBC in Florida, USA because a show made Trump look bad, which was bad for his
reputation. Trump sues them in libel. Because Trump is a celebrity, he will have to show
- Untruth and malicious intent
- Territorial link to Florida – There is no locus deliciti commissi does not exist in Florida
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