New edition of reference book on Brussels I bis and Lugano II

A new edition of Professor Gaudemet-Tallon’s reference book on the Brussels and Lugano Regime (jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in Europe) was published last month. Professor Marie-Elodie Ancel is now contributing to the book:

Marie-Elodie Ancel, Hélène Gaudemet-Tallon, « Compétence et exécution des jugements en Europe. Règlements 44/2001 et 1215/2012 Conventions de Bruxelles (1968) et de Lugano (1988 et 2007) », 6e edition, L.G.D.J, ISBN : 978-2-275-06057-6, 978 pages, December 2018, here

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Optional nature of Form IV in Annex 4 to the (Succession) Implementing Regulation

The Court of Justice delivered today its judgment in case C‑102/18 (Klaus Manuel Maria Brisch) which is about the European Certificate of Succession:

“Article 65(2) of Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 […] and Article 1(4) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1329/2014 of 9 December 2014 establishing the Forms referred to in Regulation No 650/2012 [mean] that, for the purposes of an application for a European Certificate of Succession, within the meaning of Article 65(2) of Regulation No 650/2012, the use of Form IV in Annex 4 to Implementing Regulation No 1329/2014 is optional”.

Source: here

Breach of the lis pendens rules in Brussels I and Brussels II bis and recognition of the decision of the court second seised

The Court of Justice delivered yesterday (16 January 2019) its judgment in case C‑386/17 (Stefano Liberato v Luminita Luisa Grigorescu), which is about the breach of the lis pendens rules in Brussels I and Brussels II bis and recognition of the decision of the court second seised:

“The rules of lis pendens in Article 27 of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 […] and Article 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 […] must be interpreted as meaning that where, in a dispute in matrimonial matters, parental responsibility or maintenance obligations, the court second seised, in breach of those rules, delivers a judgment which becomes final, those articles preclude the courts of the Member State in which the court first seised is situated from refusing to recognise that judgment solely for that reason. In particular, that breach cannot, in itself, justify non-recognition of a judgment on the ground that it is manifestly contrary to public policy in that Member State”.

Source: here

Use of IT in the Hague Service and Evidence Conventions

The Hague Conference has published a document on the Use of Information Technology in the Transmission of Requests under the Service and Evidence Conventions. You can read it here.

UK accedes to the Hague 2005 Choice of Court Convention and 2007 Maintenance Convention

According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the depository, the UK acceded on 28 December 2018 to the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and to the 2007 Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and other Forms of Family Maintenance (with entry into force on 1 April 2019)

Sources: here and there

Japan opposes Articles 8 and 10(a) of the 1965 Hague Service Convention

Japan declared on 21 December 2018 that it opposes Article 8 and Article 10(a) of the 1965 Hague Convention on The Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters.

Reminder: Article 8 states that “Each Contracting State shall be free to effect service of judicial documents upon persons abroad, without application of any compulsion, directly through its diplomatic or consular agents. Any State may declare that it is opposed to such service within its territory, unless the document is to be served upon a national of the State in which the documents originate”.
Article 10 (a) states that “Provided the State of destination does not object, the present Convention shall not interfere with a) the freedom to send judicial documents, by postal channels, directly to persons abroad”.
Source: here

Hague Preliminary Documents on Evidence and Maintenance

Several Preliminary Documents have been made available today in anticipation of the 2019 Hague Council on General Affairs and Policy. They are:

__ Preliminary Document No 8: Draft Guide to Good Practice on the Use of Video-Link under the Evidence Convention (provisional version). See here.

__ Preliminary Document No 10: Planning for Special Commission meeting on the 2007 Maintenance Convention (2020). See here.

__ Preliminary Document No 11: Research in advance of Experts’ Group on international transfer of maintenance funds. See here

Forms of the property consequences of registered partnerships regulation now available

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1990 of 11 December 2018 establishing the forms referred to in Council Regulation (EU) 2016/1104 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matters of the property consequences of registered partnerships has been published today at the OJEU (L 320, 17.12.2018, p. 1). You can find the Regulation here.

Conclusions and Recommendations on Cross-border Protection of Vulnerable Adults

“Approximately 130 experts from more than 35 States representing all continents gathered from 5 to 7 December 2018 in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss “Cross-border Protection of Vulnerable Adults” in a conference organised jointly by the European Commission and the HCCH.

[HCCH Convention of 13 January 2000 on the International Protection of Adults] The Conference also discussed the possible need for additional legal norms and / or co-operation mechanisms in this area, the need for post-Convention services and the development of good practices. More specifically, the conference discussed the possibility to abolish exequatur, the provision of more party autonomy, the use of consular affairs services, the benefits of direct judicial communications and the development of model forms and certificates as well as electronic registries.

The Conclusions and Recommendations that were adopted by consensus at the end of the joint conference are available here”.

Source: here

Adoption of the Hague Judgments Convention in mid-2019

A Diplomatic Conference has been convened from 18 June to 2 July 2019 in order to adopt the Draft Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters. A revised version of the Draft Explanatory Report, dated November 2018, has also been published (see here).