European Private
International Law 7.3.2012
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Literature
• Interactive syllabi
• Articles
• Ulrich Magnus,Peter Mankowski,Alfonso-Luis Calvo
Caravaca. Brussels I Regulation (available on
books.google)
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Syllabus
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Competences of the EU in the area of EPIL
Concept of autonomous interpretation
Prejudicial questions
Brussels I Regulation
– Scope of application
– Case law
– Your presentation
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
The EU competence
• Judicial cooperation in civil matters
• Article 81 (ex Article 65 TEC)
• The Union shall develop judicial cooperation in civil matters having crossborder implications, based on the principle of mutual recognition of
judgments and of decisions in extrajudicial cases. Such cooperation may
include the adoption of measures for the approximation of the laws and
regulations of the Member States.
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
The EU competence
• … the European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the
ordinary legislative procedure, shall adopt measures, particularly when
necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market, aimed at
ensuring:
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
The EU competence
– the mutual recognition and enforcement between Member States of
judgments and of decisions in extrajudicial cases;
– the cross-border service of judicial and extrajudicial documents;
– the compatibility of the rules applicable in the Member States concerning
conflict of laws and of jurisdiction;
– cooperation in the taking of evidence;
– effective access to justice;
– the elimination of obstacles to the proper functioning of civil proceedings, if
necessary by promoting the compatibility of the rules on civil procedure
applicable in the Member States
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
The reference for a preliminary ruling
• Article 267 (ex Article 234 TEC)
• The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to give
preliminary rulings concerning:
(a) the interpretation of the Treaties;
(b) the validity and interpretation of acts of the
institutions,
bodies, offices or agencies of the Union;
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
The reference for a preliminary ruling
• Where such a question is raised before any court or tribunal of a Member
State, that court or tribunal may, if it considers that a decision on the
question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the Court to
give a ruling thereon.
• Where any such question is raised in a case pending before a court or
tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial
remedy under national law, that court or tribunal shall bring the matter
before the Court.
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
(European) Private International Law
• Cross-border transaction, relationship, contract…
• 2 and more states and their legal systems involved
-> 2 main questions arise:
1. Law applicable
2. Jurisdiction of courts
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
(European) Private International Law
• Focus in rules of procedure -> determining court, FORUM
• Why is forum so important?
• Forum impacts:
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?
?
?
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Regulation Brussels I
• Therefore we will focus on procedural rules…
• COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 44/2001 of 22
December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition
and enforcement of judgments in civil and
commercial matters (Regulation Brussels I)
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Regulation Brussels I
• Facilitate the judicial teratment of suits and judgments among the MS uniform rules for civil cross-border litigation
• Different procedural formalities impede the judicial cooperation within
the internal market
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Regulation Brussels I
• Based on principle of mutual trust
• Uniform and fair connecting factors
• Principle of legal certainty, foreseeability in the application and
interpretation
• To grant the parties the widest possible freedom to select the competent
forum
• Principle of automatic recognition
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Regulation Brussels I
• Importance:
– Interpretation – the first and most important cases were on interpretation of
Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of
Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters 1968 (predecessor of the Brussels
I Regulation)
– Corner-stone and fundament of the European Judicial Area – judicial
cooperation – necessity of free movement of judgments
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Case-law
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Facts of the case (briefly)
Preliminary question(s) – “issue” (interpreted Article and notion)
Decision of the ECJ – “rule”
Key reasons of the decision
Evaluation of the importance of the decision for the interpretation and
application of the Regulation
Examples of other cases concerning the same notion or Articles
Further reading – examples of books or Articles concerning the case
(notion, Article)
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Case-law
1. LTU v. Eurocontrol
2. Rütter
3. Sonntag
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
LTU v. Eurocontrol
1.
Interpretation of the concept „civil and commercial matters“
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Reference must not be made to the law of one of the states, but
to the objectives and schemes of the Brussels I and the general principles
which stem from the corpus of the national legal systems
2. Judgment given in an action between a public authority
which acted in the exercise of its powers and a private person –
excluded from Brussels I
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Rüffer
• The concept of "civil and commercial matters" within the meaning of the
Brussels I does not include actions such as that referred to by the national
court brought by the agent responsible for administering public waterways
against the person having liability in law in order to recover the costs
incurred in the removal of a wreck carried out by or at the instigation of
the administering agent in the exercise of its public authority.
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Sonntag
• 'Civil matters' within the meaning of the first sentence of the first
paragraph of Article 1 of the Brussels I cover an action for compensation
for damage brought before a criminal court against a teacher in a State
school who, during a school trip, caused injury to a pupil through a
culpable and unlawful breach of his duties of supervision; this is so even
where cover is provided under a social insurance scheme governed by
public law.
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Autonomous interpretation
• Continuity between Brussels Convention and Regulation
• The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties cannot be applied to
Regulation Brussels I (not international treaty)
• Interpretation of the Brussels Convention:
1. Questions of doubt to be answered without redress to a specific national
law
2. Construction of terms and the gap-filling to be inferred from the
Convention itself
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Autonomous interpretation
• Interpretation of the Regulation
 Reference is made to the EU law as a whole, not to a specific national law
(exceptions)
 Does not exclude the use of the material on which the Regulation is based
 Allows reference to instruments that have influenced the wording of
Regulation (CISG, Rome Convention…) -> broad interconventional
approach
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Autonomous interpretation
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The interpretation criteria:
Verbal
Historic
Systematic
Purposive interpretation (effect utile doctrine – single area of freedom,
security and justice)
 Comparative interpretation
 General conformity with EU law
 Conformity with Human Rights (ECHR)
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Regulation Brussels I
• Scope of application:
1. International element
2. Territorial scope
3. Material scope
4. Personal scope
5. Entry into force
6. No court discretion
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Regulation Brussels I
• Article 1
„This Regulation shall apply in civil and commercial matters whatever the
nature of the court or tribunal. It shall not extend, in particular, to
revenue, customs or administrative matters.“
->sets the scope ratione materiae of the Regulation
JUDr. Tereza Kyselovská
Thank you for your attention
PROJECT „THEORY – SKILL – EXPERIENCE“
reg. No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/15.0198, Operational Program Education for Competitiveness
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