Conference at the Court of Justice of the European Union

The 50th Anniversary of the European Law of Civil Procedure

jointly organized by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) & the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law (MPI Luxembourg)

Luxembourg, 27 - 28 September 2018

On the 27th September 1968, the then six EC Member States signed the Brussels Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. 50 years later, the European Court of Justice and the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg are organizing an international conference on the major developments, achievements and challenges of the judicial cooperation in civil and commercial in the European Judicial Area.

THURSDAY, 27 September 2018

14:00 Welcome 

Koen Lenaerts (President, CJEU)
Hélène Ruiz Fabri (Director, MPI Luxembourg)

14:15 Panel 1: Seminal judgments of the CJEU

The first panel will address the development of the European law of civil procedure by analysing the CJEU’s landmark decisions regarding autonomous interpretation, the free movement of judgments, mutual trust and mutual recognition, as well as the protection of the rights of the defence.

Speaker:
Burkhard Hess (Director, MPI Luxembourg)

Discussants:
Marco Ilešič (President of Chamber, CJEU)
Camelia Toader (Judge, CJEU)
Marek Safjan (Judge, CJEU)

15:45 Coffee break

Young researchers’ poster exhibit

16:30 Panel 2: The European law of civil procedure and private international law

The Brussels Convention of 1968 provided for rules on jurisdiction, lis pendens and recognition. In 1980, the Rome Convention on rules addressing conflict of laws in contractual matters was adopted as a complement to the Brussels Convention. Ever since, European procedural law and private international law have been governed by parallel instruments, known as ‘Brussels’ or ‘Rome’ Regulations. The second panel will analyse the relationship between those instruments and the need to come to a uniform interpretation. In addition, the function of the Brussels I Regulation as a point of reference for other EU private international law regulations will be discussed.

Speaker:
Maciej Szpunar (Advocate General, CJEU)

Discussants:  
Marta Requejo Isidro (Professor, MPI Luxembourg)
Sabine Corneloup (Professor, Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas)
Johan Meeusen (Professor, Universiteit Antwerpen)

18:00 End of the 1st day of the conference

20:00 Dinner
at the Max Planck Institute, Weicker Building

Dinner speech:
Fausto Pocar (Professor, Università degli Studi di Milano / former Judge, ICTY)

FRIDAY, 28 September 2018

09:00 Panel 3: The application of the European law of civil procedure in the dialogue between the CJEU and national courts
  

The third panel will discuss the procedural framework. Given that the European law of civil procedure has been applied and interpreted by the CJEU almost exclusively within the preliminary reference procedure (Art. 267 TFEU), the relationship between the CJEU and national courts is of particular interest.

Speaker:
Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe (Advocate General, CJEU)

Discussants:
Wolfgang Hau (Professor, LMU München)
Paul Oberhammer (Professor, Universität Wien)
Xandra Kramer (Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam)

10:30 Coffee break
Young researchers’ poster exhibit

11:00 Panel 4: Procedural autonomy in the case law of the CJEU

The fourth panel will examine the European law of civil procedure that is evolving outside the substantive scope of the Brussels Regulation in order to coordinate the procedural laws of EU Member States beyond specific harmonisation measures. For this purpose, the CJEU’s case law setting out some of the core elements of the European law of civil procedure will be discussed, including the role of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the principles of procedural autonomy, effectiveness and equivalence.

Speaker:
Loïc Cadiet (Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

Discussants:
Michail Vilaras (Judge, CJEU)
Constantinos Lycourgos (Judge, CJEU)
Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona (Advocate General, CJEU)

12:30 Round Table: Future perspectives on the European law of civil procedure

Finally, the conference will conclude with a roundtable discussion concerning the future architecture of the European judicial system, including the relationship with third States that are parties to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, as well as the possible procedural consequences resulting from Brexit.

Speaker:
Koen Lenaerts (President, CJEU)

Discussants:
Tiina Astola (Director General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission)
Jürgen Basedow (Director emeritus, MPI for Private Law Hamburg)
Christophe Bernasconi (Secretary General, Hague Conference on Private International Law)
Alexander Layton (Queen’s Counsel, 20 Essex Street Chambers)

13:15 End of the conference and lunch reception

ON INVITATION ONLY

Contact:

events@curia.europa.eu

Venue:
Court of Justice of the European Union
Rue du Fort Niedergrünewald
L-2925 Luxembourg