PhD defence Giovanni Chiapponi
Research Fellow Giovanni Chiapponi awarded with Doctoral degree from the University of Luxembourg
On 07 July 2023, Giovanni Chiapponi defended his PhD thesis ”Interfaces between National and Eu Law: Time Limits in Cross-Border Civil Proceedings and their Impact on the Free Circulation of Judgments” conducted under the supervision of Professor Burkhard Hess.
Summary:
The thesis aims at exploring possible legal solutions to remove the obstacles to the free circulation of judgments in the civil justice area that arise from the remarkably diverging national rules on procedural time limits.
As shown by the case-law of the CJEU, time limits have recently come under closer scrutiny. The interplay between national and EU law illustrates that time limits raise significant deficiencies connected with the right to a fair trial under Art. 6 ECHR and Art. 47 CFR – e.g. the effective recovery of claims, effective judicial protection, effective cross-border enforcement of judgments – which negatively impact EU cross-border civil litigation.
In order to overcome some of the weaknesses of the current legal framework governing the cross-border enforcement of judgments and strengthen the parties’ fundamental procedural rights the PhD thesis intends to determine whether and, to what extent time limits can be harmonised at EU level. EU action on time limits would indeed favour the speed, efficiency and proportionality of cross-border proceedings without sacrificing the fairness of the judicial process and the equality of the parties. Yet, harmonizing time limits only for cross-border settings might entail new frictions between domestic and cross-border procedures.
Besides Professor Hess (Max Planck Institute Luxembourg), the jury was composed of Professor Menétrey (University of Luxembourg), Professor Enrique Vallines (MPILU), Professor Michele Lupoi (University of Bologna), Professor Elena D'Alessandro (University of Turin) and Professor Andrea Giussani (University of Urbino).
