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Conference on "The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Cornerstones, Prospects, Outlook", 9 and 10 June 2023

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On 23 June 2022, the European Parliament by adopting JURI Committee Report A9-0177/2022 gave its consent to the accession of the European Union to the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention. The Explanatory Statement describes the convention with a view to the "growth in international trade and investment flows" as an "instrument [...] of outmost importance for European citizenz ans businesses" and expressed the hope that the EU's signature will set "an example for other countries to join". However, the Rapporteur, Ms. Sabrina Pignedoli, also expresses the view that the European Parliament should maintain a strong role when considering objections under the bilateralisation mechanism provided for in Art. 29 of the Convention. Additionally, some concerns were raised regardings the protection of employees and consumers under the instrument. For those interested in the (remarkably fast) adoption process, the European Parliament's vote can be rewatched here. Given these important steps towards accession, June 2023 should be a perfect time to delve deeper into the subject-matter, and the Conference is certainly a perfect opportunity for doing so:

The list of speakers of our conference includes internationally leading scholars, practitioners and experts from the most excellent Universities, the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and the European Commission (DG Trade, DG Justice). The Conference is co-hosted by the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH.

The Organizers kindly ask participants to contribute with EUR 220.- to the costs of the event and with EUR 60.- to the conference dinner, should they wish to participate. There is a limited capacity for young scholars to contribute with EUR 110.- to the conference (the costs for the dinner remain unchanged).

Please register with sekretariat.weller@~@jura.uni-bonn.de. Please communicate your full name and your postal address (for accounting purposes). Clearly indicate whether you want to benefit from the young scholars’ reduction of the conference fees and whether you want to participate in the conference dinner. You will receive an invoice per email for the respective conference fee and, if applicable, for the conference dinner. Please make sure that we receive your payment at least two weeks in advance to the conference (26 May 2023 at the latest)After receiving your payment we will send out a confirmation of your registration. This confirmation will allow you to access the conference hall and the conference dinner.

Accommodation: We have blocked a larger number of rooms in the newly built hotel “MotelOne Bonn-Beethoven”, https://www.motel-one.com/de/hotels/bonn/hotel-bonn-beethoven/, few minutes away from the conference venue. The hotel’s address is: Berliner Freiheit 36, D – 53111 Bonn. The contact details are: bonn-beethoven@~@motel-one.com, +49 228 9727860. These rooms need to be booked on your own initiative and account by making reservation with the Hotel and by referring to „Universität Bonn“. These rooms will be blocked until 22 April 2023 at the latest. As there will be several larger events in town at the date of our conference we recommend making arrangements for accommodation quickly.

Dates and Times:

Friday and Saturday, 9 and 10 June 2023

Venue:

Universitätsclub Bonn, Konviktstraße 9, D – 53113 Bonn

Registration:

sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de

Registration fee: EUR 220.-

Programme

Friday, 9 June 2023

8.30 a.m. Registration

9.00 a.m. Welcome notes

Prof Dr Matthias Weller, Director of the Institute for German and International Civil Procedural Law, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn;
Dr Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary General, HCCH

Moderators: Prof Dr Moritz Brinkmann, Prof Dr Nina Dethloff, Prof Dr Matthias Weller, University of Bonn; Prof Dr Matthias Lehmann, University of Vienna; Dr João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, Former First Secretary, HCCH; Melissa Ford, Secretary, HCCH, Prof Dr Xandra Kramer, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands

 

Part I: Cornerstones

1. Judgments, Recognition, Enforcement

Prof Dr Wolfgang Hau, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany

2. The jurisdictional filters 

Prof Dr Pietro Franzina, Catholic University of Milan, Italy

3. Grounds for refusal

Adj Prof Dr Marcos Dotta Salgueiro, University of the Republic, Montevideo; Director of International Law Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uruguay

4. Article 29: From a Mechanism on Treaty Relations to a Catalyst of a Global Judicial Union

Dr João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, Former First Secretary, HCCH
Dr Cristina M. Mariottini, Jurist in Luxembourg 

1.00 p.m. Lunch Break

5. The HCCH System for choice of court agreements: Relationship of the HCCH Judgments Convention 2019 to the HCCH 2005 Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

Prof Paul Beaumont, University of Stirling, United Kingdom

Part II: Prospects for the World

1. European Union

Dr Andreas Stein, Head of Unit, DG JUST - A1 "Civil Justice", European Commission

2. Perspectives from the US and Canada

Prof Linda J. Silberman, Clarence D. Ashley Professor of Law, Co-Director, Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law, New York University School of Law, USA
Prof Geneviève Saumier, Peter M. Laing Q.C. Professor of Law, McGill Faculty of Law, Canada

3. Southeast European Neighbouring and EU Candidate Countries

Ass. Prof. Dr.sc Ilija Rumenov, Assistant Professor at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

8.00 p.m. Conference Dinner (EUR 60.-)

Dinner Speech

Prof Dr Burkhard Hess, Director of the Max Planck Institute for International, European and Regulatory Law, Luxembourg

 

Saturday, 10 June 2023

9.00 a.m. Part II continued: Prospects for the World

4. Perspectives from the Arab World

Prof Dr Béligh Elbalti, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Law and Politics at Osaka University, Japan

5. Prospects for Africa

Prof Dr Abubakri Yekini, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Prof Dr Chukwuma Okoli, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

6. Gains and Opportunities for the MERCOSUR Region

Prof Dr Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Director of External Relations, Professor of International Private Law, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

7. Perspectives for ASEAN

Prof Dr Adeline Chong, Associate Professor of Law, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore

8. China

Prof Dr Zheng (Sophia) Tang, Wuhan University, China

1.00 p.m. Lunch Break

Part III: Outlook

1. Lessons Learned from the Genesis of the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention

Dr Ning Zhao, Principal Legal Officer, HCCH

2. International Commercial Arbitration and Judicial Cooperation in civil matters: Towards an Integrated Approach

José Angelo Estrella-Faria, Principal Legal Officer and Head, Legislative Branch, International Trade Law Division, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations; Former Secretary General of UNIDROIT

3. General Synthesis and Future Perspectives

Hans van Loon, Former Secretary General, HCCH

 

Download the Conference Poster as a pdf document.