Dutch Private International Law: The 2001 Act Regarding Conflict of Laws on Torts

Netherlands International Law Review -     

The Non-Subversive Function of European Private Law: The Case of Harmonisation of Family Law

Abstract:  This article challenges the widely diffuse view of family law as peripheral to private law. It aims to the de–marginalisation of family legal issues, by showing their ties to the market realm and freedom of contract. In this theoretical framework, the article analyses the process of family law harmonisation in Europe. In particular, it focuses on three steps or aspects in respect to which the presumed peculiarity of family law is proclaimed and reveals, at the same time, its groundlessness: the status/contract dichotomy as a reflection of the family/market divide which seems to influence future developments of the harmonisation of law in Europe; the presumed political character of family law, which represents the leitmotiv in most recent harmonisation projects; and the subsequent strictly national character of family law, which makes EC institutions much more cautious in intervening in these matters than in any other field of private law.     

欧共体“无争议债权支付令”介评

欧共体2004年4月21日通过的第805号规则对“无争议的债权（uncontested claims）”设立了“欧洲执行令”，该支付令可以在各成员国直接得到承认和执行，从而简化了欧共体成员国之间民商事判决的执行手续，进一步加强了各国在判决承认与执行方面的合作，体现了欧洲国际私法的发展方向。     

The European Brotherhood of Lawyers: The Reinvention of Legal Science in the Making of European Private Law

Against the historical backdrop of the codification debate in nineteenth century Germany, this article traces the reassertion of "legal science" as an autonomous source of European legal integration in current legal and political discourse about the harmonization of European private law. The article argues that a grasp of widely shared ideas about the role and function of legal science and legal scientists is vital both toward an understanding of the extraordinary impact of the academic project of a European civil code on legal and political discourse in the Union in particular, and toward furthering the theory of legal fields in general.     

Compensation for Damage Caused by Defective Drugs: European Private Law between Safety Requirements and Free-Market Values

Abstract: Within the European Union, the success of private law harmonisation is based upon the fragile balance between legal integration and protection of national traditions. In this respect, a transversal analysis of the obligation of safety established by the Directive 374/85/CEE shows that harmonisation sometimes prevails over the potential protections granted to the victims of a damage caused by defective products. On the one hand, this reduction arises from the balance between objective and subjective criteria used in evaluating the defect as defined in the harmonised text. On the other hand, it results from problems of coordination between national laws and EC law remedies. This latter difficulty is illustrated by the 25 April 2002 European Court of Justice decisions on the French experience. The paradigmatic example of the pharmaceutical sector is a clear illustration of these tensions, since it heightens free‐market values at the same time as seeking to ensure compensation for breach of health and safety of consumers.     

A Shift in Focus: Systematisation in European Private Law through EU Law

The discourse on the Europeanisation of private law appears gradually to be moving into new territory in which the central debate on convergence of private laws in Europe makes place for structural questions on private law development in a multi‐level European legal order. With the realisation that private law is and will remain complementary regulated at EU level and in national laws, a re‐orientation is called for that, in the words of Micklitz, ‘allows one to determine which norms shall be elaborated and enforced at what level and by whom’. This article accepts that such a re‐orientation is needed in relation to substance, process, instruments and enforcement; a more fundamental question needs to be addressed, however, in order to ensure coherence in the development of private law in Europe. As can be gleaned from existing practice in EU consumer law, competition law, and financial market regulation, a deeply engrained tension between market integration and protectionist policies in Community law has resulted in incoherent regulation at EU level, which filters through into national legal systems. This puts at risk fundamental values of private law, such as certainty and fairness. A solution for this is proposed by shifting the focus from national private laws to the political and doctrinal structure of EU private law, and the normative framework it provides. General principles of EU private law, it is argued, could and should provide a counterweight to the problem of conflicting policies and set out a guideline for the future development of European private law.     

欧洲一体化对英国国际私法的影响

随着 1973年英国步入欧洲共同体 ,英国国际私法不应再被孤立地看待 ,它与欧洲联盟统一国际私法及欧洲联盟成员国中的大陆法系国家的国际私法紧密地联系在一起。它们相互影响、相互渗透、相互作用、相互促进。作为欧洲联盟 15个成员国中仅有的两个普通法法系国家之一 ,而且是普通法发源地的英国 ,其国际私法受到了欧洲一体化空前的、巨大的影响。这种影响主要体现在 :推动了英国国际私法制定法的新发展 ;开拓了英国国际私法的新法源 ;创立了英国冲突法案件的新类型 ;提供了英国解决冲突案件的新方法     

欧洲一体化进程中的欧洲民法趋同和法典化研究

随着全球化和区域经济一体化,私法在国际性层面和区域性层面的协调与趋同已经成为私法发展的一种趋势.欧洲私法趋同的方式有多种,包括条约、条例、指令等,它们在欧洲私法趋同中扮演着重要的角色,但这些现有的趋同手段都有其自身无法克服的局限性.     

私法视野下的《国家赔偿法》修改

《国家赔偿法》属于特别私法,因而完全可以从私法的角度对《国家赔偿法》的修改进行考察。在修改《国家赔偿法》时,应当以私法的理念为指导,对国家侵权进行“两分”,分清国家侵权行为和国家侵权事件,抛弃“违法归责”这个不科学的概念,正确认识并恰当处理国家赔偿和错案追究之间的关系。同时,还应当解决该部法律名实不相符合的问题。     

The Missing View of the Cathedral: The Private Law Paradigm of European Legal Integration

The traditional partition between public and private law continues to reinforce the belief that public law is the only proper realm of political debate, where decisions having redistributional consequences are and should be taken. This allows for a seemingly minor role of private law in the debate on European integration. This article challenges such a traditional image by noticing the central role of private law in the several legal systems of the European Union, and by analysing a few instances of resistance to private law integration. The analysis suggests that, while fully engaged in debating the public law implications of integration, Member States strive to keep civil adjudication within their control and to protect the self–contained, autonomous structure of their codes (or sets of private law doctrines) from the disruptive impact of European legislation. Integrationist pressures compel national legal actors to make explicit the social and economic choices underlying private law rules. Against such pressures, States' resistance may take the shape of formalist entrenchment.     

以欧盟为中心看欧洲私法的法典化趋向

随着欧盟政治一体化的不断推进,欧洲法律一体化的步伐也日益加快,其中欧洲私法的法典化趋势尤其引人瞩目.欧盟自身的发展动力,以及法学界围绕<欧洲民法典>工程进行的学术准备,推动欧盟采取正式行动,着手解决欧洲私法面临的困境;其立法规划最终落实为一项所谓的<共同参照框架>.这份即将出台的法律文件是实质的法典编纂,将引发一场深远的欧洲私法的法典化变革.然而受制于欧盟权限,欧洲私法的法典化呈现出不同于传统的独特性.     

论遗产分割中的归扣制度

本文认为,中国传统税法研究过于强调税收的“权力性、强制性与无偿性”,因而使税法异化为侵犯(私人)财产权的“侵权法”,与作为“维权法”的私法形成对立。然而,从依法治国之宪法意旨和市场经济的内在要求来看,税法与私法本质上应为统一,并具有内在、广泛的联系,其本源就在于“对(私人)财产权的确认和保障”。     

国际私法功能演进之研究

以国际民商事关系作为调整对象的国际私法的传统功能是法律选择,实现这种功能的载体是冲突法制度。随着国际民商事关系的蓬勃发展和国际私法呈现出的统一化趋势,加之冲突法制度的固有缺陷,使得国际私法的功能必然要逐渐演进为法律协调。与法律协调功能相适应,国际私法的范围除了包括冲突法外,还应涵纳国际统一实体法,两类规范相辅相成,互为补充,共同完成对国际民商事关系的调整。     

Promoting Human Rights within the Union: The Role of European Private International Law

Abstract:  This article aims to contribute both to the 'Refgov' project, which is focused on the ambition to find ways of promoting human rights within the EU, but also, more in general and apart from the project, to an improved understanding of the crucial place conflict of law rules occupy in the building of a common Europe—a highly political question behind apparently technical issues. In the study the author deals with the parameters, points of interest, etc in relation to private international law which should be heeded if European Member States 'look at' each other's laws, and—in the context of the 'Refgov' project—if the idea is to exchange 'best practices' or harmonise substantive law, or to harmonise private international law, etc further through a type of open method of coordination. The contribution also shows that private international law issues are decisive in respect of every evaluation of the impact of European integration on human rights, both if this integration process takes place through 'negative' harmonisation (for example by falling back on the principle of mutual recognition) and through 'positive' harmonisation.     

The Emergence of a European Private Law: Lessons from 19th Century Germany

As regards the emergence of a European private law in our time,this article shows that lessons can be learnt from the historyof unification of regionally defined private law in the GermanConfederation (1815–1866). An important lesson is thatthe Europeanization of private law will be anything but a spontaneousprocess. Moreover, like the members of the German Confederationalmost 200 years ago, the members of the current European Unionwill not have an equal say in the debate about unification ofprivate law. Now, as then, economic interdependencies betweenthe respective members will come into play. That is to say,the members the economies of which are relatively less dependentupon the economies of other members than vice versa are poisedto have a larger say in the debate.     

The (Legal) Value of Chance: Distorted Measures of Recovery in Private Law

Parties who make investments that generate externalities maysometimes recover from the beneficiaries, even in the absenceof contract. Previous scholarship has shown that granting recovery,based on either the cost of reasonable investment or the benefitconferred, can provide optimal incentives to invest. This articledemonstrates that the law often awards recovery that is neitherpurely cost-based nor purely benefit-based and instead equalseither the greater or lesser of the two measures. These hybridapproaches to recovery distort compensation and incentives.The article demonstrates the surprising prevalence of thesepractices and explores informational and institutional reasonswhy they emerge.