International Arbitration: Italy vs. Germany 1:1

Michael McIlwrath’s post at the Kluwer Arbitration Blog today, A Dispute With A View, finds very kind words for DIS, the German Institution of Arbitration. Michael compares the approach of the Italian Chambers of Commerce to international disputes with that of the DIS and finds that the latter “has the advantage of making the resolution process appear more neutral, consistent, and reliable in the eyes of those who hail from outside the city’s walls.”  However, Italy, and Florence in particular, score high on location and local flavour. I am happy to concede that I have not yet come accross a German arbitration venue with a view to match the one from the Florence Chamber of Commerce. To me it appears that on balance, in arbitration at least, Germany achieves something that in football it did not manage for quite a while: a draw against Italy.

Michael also acknowledges the international ambitions of the DIS, “confirmed last year when the DIS recruited Francesca Mazza, formerly a senior manager of the ICC, as the institution’s new secretary general.” Francesca’s move to Cologne of course is a German-Italian success story in its own right.

The picture shows the commemorative plaque at the Aztec Stadium, Mexico City, dedicated to the semi-final of the 1970 World Cup between Italy and Germany, known as the Game of the Century.

 

 

Speeding Up The Courts: Proposed Changes to Securities Litigation

A revision the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) is scheduled for the first half of 2013. Drafts of the Aktienrechtsnovelle were distributed by the Ministry of Justice in late November 2012 to various interest groups for comments. From a litigation perspective, plans are of particular interest to move certain shareholder challenges to AGM resolutions (Spruchverfahren) away from the district courts (Landgerichte) as courts of first instance to the courts of appeals (Oberlandesgerichten) without further rights of appeal (Sec. 11 para. 1 and 2 SpruchG-E).

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Federal Constitutional Court: Risk of Punitive Damages No Reason to Prevent Service of U.S. Action

In a ruling in January 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) confirmed its approach to service of U.S. actions in Germany under the Hague Service Convention. The court refused to hear a constitutional complaint (Verfassungsbeschwerde) filed by a German company sued in the Unites States. The German defendant had sought to stop service in Germany of a U.S. action, and had applied for a preliminary injunction to that effect. Continue reading

Toolkit on the Service of Documents in the EU

The International Union of Judicial Officers (Union Internationale des Huissieres de Justice, UIJH) has produced a toolkit on the service of documents in the European Union, based on Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters. It is a sort of a guided tour to the Regulation, and at first sight, appears to be a very useful tool if you quickly need to identify the relevant provisions. In addition, it contains links to the relevant sections of the European Judicial Atlas in Civil Matters and the communications of the member states on the various provisions of the regulation. The toolkit is also available in French. Thanks to Fanny Cornette for pointing this out.