Diversity series: What are you doing to promote diversity? - Litigation Committee newsletter article, April 2020
Released on Apr 6, 2020
The US Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on 18 September, was an outspoken advocate of gender equality, equality more generally and the rule of law. She was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993, the second of only four women to have served on the US Supreme Court. The film On the Basis of Sex is a legal drama based on her early life.
Released on Mar 9, 2020
After the failure of the consumer’s class action provided under the Italian Consumer Code, the reform of the discipline – to be in force in May 2021 – is expected to stimulate the utilisation of the collective redress instrument.
The purpose of this article is to briefly present the main aspects involved in the Bill to institute a new regulation for collective actions and which is in progress before the Legislative Branch. The article approaches the origins of the Bill, its central proposals, the criteria directed to it and the relevance of its presentation, mostly considering the pressing need for change in response to continual growth and evolution of the consumer society.
Brazilian case law on collective proceedings filed by civil associations have endured several changes over the years, with backs-and-forths that give rise to doubts as to the scope and potential effects of these proceedings in the country. The issue is about to be settled by the Superior Court of Justice, and the current scenario suggests that past limitations to the associations’ standing to file collective proceedings and to the effects of the rulings rendered in such proceedings (ie, whether they benefi
After smooth sailing for a number of years, in the last 12 months the robust and well-functioning class action landscape in Australia has been thrown into turmoil by a number of significant developments concerning commissions for funders, choosing a ‘winner’ in multiple, overlapping class actions, new regulations designed to reign-in funders and, for the first time in Australia, lawyers being able to charge contingency fees in Victoria.
On 1 January 2020 new legislation came into force in the Netherlands, introducing a comprehensive system for dealing with collective actions. It holds out the prospect of substantial advantages to groups of people injured by the same event, as well as the person or entity held liable to resolve claims in a single collective action.
Initially limited to consumers’ claims, since 1 June 2018 Belgium’s class action legislation has been extended to SMEs which can now also file class action lawsuits against large companies.
This article provides a summary of the two bills proposing the consolidation and reform of the class action in Brazil which were presented to the Congress in 2020 (Bill Nos. 4441/2020 and 4778/2020).
The Covid-19 pandemic is already triggering many disputes. For example, in the United States, federal district court case filings have increased nearly threefold from the same period last year. This article considers the types of disputes arising in each industry sector, and what we might expect to see in courts and arbitral tribunals in the coming months and years.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Uruguayan government initially issued legislation and orders closing courts and staying local proceedings. Activity later resumed (around mid-May) and courts are now working in a reasonably ‘normal’ fashion in a context where the health situation in Uruguay has been under control (with a peak of approximately 300 simultaneous cases so far).
Domestic insolvency procedures and international arbitration have been locking horns on and off throughout the world – and Ukraine is no exception. At the same time, the emergence of insolvencies were more or less predictable, thus making dispute resolution strategies somewhat easier to build. The 2020 quarantine changed this status quo immensely. The lockdown shook up supply chains, suspending or closing many businesses.
In the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, governments continue to introduce unprecedented measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. As a result, many individuals and businesses alike are required to adjust their modes of operations and routines in order to comply with government-mandated Covid-19 restrictions. Regardless of such restrictions, certain essential services must continue in order to maintain social order and stability.
Since the end of the last century, Colombian law has regulated the use of technology within judicial proceedings. Under Article 95 of Law 270 of 1996, it was established that courts should make efforts to incorporate new technological advances in justice administration services. Additionally, Law 270 recognised legal validity to documents executed by electronic means.
Since the lockdown began in mid-March in Austria, the Austrian Parliament has passed various laws in response to the effects of Covid-19 on the justice system. The first legislative package was passed shortly after the lockdown and regulated, among other things, the interruption of procedural deadlines and the postponement of oral hearings.
The pandemic has deeply affected the understanding and traditional methods of justice administration. The risks of compromising access to justice, understood as an essential public service for the population, must become an impulse to develop economic mechanisms that are simple, transparent, open and accessible to the greatest number of people.
The crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has renewed interest in the need for legal and contractual mechanisms that promote the adjustment of contracts in the event of unforeseeable and abnormal circumstances.
As in numerous countries throughout Europe and worldwide, Spain has been significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The blow to Spain has been, at all levels, extraordinary and has caused a crisis with a severity that had not been seen in the many decades since the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). As a result of the dramatic consequences of Covid-19, Spain was forced to declare a state of emergency by Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March (RD 463/2020) pursuant to Article 116.2 of the Spanish Constitution.
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization classified the disease caused by the new coronavirus as a pandemic. In Mexico, the General Health Council issued on 30 March 2020 a nationwide declaration of a health emergency by force majeure due to the epidemic of the disease (Covid-19) caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, starting an economic paralysis that has affected all citizens socially and economically.
This overview focuses on the measures taken in Ukraine to make court proceedings in commercial, civil and administrative cases available during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As in many other jurisdictions, the Covid-19 pandemic presented Ireland’s justice system with an immediate, extraordinary challenge – how to continue to administer justice without endangering the health of those involved. If the stages of grief are anything by way of analogy, it is fair to say that the courts moved swiftly from ‘denial’ to ‘depression’ then onto ‘acceptance’.
The spread of coronavirus in the Italian territory and the adoption of urgent measures to stop it have affected, and could further affect, the normal activities of all Italian economic operators.
The Covid-19 epidemic has affected most areas of human activity, causing limitations in virtually every aspect of social life. Like most other sectors, the administration of justice was not left unchanged in the attempt to cope with the disease.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound and likely lasting impact on the way litigation lawyers conduct their practice. Below are some practical tips for managing in this new environment.
Parties to proceedings taking place outside the United States may use the US discovery system to obtain from people or entities residing or found in the US discovery, such as document requests and testimony, to be used in the foreign proceeding. Litigants have the right to obtain such discovery without the need of letters rogatory or other complex and time-consuming requests by the foreign tribunal.
Switzerland is one of the leading places for international arbitration proceedings and enjoys an excellent reputation, not least due to the internationally recognised Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Act (PILA), which conclusively governs Switzerland’s international arbitration law.
As with the remainder of the United Kingdom, Scotland went into lockdown on 23 March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Public functions – including courts – closed. Offices – including legal offices – closed.
In Italy, for over 25 years, the reform of private international law has exceeded so-called ‘judicial nationalism’ in favour of a wide recognition of decisions issued abroad.
It should be emphasised that the reform of private international law has also resulted in an extremely innovative solution over that period, that is, the overcoming of that now obsolete rule which obliged foreign judgments to exequatur before being effective within the Italian territory.
On 1 June 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC (GE Energy), holding that non-signatories to an arbitration agreement can compel arbitration of agreements that are subject to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention or simply ‘Convention’) by relying on traditional legal and equitable principles.
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent economic recession it has caused is expected to lead to a surge in bankruptcies worldwide. Even litigators who do not practice bankruptcy should be aware of how a bankruptcy proceeding may affect their clients. Defence counsel may need to assess the options of a client facing a judgment, while plaintiff’s attorneys may need to counsel clients about the effect a bankruptcy filing can have on their claims.