Access to Foreign Law in Civil and Commercial Matters - Joint Conference European Commission, Hague Conference on Private International Law

"Access to Foreign Law in Civil and Commercial Matters"
Joint Conference European Commission ~ Hague Conference on Private International Law
(Brussels, 15 to 17 February 2012)

Draft Agenda:

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

1.30–2.30 p.m. Reception of participants
2.30–2.45 p.m. Welcoming words by Paraskevi MICHOU, Director of Directorate A, “Civil Justice”, Directorate-General Justice (European Commission) and Hans VAN LOON, Secretary General (Hague Conference on Private International Law)

2.45–3.45 p.m. Panel I – Theme I – The Global Need for Accessing the Content of Foreign Law – A Reality
Chair and Moderator – Salla SAASTAMOINEN, Head of Unit A1 “Civil Justice Policy” (European Commission, Directorate General Justice)
1. [Representative of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations] [TBC] – “Access to Legal Information including Foreign Law – A Foundation for Access to Justice, the Rule of Law and Proper Administration of Justice”
2. Representative of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law – “Assessment on the Basis of Empirical Research – Study of Foreign Law and Perspectives for the Future at the European Level”
3. Akbar KHAN, Director, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat – “Access to Legal Information including Foreign Law – The Perspective of the Commonwealth Secretariat”
4. Amadou DIALLO, Responsable de projets de Coopération, Délégation à la paix, à la démocratie et aux Droits de l’Homme, International Organisation of la Francophonie “Access to Legal Information including Foreign Law – The Perspective of the International Organisation of la Francophonie”
5. Representative of the Hague Conference Permanent Bureau – “The Evolution of Work on Foreign Law at the Hague Conference on Private International Law”
3.45–4.45 p.m. General discussion

5.00–5.45 p.m. Panel II – Theme I – Subtheme 1 – Perspectives from Common Law and Mixed Systems of Law including Common Law
Chair and Moderator – Richard G. FENTIMAN, Professor of Private International Law, University of Cambridge, Queen’s College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
1. Justice P.L.G. BRERETON, Judge, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia – “A Perspective from Australia – The New South Wales MOU framework”
2. Simon CHESTER, Partner, Litigation and Business Law, Heenan Blaikie SRL / LLP, Toronto, Canada – “A Perspective from Canada – Including Networking and Intelligent Tools”
3. Peter D. TROOBOFF, Attorney-at-Law, Covington & Burling, Washington D.C., United States of America – “A Perspective from the U.S.A. – Rule 44.1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure”
4. Justice Dhananjaya Y. CHANDRACHUD, Judge, Bombay High Court, India – “A Perspective from India”
5. Amos WAKO, International Arbitrator and Legal Expert, Former Attorney General of Kenya, Member International Law Commission – “A Perspective from Kenya”
5.45–6.30 p.m. General discussion

Thursday, 16 February 2012

9.30–10.15 a.m. Panel III – Theme I – Subtheme 2 – Perspectives from Civil Law and Mixed Systems of Law including Civil Law Chair and Moderator – Andrea BONOMI, Professor of Private International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
1. Yuko NISHITANI, Professor, Kyushu University, Faculty of Law, Fukuoka, Japan – “A Perspective from Japan”
2. Michael STÜRNER, Professor of Civil Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law, the European University Viadrina at Frankfurt (Oder), Germany – “A Perspective from Germany”
3. Diego FERNANDEZ ARROYO, Professor of Law, Science Po Law School, Paris, France, Member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law– “A Perspective from Latin America”
4. [Yujun GUO, Professor of Law, Wuhan University, Hubei, China] [TBC] – “A Perspective from China, including the Use of Bilateral Treaties”
5. Rashid Hamed AL-BALUSHI, Lawyer-Attorney, Mohammed El Murtada & Co. Barristers & Legal Consultants, Assistant Dean for University Studies, College of Law, Sultanate of Oman – “A Perspective from Oman and other Gulf Co-operation Council States”
10.15–11.00 a.m. General discussion
11.15 a.m.–12.00 p.m. Theme II – Current International Landscape of Facilitation of
Access to Foreign Law and Challenges / Gaps

Panel IV – Theme II – Subtheme 1 – Administrative and Judicial Cooperation: Existing Systems and Challenges
Chair and Moderator – Miloš HATAPKA, Director, Private International Law Division, Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic
1. Eberhard DESCH, Head of Division of International Law, Federal Ministry of Justice of Germany, Chair of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation, Council of Europe – “European Convention of 7 June 1968 on Information on Foreign Law (the “London Convention”)”
2. Eugenio HERNÁNDEZ-BRETÓN, Professor of Private International Law, Faculty of Law Central University of Venezuela, Partner, Baker & McKenzie, Caracas, Venezuela – “The Inter-American Convention of 8 May 1979 on Proof of and Information on Foreign Law (the
“Montevideo Convention”)”
3. Christoph SAJONZ, Principal Administrator, Unit A.1, Civil Justice Policy, Directorate General Justice (European Commission) – “The European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters”
4. Gintarė JANIKŪNAITĖ, Chief Specialist, Division of Legal Co-operation, International Law Department, Ministry of Justice, Lithuania – “Perspective from a State Party to the 1968 London Convention”
5. Rebecca A. COCHRAN, Professor of Law, University of Dayton School of Law, Former Private Practitioner and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (Montgomery County, Ohio) – “Judicial Co-operation within the United States of America – Federal Court Certification of Questions of State Law to State Courts”
12.00–1.00 p.m. General discussion

2.30–3.30 p.m. Panel V – Theme II – Subtheme 2 – Availability of Online Legal Information on National Laws: Some of the Existing Systems and Challenges Addressing Language Barriers, Interoperability, Reliability, Authenticity, Up-datedness and Historical Information
Chair and Moderator – Daniel POULIN, Director, LexUM, University of Montreal, Faculty of Law, Montreal, Canada
1. Representative of the Secrétaire général du Gouvernement de France, Paris, France – “Experience from a Government Service Provider with an Emphasis on Reliability, Authenticity, Up-datedness, Historical Information and Language Barriers”
2. Graham GREENLEAF, Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Co-Director, Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) – “Experience from the Free Access to Law Movement and the Networks of Legal Information Institutes (with an Emphasis on Reliability, Authenticity, Up-datedness, Historical Information and a System’s Interoperability)”
3. Representative of the Law Library of Congress, Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), Washington D.C., United States of America – “A Possible Recipe to Address Language Barriers – The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) Experience”
4. Yves STEINITZ, Publications Office of the European Union – “Terminology, Thesauri and Metadata : Managing Road Signs on the EU Law Knowledge Map”
5. Tom M. VAN ENGERS, Professor of Legal Knowledge Management, Leibniz Center for Law, University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law, Netherlands – “The CEN-MetaLex Initiative – A Solution for Interoperability and Authenticity”
6. Representative of the Uniform Law Commission, United States of America – “The Work of the Uniform Law Commission in Relation to the Authentication and Preservation of State Electronic Legal Materials”
3.30–4.15 p.m. General discussion

4.30-5.15 p.m. Panel VI – Theme II – Subtheme 3 – Access to Tailored Legal Information and Experts / Expertise: Some of the Existing Systems and Challenges
Chair and Moderator – Peter LOWN, Director, Alberta Law Reform Institute, Edmonton, Canada
1. Representative of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law – “The Ins and Outs of a Provider of Tailored Legal Information at the Domestic and International Levels – The Perspective of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law”
2. Holger KNUDSEN, Library Director, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht), Hamburg, Germany, Chair of the Law Libraries Section of the International Federation of Library Associations – “The Ins and Outs of a Provider of Tailored Legal Information at the Domestic and International Level – The Perspective of the Max Planck Institute”
3. Representative of the International Union of Notaries (Union internationale du notariat latin, U.I.N.L. ) – “The New World Notaries Network Established within the International Union of Notaries”
4. Representative of the International Bar Association (IBA) – “The Perspective of the International Bar Association / an IBA Member on the Use of Private Databases, other Electronic Tools or Networks to find Legal Experts in a Cross-border Setting”
5. Jonathan GOLDSMITH, Secretary General, Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) – “The Perspective of the CCBE on the Use of the e-Justice Portal Database, other Electronic Tools or Networks to Find Legal Experts in a European Union Setting”
5.15-6.00 p.m. General discussion
6.00-7.30 p.m. Working Group to discuss Conclusions and Recommendations

Friday, 17 February 2012

8.00-9.30 a.m. Working Group to review Conclusions and Recommendations
9.30–10.15 a.m. Panel VII – Theme III – Ways Forward: Binding and Non-Binding Solutions?
Co-Chairs and Co-Moderators – Salla SAASTAMOINEN, Head of Unit A1 “Civil Justice Policy” (European Commission, Directorate General Justice) and A representative of the Hague Conference Permanent Bureau
1. Richard G. FENTIMAN, Professor of Private International Law, University of Cambridge, Queen’s College, Cambridge, United Kingdom (Chair and Moderator Panel II)
2. Andrea BONOMI, Professor of Private International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lausanne, Switzerland (Chair and Moderator Panel III)
3. Miloš HATAPKA, Director, Private International Law Division, Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic (Chair and Moderator Panel IV)
4. Daniel POULIN, Director, LexUM, University of Montreal, Faculty of Law, Montreal, Canada (Chair and Moderator Panel V)
5. Peter LOWN, Director, Alberta Law Reform Institute, Edmonton, Canada (Chair and Moderator Panel VI)
6. Representative of the Hague Conference Permanent Bureau
10.15–11.00 a.m. General Discussion
11.15 a.m.-1.00 p.m. Conclusions and Recommendations
Co-Chairs and Co-Moderators – Salla SAASTAMOINEN, Head of Unit A1 “Civil Justice Policy” (European Commission, Directorate General Justice) and A representative of the Hague Conference Permanent Bureau
1.00 p.m. End of work – Closing