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China On the Legislative Concept and the New Rules of the Succession System of the Civil Code in China
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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Le Code civil de la République populaire de Chine (ci-après dénommé « le Code civil ») est le premier texte portant le nom de « Code » depuis la naissance de la République populaire de Chine, en tant que « Constitution » au sens sociologique du terme. Le Code civil est une garantie importante pour la Chine de réaliser l’objectif des « deux cents ans » et le rêve chinois de parvenir au grand rajeunissement de la nation chinoise. C’est à la fois une création législative et un héritage de l’esprit national de la Chine, de la culture nationale et de l’esprit du temps. Il s’agit d’une loi civile fondamentale aux racines solides, aux objectifs clairs et aux avantages à long terme. La loi relative aux successions est la norme juridique essentielle pour régler les rapports successoraux. Le traitement des successions implique non seulement la protection des intérêts des héritiers, mais aussi la protection des intérêts des créanciers des héritiers et le maintien de la sécurité des transactions. Le Titre VI « Succession » (ci-après dénommé « Succession dans le Code civil ») est une partie importante du Code civil, qui intègre systématiquement la sagesse et les réalisations de la législation sur la transmission des biens tout en tenant compte de la pratique judiciaire depuis la fondation de la République populaire de Chine. Il s’agit d’une loi aux caractéristiques chinoises qui protège les droits et intérêts légitimes des héritiers, des créanciers de la succession et des autres parties prenantes de la succession. Ce texte maintient la sécurité des transactions, développe et consolide le système économique socialiste de marché et améliore le bien-être du peuple.
The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Civil Code’), adopted on 28 May 2020 and effective on 1 January 2021, is the first law named after the ‘Code’ since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The Civil Code is an important step for China in achieving its ‘Two Centenary Goals’, and realising the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Civil Code is a legislative expression of China’s national spirit, national culture and the spirit of the times, and a basic civil law with solid roots, stable expectations and long-term benefits.
United States and Israel The Right to Privacy: A Comparative Legal Analysis Marking the End to US Legal Exceptionalism
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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- 31 October 2023, pp 335-354
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Dans cet article, l’auteur soutient que si l’affaire Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health concerne le droit à l’avortement, sa portée est exponentiellement plus large. Elle marque la fin de l’exception juridique américaine, telle que personnifiée dans la sanctification du droit au respect de la vie privée. Contrairement à ceux qui soutiennent que le droit à l’avortement aurait dû être fondé sur le droit à l’intégrité corporelle, à l’égalité ou à l’autonomie, l’auteur affirme que le juge Blackmun a eu tout à fait raison dans la décision Griswold v. Connecticut : seul le droit au respect de la vie privée peut protéger l’individu des interrogatoires et de l’humiliation et conférer ainsi aux citoyens le droit d’être « laissés en paix » en tenant l’État à distance. L’invocation du droit au respect de la vie privée est particulièrement pertinent en matière familiale, cette dernière constituant le principal domaine dans lequel ce droit est protégé. L’affaiblissement du droit au respect de la vie privée aura très certainement des répercussions dans les nombreuses situations dans lesquelles il est mis en balance avec une vie potentielle, y compris en-dehors de l’avortement : contrôle des naissances, droits des femmes en matière de soins et de santé pendant la grossesse, poursuites pénales contre les femmes enceintes, hypothèses de vie et de naissance illicites, gestation pour autrui et PMA, pour n’en citer que quelquesuns. Un tel affaiblissement aura également, en toute logique, des répercussions sur les cas dans lesquels le droit au respect de la vie privée n’est pas seulement mis en balance avec une vie potentielle, mais avec la vie réelle des enfants. En effet, en matière d’éducation, de soins, de santé et d’autres décisions ayant des conséquences sur les enfants, l’affaire Dobbs provoque également, aux États-Unis, un affaiblissement des prérogatives liées au droit au respect de la vie privée des parents. Bien que cela puisse être bénéfique à certains égards, notamment en ce que cela permet à l’État de protéger les droits des enfants, il en résulte également un paternalisme lourd, un État qui contrôle tout et impose une vision unique de l’intérêt supérieur des enfants.
Pour parfaire cette analyse, l’auteur oppose le système juridique américain sur l’avortement et les droits parentaux, au système juridique beaucoup plus interventionniste et paternaliste d’Israël, dans lequel les décisions en matière d’avortement sont prises par un comité devant lequel les femmes doivent comparaître.
List of Contributors
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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Memories of the International Society of Family Law
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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The Society has made four outstanding contributions to legal scholarship. First, it was one of the earliest organisations to welcome women scholars on an equal footing, take them seriously, and give them leadership positions and the prominence that they deserved. Second, it helped to establish family law as an academic subject. It may be hard to believe for our younger members, but there was a time when family law was not on any university syllabuses, and practitioners were expected to learn it as they went along. Third, the Society has been a force for progressive reform of family law, with an influence on international organisations, governments and scholars outside family law. Fourth, it was, and still is, a superb network for people from across all continents to share their insights into family law, and to forge strong friendships. I shall always be grateful for the intellectual and personal incentives that it afforded me.
Times have changed so much, but the older members will recall that there were very few top women law professors in the 1970s. Dr Claire Palley OBE (coincidentally my predecessor as Principal of St Anne’s College Oxford University, which she headed from 1984 to 1991) was a human rights specialist, and the first woman to hold a chair in law in the UK. Ivy Williams was the first woman to teach law in the UK – again, at my college. Her speciality was the Swiss Civil Code, although I surmise that she must have had to teach a wide range of legal subjects to the women of Oxford, at a time when family law was not on the syllabus. It is thought that the first professor of family law, and certainly the first author of a textbook on the subject, was Professor Peter Bromley. In the same year as the publication of his book, 1957, which was the centenary of the Act permitting civil divorce in England and Wales for the first time (Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, UK), a book appeared commemorating this. Also published in 1957 was Oliver McGregor’s Divorce in England, one of the earliest books to view family law from a social science perspective. The history of fledgling family law is covered by Frances Burton in Family Law (Routledge, 2012).
Global Perspectives 50 Years of Contributions to Family Law by Leading ISFL Members
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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Cet article est consacré aux développements majeurs du droit de la famille au cours des 50 dernières années à travers le prisme des contributions clés de membres de l’ISFL, tels que John Eekelaar, Michael Freeman, June Carbone, Robin Fretwell Wilson et d’autres, sur les changements du droit de la famille dans le monde. Le présent texte examine les changements intervenus dans des domaines tels que le mariage, les enfants, le patrimoine, le financement et l’implication de l’État pour la protection des membres vulnérables de la famille.
L’article présentera les modifications majeures dans les domaines susmentionnés et montrera comment les écrits et les publications scientifiques des membres de l’ISFL, passés et présents, ont généralement été à la pointe de ces transformations. Ces changements ont un effet d’entraînement dans tous les pays du monde. L’article mettra également en évidence les domaines dans lesquels de nouvelles évolutions du droit de la famille sont nécessaires et sur lesquels les membres de l’ISFL écrivent actuellement.
INTRODUCTION
Fifty years, or half a century, is a long time in a fast-moving subject like family law. I was a second-year law student in 1973, when the youth of the world were very much in awe of the hippie movement, and we all had long hair to prove our credentials. It was a time of challenging the ideas of the past; a time when the feminist movement was in full swing, the civil rights movement was booming, and the anti-war movement was on the march. The concept of rights was at the centre of the challenges for change, and recognition of the diverse groups that exist in our societies.
It was a great time for the ISFL to begin its mission – to bring family law on to an international stage, so that ideas surrounding family law can be shared and worked on around the globe. It is significant that the first conference held by the ISFL was on the child and the law.
Some Notions of a Former Treasurer and President of the International Society of Family Law
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MY EARLY AND LATER YEARS OF ENGAGEMENT WITH ISFL
I got acquainted with ISFL when I started my work as a lecturer at the university in Tilburg. My former boss and promoter was Prof. Dr Madzy Rood-de Boer, who had been nominated professor of family law at Tilburg University 1 and the University of Utrecht. She was one of the founding mothers (and fathers) of ISFL, in 1973. The other promoter from me was Prof. Dr. Jan Vranken. Madzy Rood-de Boer invited me to become a member of this society, and introduced me at my first ISFL conference, in Louvain-la Neuve (very close to Brussels) in 1985. Actually, this was the fifth ISFL World Conference, which was held in July 1985, on the theme ‘The Family, the State and Individual Security’. At that time Prof. John Eekelaar from Pembroke College in Oxford (UK) was the president of ISFL. The lectures gave me a good insight into the different law systems with regard to financial family support, alimony and social security. Brussels is not far away from Tilburg, and for me it was a very good opportunity to meet the officers of ISFL, and many ISFL members and other scientists (like psychologists and sociologists). It was a great experience to learn so much about other family law systems in our world. During the different international family law lectures, I also learned about aspects of animosity between several legal experts, and about professional jealousy between them. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting and inspiring conference, which was perfectly organised. The convenor of the conference was Professor Marie-Thérèse Meulders-Klein, who did a perfect job, together with her staff at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve. For me, it felt like joining a society with many other interested scientists in the field of family and child law. Later on, I not only felt I was a member of a society, but also a member of a second family. I will come back to this later.
At the conference in Brussels, it was announced that the next World Conference was going to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from 6 – 12 April 1988. The theme would be ‘Issues of Ageing in Modern Society’.
Kenya Presumption of Marriage by Repute (Cohabitation) in Kenya
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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En 1976, la Cour d’appel d’Afrique de l’Est a invoqué la présomption de mariage prévue par la common law anglaise pour reconnaître un mariage coutumier au Kenya. Dans la même décision, la Cour a également estimé qu’un mariage peut bénéficier d’une présomption d’existence fondée sur une longue cohabitation. Telle fut sa décision, alors que la question du mariage « par réputation » ne lui était pas posée. Depuis lors, les tribunaux ont été confrontés à la question de savoir si cette décision est uniquement applicable lorsque les parties ont respecté les principaux éléments d’un mariage coutumier ou si elle s’applique également au mariage « par réputation ». Cette problématique est, en outre, accentuée par le fait que le Kenya ne dispose d’aucune législation prévoyant ou interdisant le mariage « par réputation ». Les tentatives d’inclure le mariage « par réputation » dans la loi sur le mariage et dans d’autres textes ont jusqu’a présent échoué. Dans cet article, je m’appuie sur plus de 100 décisions de la Cour d’appel et de la Haute Cour rendues entre 1976 et novembre 2022 pour illustrer les problèmes auxquels les tribunaux se sont heurtés lorsqu’ils ont été confrontés à la question du mariage « par réputation ». Je traite de la mani e re dont les tribunaux ont abordé: l ‘établissement de la présomption; le type de présomption applicable au mariage « par réputation »; la charge et les moyens de preuve; les éléments à prendre en compte pour déterminer l’existence d’un mariage par réputation; les droits des parties dans un mariage par réputation; et la dissolution d’un mariage par réputation.
INTRODUCTION
In 1976, the Court of Appeal for East Africa recognised the principle of presumption of marriage in Kenya. Since then, Kenyan courts have developed rich and sometimes controversial or inconsistent jurisprudence on issues such as the meaning of this presumption, its legality, and its scope. In June 2021, the High Court held that ‘[p]resumption of marriage is part of the law in this country’. The High Court held that ‘[a]side from the form of marriages envisioned under the [M]arriage [A]ct, parties can be presumed to be married based on their actions’. The presumption has become so entrenched that the High Court has decried the prevalence of some people attempting to invoke the presumption of marriage for the purpose of enriching themselves.
Frontmatter
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Global Perspectives 50 Years of Developments in Family Law in the Westernised World: The Long and Winding Road
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En 2023, l’ISFL célébrera son jubilé d’or des 50 ans d’existence. Si l’on considère la période allant de 1973 à 2023, il apparaît clairement qu’aucune autre période de l’histoire du droit de la famille n’a connu autant de changements profonds presque simultanés dans autant de pays. Le grand ensemble, que l’on pourrait appeler schématiquement le « monde occidental » (Europe, Amérique du Nord, Australie et Nouvelle-Zélande), mais aussi l’Amérique du Sud et le Japon ont connu à cette époque une véritable révolution dans le domaine du droit de la famille. Il est difficile de résumer les transformations les plus importantes qui ont eu lieu dans ce laps de temps relativement court. Le mouvement pour les droits des femmes a réussi à surmonter la domination séculaire de l’homme au sein de la famille. L’égalité au moins formelle entre les hommes et les femmes est désormais une réalité dans l’ensemble du monde occidental. Avant cette période, les pays occidentaux ne reconnaissaient qu’une seule forme de relations personnelles : le mariage légal. En revanche, aujourd’hui, une variété de relations personnelles sont légalement reconnues : le mariage hétérosexuel et homosexuel, le partenariat enregistré et la cohabitation non institutionnalisée. Au début de cette période, seule une poignée de pays autorisait le divorce sans faute. À partir des années 70’, la révolution du divorce sans faute a gagné le monde occidental, de sorte qu’aujourd’hui, quasiment aucun pays ne maintient la faute comme seul motif de divorce. À la veille de cette période, les enfants illégitimes étaient partout fortement désavantagés. Aujourd’hui, le statut juridique des enfants nés de parents non mariés est fondamentalement égal à celui des enfants dont les parents sont mariés.
France Some Reflections on 50 Years of Evolution of Family Law through the ‘Dejudiciarisation’ of French Family Law
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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Phénomène marquant du droit français de la famille au cours des trente dernières années, la déjudiciarisation témoigne des évolutions du droit contemporain de la famille. Elle accompagne la reconstruction du règles juridiques régissant la famille sur les droits et libertés de l’individu, une place de plus en plus importante étant donnée à l’autonomie personnelle. Elle traduit également le redéploiement de l’action de l’Etat qui transfère à d’autres acteurs, mais aussi aux intéressés euxmêmes à travers le contrat, le soin de réguler les relations familiales. Au-delà, elle conduit à s’interroger sur les nouvelles valeurs qui fondent le droit contemporain de la famille.
DEJUDICIARISATION
‘Dejudiciarisation’ is now one of the main phenomena of French family law. The movement is general, and the policies of dejudiciarisation have been adopted by all the governments that have succeeded in France over the last 30 years. It affects all family law, both property law and non-property law.
‘Dejudiciarisation’ means, in a very broad sense, the implementation of measures designed to avoid judicial intervention, or to avoid the settlement of disputes by judges themselves, in civil as well as in criminal matters, by favouring the search for a consensual solution, or by entrusting other actors, public or private, to do so. In this sense, dejudiciarisation differs from deregulation, which tends to allow means of regulation other than the law, and in particular State laws. As we will see, it is not because there is dejudiciarisation that there is necessarily deregulation. One might even be tempted to say that the family has never been subject to more legal rules than it is today; the law is everywhere in the family. But it is no longer the judge who will necessarily implement it or ensure its respect.
This is a significant change because, unlike in many countries, in France the judge had a central role in the family. As a representative of society, he ensured the protection of the interests of the most vulnerable people: children, those made vulnerable by age or health, women. He also ensured the protection of a certain social order. Of course, this role was not recognised without some reluctance. Family matters are, above all, private matters.
Brazil The Family Among the Cohabitation Modalities of the Law and the Distinction between Being, Thinking, Acting and Feeling as a Family
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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Le présent article expose les perceptions sociologiques, philosophiques, anthropologiques et juridico-constitutionnelles brésiliennes de la famille, afin de permettre la compréhension des observations structurelles qui favorisent l’identification d’une entité comme pouvant être considérée comme une famille par le droit. Il est entendu que l’extension du concept juridique de famille, sans critères objectifs et sans limites, conduit, à proprement parler, à la perte de la compréhension de ses caractéristiques, de ce qui la différencient d’autres groupes et associations de nature « cohabitationnelle ». Ces dernieres doivent recevoir un traitement juridique différent, quoique comparable à celui de la famille.
INTRODUCTION
The present chapter aims to share sociological, philosophical, anthropological and Brazilian juridical-constitutional views about the family that can help in the reflection on objective observations that enable the legal recognition of an entity such as a family (in relation to being), in the face of the view that the presence of subjective elements such as the imagined family (in relation to thinking), the functional family (in relation to action), or the perceived family (in relation to feeling) are sufficient. It is understood that the extension of the legal concept of family without the consideration of structural or objective considerations, from a social and philosophical perspective, would lead, strictly speaking, to the emptying of the concept itself, covering up attributes that would differentiate it objectively, sociologically and philosophically, from groupings and associations of a similar nature that would justify different legal treatment.
A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE FAMILY
This chapter will maintain that the sociological view of the family provides a foundation for rethinking the legal definitions of what constitutes and what does not constitute a family. Critical to this foundation is a view of society grounded in ‘relational realities’ that prepare individuals, from birth forward, to function within a web of relationships that connect individuals to each other. This relational concept draws heavily on the work of Pierpaolo Donati, specifically The family as the root of society. Donati, a sociologist and professor at the University of Bologna, published this work in Spanish in 2013. 1 The book presents the family as a ‘relational reality’ that serves as the basis and root for all other social relations, because, in the family, the individual is primarily prepared for sociability.
Remembrance of Things Past
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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It was certainly serendipity that I should be an Associate at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge in the spring of 1973, when I received a letter from Ze’ev Falk, which was forwarded to me from my home institution, Boston College Law School. In the letter Ze’ev proposed a meeting of family law scholars in Birmingham, England. Since I was in England, a trip to Birmingham, a city I had never visited, sounded interesting. I had no idea what to expect, nor who would be in attendance. My wife Joan, and my two young sons, drove to Birmingham, never realising that the meeting would have an enormous impact on me, both professionally and personally. Indeed, the meeting would change my life.
It also changed the course of family law. One of the consequences of the meeting was the decision to create a society – the International Society of Family Law (ISFL) – that would hold an annual meeting and bring together family law scholars on a global basis. Of the scholars present at the meeting, Ze’ev Falk, J. Neville Turner, Tony Manchester, Frank Bates, Alastair Bissett-Johnson, Aidan Gough and John Eekelaar stand out in my memory. Little did I realise at that time that John Eekelaar would become not only a co-author in a number of publications, but a very close friend. What is so interesting about the meeting was the fact that all of us, mostly young scholars, were seriously interested in family law as an area for research and teaching. That is particularly noteworthy because in the United States, at that time, family law was not considered an important part of a law school curriculum, even though it was, and is, a subject found in most American bar examinations, and is a major area for law practice. That has changed, and family law now takes its place with contracts, torts, property, business associations, constitutional law and procedure in the teaching of fundamental principles of law. Indeed, it encompasses contemporary social issues in American society, like same-sex marriage, reproductive technologies and abortion.
PART II - 50-Year Retrospectives on Family Law
- Edited by Robin Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois, June Carbone, University of Minnesota
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Portugal 50 Years of Portuguese Family Law: The Paths We have Followed
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La longévité de la Société Internationale de Droit de la Famille (ISFL) – les 50 dernières années – permet de saisir certains des changements les plus importants du droit de la famille portugais, du processus quasiment tectonique que les exigences d’une démocratie naissante ont provoqué, aux aménagements les plus récents des valeurs qui gouvernent aujourd’hui la vie familiale et le droit de la famille.
En effet, lorsque l’ISFL a été fondée, en 1973, le Portugal vivait encore sous un régime dictatorial et le droit de la famille défini par le code civil de 1966 reflétait cet environnement – en accordant, par exemple, un rôle prépondérant au mari dans le mariage et en discriminant les enfants nés hors mariage. Toutefois, l’année suivante, le changement de régime politique a entraîné l’adoption d’une nouvelle Constitution démocratique qui est rapidement entrée en vigueur (en 1976) et qui a consacré un ensemble de droits et de libertés fondamentaux, sous l’égide du principe d’égalité. La réforme de 1977, qui a adapté le Code civil à la nouvelle Constitution, a profondément remanié le droit de la famille à la lumière de ces nouvelles règles et valeurs.
Depuis lors, non seulement les relations familiales traditionnelles ont été considérablement remodelées, mais de nouvelles relations familiales ont Également été reconnues.
Dans cet article, je me propose d’analyser cette évolution au regard de trois différents domaines du droit de la famille afin de comprendre les voies choisies par le législateur portugais.
Tout d’abord, je me concentrerai sur la vie de couple – sur le mariage, qui constituait auparavant le noyau du droit de la famille, et sur l’importance croissante du nouveau mode de vie en couple que constitue l’union de fait. Tant dans le régime du mariage (depuis sa constitution – désormais ouverte aux couples de même sexe – jusqu’à son extinction) que dans le mouvement lent, mais régulier, de consécration juridique de l’union de fait et de la possibilité de vivre en couple dans des conditions différentes, nous parcourrons le chemin de la liberté et de l’égalité.
List of Cases
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Mass Harm in Europe
- Compensation and Civil Procedures
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- 27 October 2023
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This book comprises an in-depth and broad comparative law study on the meaning of tort law in mass harm cases in Europe, examining this phenomenon in the context of twelve different case studies in twelve European jurisdictions: Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands. To meet the objectives of this analysis, this book's scope is not limited to an analysis of substantive tort law only, but also includes procedural law aspects and the shift of compensation beyond tort law. It marks a novelty in the common core tradition by mapping out procedural (im)possibilities of damages recovery in mass harm cases, thereby giving a clearer picture of what tort law can de facto mean in mass harm cases. Included are four general contributions that provide more context on the settlement of these types of mass harm cases. These contributions cover the role of the judge; mass harm from a law and economics perspective; alternative compensation schemes; and funding class actions. Overall, this book represents the first study to provide such a broad and comprehensive overview of what is likely to be the common core in the settlement of mass harm cases through private law in Europe.
Case 10: Damage To Environment and Fear of a Future Illness
- Edited by Tomas Arons, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, Rianka Rijnhout
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- Book:
- Mass Harm in Europe
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 03 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 27 October 2023, pp 385-408
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Summary
CASE
A fire at a chemical factory caused an ecological disaster: tons of toxic chemicals are released into in a river and cause the spread of poisonous fumes. Residents were told by government officials to stay indoors. Several people, who inhaled the fumes, were treated at hospital. They were not to blame for inhaling the fumes. They did not contract an illness, disorder or suffer injury, but a risk exists that they will get ill in the future. The local environment suffered severely from the toxic spill. Plants, fish and other organisms died or became ill. Research showed that the factory infringed the licensing requirements regarding the destroying of the chemical substances.
A group of those who inhaled the fumes demand compensation from the factory out of fear of becoming ill in the future. In addition, an environmental organisation files a claim for compensation for damage caused to the environment as such. Will they receive compensation and, if so, for what losses? And is it possible to start a collective proceeding? If so, please indicate the most important bottlenecks in this particular case.
DISCUSSIONS
AUSTRIA
Matthias Dangl and Georg E Kodek
Operative Rules
As the people who inhaled the fumes have not suffered any health damages yet, there is no basis to demand compensation. However, they can bring a declaratory action in order to determine the liability of the factory for future damages (§ 228 ACCP). Since claims for declaratory judgments cannot be assigned under Austrian case law, there is no possibility for the Austrian model of class action.
As far as the environmental damage is concerned, the case is dealt with by public law (Bundes-Umwelthaft ungsgesetz).
Legal Formants
Bringing a declaratory action is necessary to prevent the claims from becoming time barred. Furthermore, it helps to avoid difficulties in providing evidence at a later stage.
The district administrative authority will place the factory under an obligation to take redevelopment measures. Environmental organisations are entitled to request the authority to take action (§ 11 para 1 of the Bundes-Umwelthaft ungsgesetz).
BELGIUM
Artuur Keukeleire, Larissa Vanhooff and Britt Weyts
Operative Rules
The compensation that ‘victims’ of the toxic fumes could demand is so-called fear damage, based on the fault-based general tort law.
Mass Harm in European Private Law: An Introduction
- Edited by Tomas Arons, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, Rianka Rijnhout
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- Book:
- Mass Harm in Europe
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 03 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 27 October 2023, pp 3-18
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
This Common Core project on mass harm in European private law started in 2019. A number of scholars from this network signalled that mass harm is handled differently in different jurisdictions, both in terms of the application and tenacity of substantive tort law and in terms of procedure. They also signalled that in some cases the solution was sought outside tort law. Moreover, there was a perception that mass harm was handled differently in personal injury, property damage and pure economic loss cases. Finally, there was some movement at the European level.
These academics noted that there was not yet a comparative law project looking for the common core in Europe private law in mass harm cases. In particular, a project with a broad scope, bringing together substantive, procedural and non-tort law aspects, was missing. This Common Core project on mass harm aims to fill this gap. The aim of this project is to understand how substantive tort law responds in mass harm situations. As this response is also largely determined by procedural options for bringing a case, procedural law is also discussed in detail. Because we know that in some mass harm cases, compensation is not or cannot be offered through tort law, and because we realise that civil law is sometimes de facto inaccessible due to the large-scale nature of the damage, we chose to also reflect on the shift in compensation options beyond tort law. In essence, this approach allows us to analyse what factual and legal possibilities and impossibilities exist to receive compensation for mass harm through substantive tort law, and what triggers exist to seek other compensation options. This book is the result of that project and was completed in December 2022.
This first chapter aims to introduce this research project. In section 2 , we will start by presenting the state of the art about compensation for mass harm, and we will focus on the state of the art in terms of procedural aspects and solutions outside tort law. More in-depth analysis and substantive law are covered in the case studies. As no rapporteur from a Scandinavian country participated in this project, we will focus in section 3 on what is known about these systems in mass harm cases.
Preface
- Edited by Tomas Arons, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, Rianka Rijnhout
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- Book:
- Mass Harm in Europe
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 03 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 27 October 2023, pp vii-viii
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Summary
This book adds an in-depth and broad comparative law study on the meaning of tort law in mass harm cases in Europe. It examines this phenomenon based on 12 diff erent case studies in 12 European jurisdictions. Because of the objectives of this study, we did not limit ourselves to only an analysis of substantive tort law, but also included procedural law aspects. This also marks a novelty in the Common Core tradition: procedural (im)possibilities of damage recovery in mass harm cases have also been mapped out. As such, it gives a clearer picture of what tort law can de facto mean in mass harm cases. In addition, four general chapters have been included in the study that provide more context to the settlement of this type of mass harm cases. Overall, this is the first study to provide such a broad and comprehensive overview of what is likely to be the common core in the settlement of mass harm cases through private law in Europe.
A comprehensive comparative law study with so many contributors always takes a reasonable amount of time. For this project, we faced working during the global COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2019, we discussed the first version of the questionnaire with members of the tort law group in Trento. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, we were faced with lockdowns, additional teaching load relating to those lockdowns and the impossibility of physically meeting each other. We adjusted the project management accordingly. The questionnaire was answered in four parts by the contributors and we met online – during several meetings on Friday afternoons – to go through and compare the answers. To this day, this group of researchers has not physically met. Nevertheless, there was energy and enthusiasm in the group, and we enjoyed the glimpses into each other‘s working or private environments, which also gave this project a certain charm.
We would like to thank all contributors for all their enthusiasm, hard work, commitment and flexibility! We are grateful to Marte Infantino for her constant willingness to help think about the project throughout its duration.
Case 8: Noise
- Edited by Tomas Arons, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, Rianka Rijnhout
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- Book:
- Mass Harm in Europe
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 03 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 27 October 2023, pp 319-346
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Summary
CASE
Residents of a town complain about the noise from a highway nearby. Research shows that the actual noise level severely exceeds the maximum permitted noise level. The state did not take measures to reduce the level of noise. Residents have not sustained personal injury as a consequence of the exceeding of the maximum level of noise.
Residents do complain that they lost enjoyment of living in the area. Will they receive compensation from the state and, if so, for what losses? And is it possible for them to start a collective proceeding? If so, please indicate the most important bottlenecks in this particular case.
DISCUSSIONS
AUSTRIA
Matthias Dangl and Georg E Kodek
Operative Rules
If emissions (such as noise) are caused by a duly licensed facility, residents are in principle entitled to demand compensation for damages (§ 364a ACC). However, the Austrian Supreme Court ruled that the government is not liable for damages caused by traffic on a highway under this provision because the usage of the highway is a matter of public law. Similarly, the Austrian Supreme Court has held that less stringent standards apply in the case of operations in the public interest such as a tram. Apart from that, there is no compensation for nonmaterial damages (lost enjoyment of living in the area) under § 364a ACC in general.
Therefore, a collective action, such as the ‘Austrian model of group litigation’ , is unlikely to be successful.
Legal Formants
According to a recent decision of the Austrian Supreme Court, official liability would not be a suitable basis for a claim either. It was ruled that the Official Liability Act (Amtshaft ungsgesetz) offers no basis for the request that the state, as the road operator, should take certain measures (such as speed controls and the construction of noise protection walls) in order to reduce the noise emissions from the road to the plaintiff’s neighbouring property.
BELGIUM
Artuur Keukeleire, Larissa Vanhooff and Britt Weyts
Operative Rules
Victims can rely on four different sources of compensation for noise pollution: (1) general tort law; (2) property law; (3) protection of privacy; and (4) administrative liability. However, the actual success rate of these actions is dubious.