Lecture 01: Introduction to civil procedure
• Jurisdiction in personam, Jurisdiction in rem
• Distinction of Civil and Criminal Proceedings
• Harmonization efforts for Transnational Civil Procedure
• Independence, Impartiality, and Competence
What is sovereignty?
• Domestic laws = Binding to all property, persons who are resident, as well as contracts or
agreements made within it.
• When the laws of other states differ regarding to the issue at stake in the case, then it is of
difficulty to determine which law must be complied.
• Hence it is a conflict of laws (Ulrich Huber)
• Private Law is a set of rules and regulations that are established or agreed upon by citizens of
different nations who privately enter a transaction and that will govern in the event of a dispute.
UNIDROIT/ALI
UNIDROIT
• The international institute for the unification of Private Law (based in Rome, Italy.
• Founded in 1926 as a specialized agency of the league of nations.
• Independent intergovernmental organisation on the basis of multilateral agreement.
ALI (American Institute of Law)
• American Institute of Law (based in Philadelphia, USA) producing scholarly work.
• Working towards modernizing, harmonizing and coordinating private laws between states
with the aim of combining common law and civil law approaches to civil litigation.
• Recognizing the need for a “universal” set of procedures that would transcend national
jurisdictional rules and facilitate the resolution of disputes arising from transnational
commercial transactions.
UNIDROIT/ALI
,- In 2004 ALI and UNIDROIT published their “Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure
(PTCP)”.
- It aim at harmonising the differences among common law and civil law approaches of civil
procedure, taking account of the peculiarities of transnational disputes as compared to purely
domestic ones.
- PTCP consists of 31 principles
- Rules of Transnational Civil Procedure (RCTP) – not formally adopted and it consist of 39 rules.
- Comment P-A states that the procedural law of the forum applies in matters not addressed in these
Principles
Example of a domestic dispute?
UNIDROIT Principles
Scope and Limitation
These Principles are standards for adjudication of transnational commercial disputes.
Transnational commercial transactions - may include commercial contracts between
nationals of different states and commercial transactions in a state by a national of another
state.
Commercial transactions - may include sale, lease, loan, investment, acquisition, banking,
security, property (including intellectual property), and other business or financial
transactions, but do not necessarily include claims provided by typical consumer protection
statutes. – Comment P-B
Transnational disputes, in general, do NOT arise wholly within a state and involve disputing
parties who are from the same state. – Comment P-C
What is an example of a jural entity? (see comment PC)
What is the basis of their nationality?
Unidroit
P-D These principles are not applicable, without modification, to group litigation, such as class,
representative, or collective actions.
, What is a class action?
P-E These Principles are equally applicable to international arbitration, except to the extent of
being incompatible with arbitration proceedings, for example, the Principles related to
jurisdiction, publicity of proceedings, and appeal.
What are the differences between civil and criminal proceedings?
Non-exhaustive list
- In this course, we will be mainly dealing with procedural law instead of substantive law.
Civil Proceedings Criminal Proceedings
- Parties can be: individuals, - Only the federal or a state government (the
corporations and the federal prosecution) may initiate a case against the
government defendant.
- Issues that constitute an injury or - An offense against the public, society, or the
failure of duty (breach of state
contract),tort to an individual or other
private party
- Judge/ Jury (rare) - Judge/Jury
- Compensation - Sentencing, punishment, fine
Types of jurisdictions (2 Traditional Types of Jurisdiction in State Courts)
1.) In Personam Jurisdiction
• Against a person; Jurisdiction over a person;
• The judgment binds only to a person
2.) In rem Jurisdiction
, • Jurisdiction over an object/property;
• Binding for everyone using that object
Independence, impartiality and competence
UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure
1. Independence, Impartiality and Qualifications of the Court and Its Judges
1.1. The court and the judges should have judicial independence to decide the dispute
according to the facts and the law, including freedom from improper internal and external
influence.
• Commentary P-1B: the external influences may emanate from members of the
executive or legislative branch, prosecutors, or persons with economic interests, etc.
Internal influence could emanate from other officials of the judicial system.
What is Judicial Independence?
- In an ordinary language, independence essentially means “freedom from influence”.
Independence, impartiality, and competence
Examples of Human rights provisions;
• The right to a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal is articulated in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (Article 10)
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights article 14(1) states that:
• “Everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent,
and impartial tribunal established by law”
• Article 6 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Jurisdiction in personam, Jurisdiction in rem
• Distinction of Civil and Criminal Proceedings
• Harmonization efforts for Transnational Civil Procedure
• Independence, Impartiality, and Competence
What is sovereignty?
• Domestic laws = Binding to all property, persons who are resident, as well as contracts or
agreements made within it.
• When the laws of other states differ regarding to the issue at stake in the case, then it is of
difficulty to determine which law must be complied.
• Hence it is a conflict of laws (Ulrich Huber)
• Private Law is a set of rules and regulations that are established or agreed upon by citizens of
different nations who privately enter a transaction and that will govern in the event of a dispute.
UNIDROIT/ALI
UNIDROIT
• The international institute for the unification of Private Law (based in Rome, Italy.
• Founded in 1926 as a specialized agency of the league of nations.
• Independent intergovernmental organisation on the basis of multilateral agreement.
ALI (American Institute of Law)
• American Institute of Law (based in Philadelphia, USA) producing scholarly work.
• Working towards modernizing, harmonizing and coordinating private laws between states
with the aim of combining common law and civil law approaches to civil litigation.
• Recognizing the need for a “universal” set of procedures that would transcend national
jurisdictional rules and facilitate the resolution of disputes arising from transnational
commercial transactions.
UNIDROIT/ALI
,- In 2004 ALI and UNIDROIT published their “Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure
(PTCP)”.
- It aim at harmonising the differences among common law and civil law approaches of civil
procedure, taking account of the peculiarities of transnational disputes as compared to purely
domestic ones.
- PTCP consists of 31 principles
- Rules of Transnational Civil Procedure (RCTP) – not formally adopted and it consist of 39 rules.
- Comment P-A states that the procedural law of the forum applies in matters not addressed in these
Principles
Example of a domestic dispute?
UNIDROIT Principles
Scope and Limitation
These Principles are standards for adjudication of transnational commercial disputes.
Transnational commercial transactions - may include commercial contracts between
nationals of different states and commercial transactions in a state by a national of another
state.
Commercial transactions - may include sale, lease, loan, investment, acquisition, banking,
security, property (including intellectual property), and other business or financial
transactions, but do not necessarily include claims provided by typical consumer protection
statutes. – Comment P-B
Transnational disputes, in general, do NOT arise wholly within a state and involve disputing
parties who are from the same state. – Comment P-C
What is an example of a jural entity? (see comment PC)
What is the basis of their nationality?
Unidroit
P-D These principles are not applicable, without modification, to group litigation, such as class,
representative, or collective actions.
, What is a class action?
P-E These Principles are equally applicable to international arbitration, except to the extent of
being incompatible with arbitration proceedings, for example, the Principles related to
jurisdiction, publicity of proceedings, and appeal.
What are the differences between civil and criminal proceedings?
Non-exhaustive list
- In this course, we will be mainly dealing with procedural law instead of substantive law.
Civil Proceedings Criminal Proceedings
- Parties can be: individuals, - Only the federal or a state government (the
corporations and the federal prosecution) may initiate a case against the
government defendant.
- Issues that constitute an injury or - An offense against the public, society, or the
failure of duty (breach of state
contract),tort to an individual or other
private party
- Judge/ Jury (rare) - Judge/Jury
- Compensation - Sentencing, punishment, fine
Types of jurisdictions (2 Traditional Types of Jurisdiction in State Courts)
1.) In Personam Jurisdiction
• Against a person; Jurisdiction over a person;
• The judgment binds only to a person
2.) In rem Jurisdiction
, • Jurisdiction over an object/property;
• Binding for everyone using that object
Independence, impartiality and competence
UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure
1. Independence, Impartiality and Qualifications of the Court and Its Judges
1.1. The court and the judges should have judicial independence to decide the dispute
according to the facts and the law, including freedom from improper internal and external
influence.
• Commentary P-1B: the external influences may emanate from members of the
executive or legislative branch, prosecutors, or persons with economic interests, etc.
Internal influence could emanate from other officials of the judicial system.
What is Judicial Independence?
- In an ordinary language, independence essentially means “freedom from influence”.
Independence, impartiality, and competence
Examples of Human rights provisions;
• The right to a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal is articulated in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (Article 10)
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights article 14(1) states that:
• “Everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent,
and impartial tribunal established by law”
• Article 6 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights
