Collective redress has been on the EU civil justice agenda for a long time, and has triggered considerable debate as a result of the complexity of the matter and the hugely diverging approaches in the Member States. The 2013 Recommendation on collective redress was the result of compromises, and...

The European Commission appears determined to take action in order to harmonize contract law in the European Union. Most recently, it has issued a Green Paper on 1 July 2010. In order to aid the process of harmonization, a large-scale academic study had been commissioned, the 'Draft Common Frame...

The conferral of jurisdiction in matters of insurance according to Section 3 of Chapter II of the Regulation 44/2001 (Brussels I) is designed in view of protecting the weaker party who is granted the forum actoris advantage prescribed by Art. 9 par. 1b) of the Regulation. It should be borne in...

This is a commentary of the judgement of the General Court of 12 December 2018 which dismissed the appeal brought by the French broadcaster Groupe Canal + against the Commission’s decision accepting the commitments offered by Paramount in the cross-border pay-TV case (AT.40023). This ruling...

Consumer protection has become a legal phenomenon to reckon with on a global scale, with repercussions for, among others, contracts concluded between consumers and business entities – i.e., B2C contracts. While the path chosen by EU law is one of special legal protection (on the basis of...

This commentary focuses on Article 8.30 CETA, which is entitled ‘Ethics’ and sets ethical rules for the Members of the CETA Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal. The European Commission presents this precept in a succinct paragraph, highlighting the key issues addressed and the main novelties...

The decision making of judges is prone to error and misapprehension. Consequently, the prevailing literature ties the economic function of courts to dispute resolution and minimization of rule making costs. In contrast to previous research, this analysis applies a contract theoretic perspective...

Structured Investment Vehicles or SIVs are highly complex derivative-related vehicles and products, typically involving offshore “bankruptcy-remote” special purpose companies and trusts, complex rules for the management of portfolios of derivative assets and additional rules for the...

Since the global financial crisis of 2007, regulators and economists have analysed the moral hazards inherent in institutional arrangements which encouraged economic actors to act irresponsibly. The process of institutional reform must extend to review of legal rules which allow transacting...

The Coase theorem tells us that monetary damages and specific performance remedies for breach of contract have identical effects when transaction costs are zero. This has become a standard part of the literature on the economics of contract law. This note argues that the traditional view is...