1 The Project’s Ambition
- Where does procedural law stand in the first half of the 21st
century? What has happened and what have we experienced during the last 25 years? What is likely to
happen in the years to come? To what extent have political, economic, technological, and societal
developments of the last decades impacted on dispute resolution? Is it possible today to look
scientifically at procedural law and dispute resolution from a global perspective as we are living in an
era of globalization? What are the core values underlying dispute resolution? What are its different
fields ranging from litigation to arbitration and other forms of dispute settlement? What are the
techniques applied? These issues relate to the main questions CPLJ wants to answer.
- CPLJ is a project of comparative law. Its basic ambition is to
understand (and to learn) how procedural law and dispute resolution operate today in the different parts
of the world. This objective corresponds to the traditional ambition in comparative law to establish a
taxology of a specific field, cf R Miller CPLJ webinar no 9, available here. An additional assumption is that some basic concepts and methods of dispute resolution are
spreading around the globe and are influencing many jurisdictions. However, local habits (often
denominated as ’cultural factors’) may also modify or even block international trends from
being adopted. The tension between the local and the global is a very important characteristic of the
present procedural landscape. Yet, globalisation entails that national systems must adapt to the growing
competition in dispute resolution. Nevertheless, adaptation is always a matter of degree. Regionalism
and economic integration are important frameworks and drivers in modern dispute resolution, too.
- A major ambition of the project is to reveal significant trends in
contemporary dispute resolution, I would like to mention some of them: The quest for procedural
fundamentals rights guaranteeing a fair and speedy trial; the quest for proportionality in civil
litigation; the rise of collective litigation, the differentiation of dispute resolution caused by the
advancement of arbitration, alternative dispute resolution and consumer ADR as alternatives to court
proceedings; the impacts of digitalization on dispute resolution; private and public funding of
litigation; the growing competition within and between national jurisdictions in dispute settlement.
Recently, litigation has also become a means of judicial warfare in the hostile world of
today.[2]
- The biggest challenge of contemporary dispute resolution is the
digitalization of societies, economies and public administrations.[3] At this juncture, the
digitalization of dispute resolution is part of a general development transforming legal systems in
general. Yet, the degree of the development is very very different around the globe and even in the
various regions reviewed. In Africa, digitalization has not yet become a topic for most of the region,
whereas in Europe, China and Singapore, it has become a general trend. Again, this does not entail any
value judgment, as there are already some promising pilot projects in Africa while some Member States of
the EU are lagging considerably behind when it comes to digitalization.[4]
- While I was very much forward looking when describing the ambition
of our project, I would now like to look back for a moment: Is CPLJ the first project addressing
comparative civil procedure? In this regard, one must refer to the International Encyclopedia of
Comparative Law[5], a
still unfinished multi-volume project under the auspices of the International Association of Legal
Science. There, a specific volume (XVI), edited by the late Mauro Cappelletti[6], addresses civil procedure. This volume
was closed when the last subchapters were published in 2010[7] and 2012.[8] The elaboration of Volume XVI lasted from 1973 to
2012 and it has become a very valuable and often quoted reference in comparative procedural law.
However, some important developments could not be foreseen, such as the end of the cold war, the rise of
ADR and collective redress as well as the digitalization of dispute resolution.[9] Other parts of volume XVI had
become outdated like the chapter on arbitration in socialist countries or on ‘civil procedure in
developing countries’.[10] In 2012, the still missing chapters disappeared from the table of contents. At present,
there is no comparable treatise on comparative civil procedure although the general treatises on
comparative law usually also address procedural law. The only available textbook on comparative civil
procedure is edited by O Chase and H Hershkoff[11] – it is authored by scholars from
different parts of the world who participated in Oscar’s famous seminars on comparative civil
procedure at NYU.[12]
- In addition, there is a strong tradition of comparative civil
procedure in learned societies. The most topical in this regard is the International Association of
Procedural Law (IAPL). Since its foundation after the 2nd World War, it conducts comparative research in
all areas of dispute resolution.[13] The activities of IAPL have been expanded over
the years and its members have created a global network for collaboration and exchange in comparative
procedural science.[14] Here comparison is primarily conducted from the perspective of procedural law and
functionalism, although the methodology of comparative law has been a recent topic.[15]
2 The Research Fields of CPLJ[16]
- Since 2020, 16 parts of CPLJ have been elaborated by the different
teams. They address core research topics of contemporary procedural law. In addition, four overarching
axes establish the foundations of CPLJ and entail macro- and micro-analyses of comparative procedural
law. These axes correspond to the core issues of procedural law and adjudication. Notably, they tackle:
(1) the unfolding of the proceedings (including enforcement); (2) the organization and authority of the
courts; (2) the rule of law in civil procedure; and (4) cultural divergence and convergence in civil
litigation. They are addressed by the different parts of the project.
2.1 The Unfolding of the Proceedings
- Civil procedure rules mainly regulate how a case is brought to
court, how it is investigated, how it is argued, how it is decided and how the judgment is enforced,
unless it is appealed. In doing so, these rules distribute power in different ways amongst the parties,
the judges, the lawyers, and the political authorities that house the courts and the enforcement
machinery. In turning disputes over to a neutral third party for resolution, the litigating parties give
up their control of the dispute in exchange for peace and resolution. At a micro-level, procedural rules
attribute power to each of the players by determining who gets to do what in litigation; in some
instances, they will equilibrate power disparities while in others, they maintain existing power
hierarchies. At a macro-level, the question of who gets to make these rules (parliament, government,
agencies, courts themselves or in cooperation with legal professions) and who gets to enforce them
involves a delicate allocation of powers among different branches of government.[17] Furthermore, private
ordering may provide for ADR schemes operating outside of the court system.[18] Different power distributions
will be examined in the diverse legal and political environments. For example, in many systems, the
private or public nature of civil procedure and dispute settlement is subject to debate.[19]
2.2 The Organization and Authority of the Courts
- The definition of the overall parameters of a court’s
authority (meaning its organizational structure, including its jurisdictional rules, as a subset area of
civil procedure) contributes to the delimitation of the political power in any given State. A genuine
element of a court is the independence and impartiality of the judges only subject to the applicable
law.[20] Jurisdictional rules define the State’s right to exercise coercive power over
parties or the subject matter of a dispute.[21] Thus, a comparative evaluation of the
organization of the court not only adds insight as to how each society approaches the protection of
individual basic rights and powers, but it also helps to understand the project of State-building. This
situation is particularly exacerbated in critical situations of transitional justice when claims for
restitution and compensation of historic wrongs are brought in the civil courts.[22]
- As enactments of the State, adjudicative bodies are symbolic and
(eventually) physical messages of the power of the State. Today, these symbolic messages are changing
across the world: the manifestation of the judiciary in society is no longer solely demonstrated by the
court building in the city centre, but equally by the courts’ presence in social media and the
internet.[23] Furthermore, the way in which proceedings are conceived largely depends on the
qualification of judges and the organization of courts. As such, it is necessary and important not only
to identify and examine the text of procedural norms but also to evaluate the organization of the
judiciary itself. A second axis of the project will be the role of civil courts and of procedural rules
in the context of State-building.
2.3 The Rule of Law in Civil Procedure
- Rules on how to litigate are driven by technical
constraints of efficiency, predictability and consistency.[24] Procedural law, and particularly the notion of
procedural justice, acquires its legitimacy precisely from perceptions of its neutrality, rationality,
and ability to curb individual and political discretion. ‘Fairness’ and
‘rationality’ are presumed to rise beyond local particularities of time and place. The third
theme of the project relates to the ‘rule of law’, that is, to what extent procedure rules
can be understood as operating beyond a given time and place, so as to be binding even on the political
authorities that enact the law. This process has also been described as
‘constitutionalisation’.[25] An important aspect in this regard relates to
the values of judicial independence and impartiality.[26] Closely related are questions of how national
systems ensure the ‘rule of law’ linking State constitutions and domestic procedural rules.
Further links can be found between domestic procedural rules and international standards of human
rights.[27]
2.4 Divergence and Convergence in Civil Litigation
- The fourth overarching theme addresses the extent to which
procedural laws diverge, are ‘converging’ and what kinds of legal transplantation have taken
place in recent years. In the present era of globalization, there is a need for harmonizing procedural
rules, a process which has multiple aims including that of preventing parties from forum shopping in
transnational disputes.[28] How will judges cooperate in these distinct legal spheres, presupposing an integrated
global legal system? Notably, the EU has coordinated and even harmonized conflicting or inconsistent
procedural rules across its Member States.[29] The fourth axis of the CPLJ project thus
examines the effects of legal transplantation in procedural law,[30] the limits and scope of procedural
harmonization, as well as other ways in which rules might converge (e.g. through spillover effects of
ECJ case law). These questions also encompasses the influence of global movements such as alternative
dispute resolution (ADR)[31], including the spread of commercial arbitration, and collective litigation.[32] Any effort to
understand today’s new global system must acknowledge the interaction between global legal
transplantation and the assertion of local culture and national sovereignty.
3 The Infrastructure of the Project
3.1 CPLJ as a Core Project of the MPI Luxembourg
- Originally, CPLJ was conceived as a project of the former Max
Planck Institute for Procedural Law in Luxembourg. The Luxemburgish Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR)
made the project possible by awarding an Advanced Grant of 740,000 EUR to Burkhard Hess in 2019. The
initial idea was to use the resources (especially the library) of the MPI and to involve the staff of
the Department for European and Comparative Procedural Law as much as possible for the project. In 2020,
when the project started, 15 teams of 5 – 8 scholars from different jurisdictions were constituted
that addressed the different themes of the project in their respective segments. In each team, a
research fellow of the MPI was to act as a liaison person to the Institute. Three conferences at the
Institute had been planned with the intention of convening the participants together. Already in May
2019, Enrique Vallines García had joined the MPI and extensively coordinated the different teams.
The IT department of the MPI developed a platform to facilitate online cooperation within the teams of
the project. The Scientific Advisory Board[33] met in October 2019, before the project started
officially in spring 2020. By December 2020, more than 100 researchers from 37 jurisdictions[34] had joined the 15
working teams of CPLJ.[35]
3.2 Comparative Research During Covid-19
- In spring 2020, the outbreak of the global pandemic changed the
working environment dramatically. The opening conference, foreseen for spring 2021, could not take place
onsite in Luxembourg. Instead, the Institute organised a multitude of webinars where experts in
procedural law and related disciplines (like economics, history, anthropology) explained their
methodological views of specific themes in comparative procedural law which had been originally foreseen
to occur in segments 1 and 2 of the project.[36] These webinars started in December 2020; they
took place every month, usually on Friday afternoon with two lectures of 30 minutes, each followed by a
discussion.[37] For the participants of CPLJ, the webinars offered an opportunity to start discussions
among the members of the project. The nine webinars on methodological and interdisciplinary themes
continued until February 2022.[38] They were a very important and successful part
of the project.[39]
- As I already mentioned, the kick-off conference had equally to be
transformed into an online conference. It took place in several webinars between 19 February and 5 March
2020. Each team presented an outline and first reflections regarding their part; the respective
proposals were discussed by all participants. After the kick-off conference, the teams continued meeting
and working online on their segments/parts.[40] The editors organized individual online
meetings with the teams. In March 2023 the teams presented first findings and results at the mid-term
conference.[41] This conference was organised as an onsite event at the MPI. For many teams, it was the
first opportunity to meet personally as a group. In the meantime, other teams had already met
personally, either in Luxembourg or elsewhere. Again, the FNR Luxembourg generously supported these
meetings by funding an additional series of conferences at the MPI[42] where the teams presented and
discussed first results with the researchers and guests of the Institute.[43] This lecture series was
organized as a hybrid event.
3.3 The Transfer of the MPI to the University of Luxembourg
- After the start of CPLJ, the working atmosphere at the MPI
deteriorated continuously, primarily because of difficulties in the management of the administration and
of tensions with the Max Planck Society (MPG). Soon, the Institute became a topic of press articles as
people were complaining about the internal situation. Finally, the Max Planck Society and the government
of Luxembourg agreed on a transfer of the Institute to the university by July 2026. This was when the
directors of the MPI decided to leave the Institute as the transfer had been agreed without even
informing them. Burkhard Hess accepted a call to the University of Vienna (starting in October 2023) and
Hélène Ruiz Fabri returned to Sorbonne university in August 2023. At the end of September
2023, the Max Planck Society was transferring an Institute many researchers were leaving.[44] In January 2024, the
Institute was transformed into a University Centre of European Law.[45] The good news is that the
excellent library will continue to exist and remains open for guest researchers.
- In these circumstances, CPLJ needed a quick solution. As Burkhard
Hess was no longer eligible to be a primary investigator for a project that had been awarded by the FNR
to him as a researcher based in Luxembourg, Séverine Menétrey kindly agreed to take over
as the PI for the project and to become a CPLJ co-editor. Eventually, the project was transferred to the
University of Luxembourg. With the help of Séverine Menétrey and her dedicated
team[46] it was
possible to organize the final conference in July 2024. The ambition was to bring the project to a
positive end, especially to publish and to disseminate the results via a special website that was
designed by Janosch Weber. In the final phase, the new Viennese team, led by Marcel Kahl, edited the
manuscripts sent by the teams to the co-editors; this work is expected to be ongoing until the end of
2024.
4 Comparative Methodologies Applied to Procedural Law
4.1 Adopting a global comparative perspective
- It is the ambition of CPLJ to adopt a genuine comparative approach
to procedural law and dispute resolution. Therefore it is a project of macro-comparism. At the different
organizational levels, the project was composed of researchers from different continents and
backgrounds. Particularly at the team level, the team members came from different jurisdictions and
different continents.[47] In this regard, the international network of proceduralists, created by the IAPL, was
extremely helpful. However, it was not possible to recruit all teams equally with researchers from all
different continents – only few African researchers were involved in the project and European and
American scientists clearly predominate. However, the composition of CPLJ is more diverse than other
projects in comparative law. Furthermore, to make the comparison as global as possible, the teams were
encouraged to communicate with the members of other teams to get additional information.[48]
- Another practical approach was the working method applied within
the teams. CPLJ is based on a basic document of the editors describing the different segments and
possible issues to be addressed.[49] In the first phase, the teams took up and
discussed the basic description.[50] They explored the field and prepared national
reports on the content of their segment. These reports were the basis for the elaboration of first draft
chapters of the segment, authored by one or several members of the team and reviewed by their peers.
Outlines of these drafts were presented at the initial conference to all participants of CPLJ. After the
initial conference, the teams started working on their segments to present more comprehensive and
reviewed drafts at the midterm conference. The presentation and review of the drafts within the teams
should disconnect the chapters from any national perspective of single author. However, one must admit
that the collaboration in the different teams was not always homogenous – there are teams where
the chapters are products of an intense collaboration[51] whereas in other teams the individual
researchers presented self-standing chapters.[52]
4.2 Methodology in Comparative Law
- A specific focus of CPLJ was on methodologies of
comparative law and their applicability to the comparative study of civil procedure. Yet, this part of
the project proved to be difficult. One reason is found in the present state of the epistemic debates in
comparative law: there is no consensus about the methodology to be applied.[53] The traditional approach of
macro comparison that distinguishes different ‘legal families’ has been criticized by many
authors[54],
although it is still to some extent valid, especially when it comes to the distinction between
Continental and Anglo-American law.[55] However, one recognises that some of the
traditional ‘legal families’ have ceased to exist[56], whereas others can now be more clearly
distinguished[57].
Additional new phenomena, like the law export from China via the Belt and Road initiative, has not yet
impacted on (but was neither included in) the old classification. Finally, the debate on
post-colonialism may also influence the debate about legal families deeply rooted in European
traditions.[58] CPLJ did not take any ‘decision’ on the methods applied but operated in an
open manner, trying to take social, economic and cultural factors largely into account.
- Furthermore, there are areas where a cross-fertilization via new
concepts and ideas among different jurisdictions is predominant. Two often quoted (and proved) examples
are ADR[59] and
collective litigation[60]. Here, the general concept of ‘legal transplant’ has been extensively
used.[61] As a
result, one might generally state an approximation of the different ‘legal families’ in
specific areas of procedural law. However, much of the validity of macro comparison depends on the
different areas of dispute resolution such as private litigation, collective litigation, ADR, and
arbitration. Comparing different institutional solutions is a matter of degree, not of fundamental
difference. As a result, it can be stated that any overall and all-inclusive comparison of dispute
resolution according to ‘legal families’ no longer corresponds to the differentiation of
modern dispute resolution. However, this does not exclude the approach from still being valid in some
parts of the project.[62]
- An alternative to ‘legal families’ in comparative law
could be a ‘regional approach’.[63] This approach has much to do with the current
structure of the globe where regional areas (often parts of continents) are organized in regional
political and economic integration units. Here, cross-border judicial cooperation has become a powerful
factor.[64] The
most prominent is the European Union, but there are also interesting developments in Latin America, in
Eurasia, in some Arabic states and in Africa.[65] But there are still regions in the world
without any structured economic or political integration at the regional level. The most prominent
example is south Asia where the Hague Conference on Private International Law tries to substitute
regional cooperation by promoting its (sometimes largely outdated) international instruments. However,
if one looks at the current situation, regional factors appear to be more powerful than global
initiatives. Still, influences in different areas of dispute resolution must be
distinguished.[66]
- Considering the doctrinal situation of comparative procedural law,
it might be advisable to start from the other side: procedural law. This is exactly the approach which
has been adopted by the IAPL for several decades. The IAPL congresses address general trends in
procedural law and specific topics. Usually, a general rapporteur (nominated by the Association)
develops a questionnaire that she sends to national reporters. Based on the national reports, regional
or general reports are compiled where the topic is presented from a comparative perspective.[67] The method applied is
functionalism: the reports are based on a presumption that procedural instruments and institutions serve
similar functions and can be compared[68] although they are operating in different legal
landscapes or traditions.[69]
- A new dimension of comparative law relates to empirical research.
In this regard, procedural law stands at the forefront of the scientific developments. During the last
25 years, the use of statistics has constantly increased; data about the performance of judicial
systems, the available resources, the length of proceedings and the usage of different proceedings have
been made available online.[70] Yet, using empirical data in comparative law is not an easy task when data are
differently collected but used in a uniform way. Comparing data at a global level is difficult to
achieve as the former Doing Business Reports of the World Bank demonstrated.[71] In CPLJ, the use of empirical
data has remained limited.[72] This is mainly due to the lack of uniform data sets that are usually available at the
national, sometimes at the regional, level. Yet, there is no doubt that empirical methods are going to
change the methodological approaches in comparative law in a close future.
4.3 Lessons (to be) Learned
- What are the main takeaways from 5 years working in CPLJ?
- 1. The first relates to the possibility of conducting a project
with so many teams and researchers from different parts of the world. Here, the result appears very
positive: CPLJ demonstrates that a global collaboration is possible. However, it needs a high degree of
organisation and of commitment. Organising online meetings with participants in California, Hongkong and
Luxembourg requires a lot from those team members who stay late at night or start extremely early in the
morning. Distances were not an impediment to our collaboration; time zones impacted a lot.
- 2. A global project of the size of CPLJ also requires a lot of
preparation and interim communication. Here, we all owe Enrique Vallines a debt of gratitude. He was
able to address the different teams and their coordinators in a way that motivated and assisted all
involved in the project. Furthermore, the coordinators played an excellent role in keeping the work
within the teams ongoing. I cannot mention all of them here, but a special thanks goes to Rick Marcus
whose team was the fastest to hand in the manuscripts. Collaborative projects require time limits and I
am happy to see that most teams have respected them very thoroughly.
- 3. One of the most encouraging experiences of CPLJ was the online
collaboration via Zoom and Teams. These platforms helped us to communicate and to exchange information
online, especially during the difficult time of the pandemic. It was even possible to create a community
online – this happened during the webinars and the kick-off conference. We met and discussed
regularly – cameras switched on. I recall that we met after the webinars in the Weicker Building
with Enrique, Ramon, Nicole and other research fellows to discuss and to review the presentations and
the discussions. However, CPLJ also demonstrated the need for personal meetings and onsite conferences,
to experience a project with personal contacts. Nevertheless, we have learned in CPLJ that a good
balance of virtual and real meetings makes a global project a success. CPLJ was by far not the only one
that was conducted during Covid-19 – but it certainly belonged to the most ambitious ones. As
such, it opens a perspective for future transnational and global research.
- 4. The last takeaway relates to the publication of the results.
There was a moment when the editors came to the conclusion that a publication as a compendium by a
publishing house would not be a suitable solution for the project. The final publication would have been
almost unaffordable, and the individual authors would not have gained any useful access to the results
of the whole project. Furthermore, a global project of this kind needs to be accessible to everyone,
especially those who cannot afford the expensive fees of western publishing houses. Consequently, we
opted for an open access publication that was professionally prepared by Janosch Haber and Marcel Kahl.
Marcel, who had already been working with me in Luxembourg, organized the editorial process and the
publication with the new Viennese team in a very efficient and professional way. Thanks to him, we can
present the results of the project in a way we can all be proud of.
5 The Future of CPLJ and of Comparative Procedural Law
- If CPLJ was simply a printed compendium, it would come to a
preliminary end today, unless some additional editions were published in the future. Online publications follow a different rhythm. Here, the
expectation might be that a permanent updating corresponds to the usual publication standards. However,
this is certainly not feasible for a purely academic project. There is no doubt that CPLJ formally comes
to an end with this conference. However, it might be also an option to continue the project by carefully
updating its different parts and by completing those parts that are still missing: especially the part
on arbitration.
- Continuing CPLJ is primarily a task for its editors. What I have
learned from my fellow colleagues is that there is a willingness and commitment to continue the project
– certainly not as intensively as we did during the last months but on a regular basis. We will
certainly seek the support of the IAPL. This might permit us to update the project and to keep it alive
– as a major step in comparative law and equally in procedural science. The final session of this
conference shall address the future of CPLJ again – but I would like to invite you to reflect
about this issue during the next two days to come. Further information about the future of the project
will be soon published on the CPLJ-website.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Art
|
Article/Articles
|
CEPEJ
|
Conseil de l'Europe Commission européenne pour
l’efficacité de la justice (Council of Europe European
Commission for the efficiency of justice)
|
cf
|
confer (compare)
|
ch
|
chapter
|
ed
|
editor/editors
|
edn
|
edition/editions
|
eg
|
exempli gratia (for example)
|
etc
|
et cetera
|
EU
|
European Union
|
EUR
|
Euro
|
ff
|
following
|
fn
|
footnote (external, ie, in other chapters or in citations)
|
IAPL
|
International Alliance of Procedural Law
|
ibid
|
ibidem (in the same place)
|
ie
|
id est (that is)
|
IECL
|
International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law
|
n
|
footnote (internal, ie, within the same chapter)
|
no
|
number/numbers
|
para
|
paragraph/paragraphs
|
pt
|
part
|
Sec
|
Section/Sections
|
trans/tr
|
translated, translation/translator
|
US / USA
|
United States of America
|
v
|
versus
|
vol
|
volume/volumes
|
***
|
***
|
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Burkhard Hess
[1] Text presented at the Final
Conference on 11 July 2024, enlarged by footnotes and cross-references.
[2] K Mehtiyeva, ‘Civil Procedure
and International Sanctions’ (2023) 13 IJPL, 270 ff.
[3] Cf CPLJ, pt IX: Digital Revolution
and Procedure, especially ch 1 (K Benyekhlef).
[6] M Cappelletti and B
Garth, International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law (IECL), Vol XVI (1982 Brill | Nijhoff) ch 1,
Introduction – Policies, Trends and Ideas in Civil Procedure.
[7] M Taruffo, IECL vol
XVI (2010 Brill | Nijhoff), ch 7, Evidence.
[8] A Zeuner and H Koch, IECL vol XVI
(2012 Brill | Nijhoff), ch 9, Effects of Judgments (Res Judicata).
[9] M Taruffo, IECL vol XVI, ch 7,
Evidence, 2010, para 61 ff, addresses ’computer evidence’.
[10] This chapter was never
written.
[11] O Chase and H Hershkoff (eds),
Civil Litigation in a Comparative Context (2nd ed,
West Academic Publishing 2017).
[12] From a perspective of Latin
America cf recently V Pasqualotto, Proceso civil comparado (Palestra Editores, Lima 2023).
[13] Cf E Oteiza, International Association of Procedural Law. Indicators, Evolution and Projections, Essays
in Honour of Loic Cadiet (Paris 2023) 1163 ff.
[14] The IAPL organizes world
congresses every four years and yearly symposia in different countries. Most publications of the World
Congresses and other colloquia are available open access at the website of IAPL: https://www.iaplaw.org/biblioteca/ accessed 25 July 2024.
[15] Especially in the summer schools
of the IAPL, cf L Cadiet, B Hess, M Requejo Isidro (eds), Approaches to Procedural Law – The Pluralism of
Methods (Baden-Baden, Nomos – MPI Luxembourg, 2017).
[16] This subchapter follows closely
the original description of CPLJ (2019).
[17] Cf pt II of CPLJ:
Organization of Civil Justice and Judicial Independence.
[18] Cf pt XV of CPLJ: Consensual
Dispute Resolution and Arbitration.
[19] A Uzelac and
C H Van Rhee (eds), Public and Private Justice
– Dispute Resolution in Modern Societies (Antwerpen –
Oxford, Intersentia, 2007); B Hess, The Private-Public Divide in
International Dispute Resolution, RdC 388 (2018) 49 ff.
[20] Cf pt II of CPLJ: Organization
of Civil Justice and Judicial Independence.
[21] Cf pt V of CPLJ: Jurisdiction
and venue of the court.
[22] R Bejarano Guzmán, P
Moreno Cruz, M Rodríguez Mejía (eds), Reconciliación y
Derecho Procesal, Bogotá, Universidad Externado de Colombia (2016);
L Cadiet, ‘Justice transitionnelle et droit processuel’ (2017) 7 IJPL / RIDP, 325 ff.
[23] M A Damaska, The Faces of Justice and State Authority: A Comparative Approach to the Legal
Process (Yale University Press 1986); J Resnik and D Curtis, Representing Justice (Yale University Press 2011) 154 ff; B
Hess and A Koprivica Harvey (ed), Open Justice (Nomos 2019) 9, 16 ff; B Hess, Judicial Communications in
the Digital Age, Liber Amicorum L Cadiet (2023) 729 ff.
[24] Cf pt VII of CPLJ: Structure of
Civil Litigation.
[25] Cf pt IV of CPLJ:
Constitutionalization and Fundamentalization of Civil Procedural Guarantees and Principles.
[26] Cf pt II of CPLJ: Organization
of Civil Justice and Judicial Independence.
[27] G de Vergottini, Oltre il dialogo tra le corti (Bologna, Il Mulino
2010).
[28] It must be noted that
‘forum shopping’ is not unethical per se but corresponds to a legitimate tactic in a (globalized) world composed of differently
organized justice systems, cf pt XIV of CPLJ: Cross-Border and International Dimensions.
[29] F Gascón Inchausti,
‘Prozessrechtsvergleichung in der Europäischen Union‘ in B Hess (ed), Insolvenzrecht-Prozessrechtvergleichung (Gieseking 2017) 111
ff, B Hess, Europäisches Zivilprozessrecht (2nd ed, de Gruyter 2020) ch 3–11.
[30] A Watson, Legal Transplants (2nd ed, University of Georgia Press 1993),
mainly addressing the influence of Roman law.
[31] Cf pt XV of CPLJ: Consensual
Dispute Resolution and Arbitration.
[32] Cf pt X of CPLJ: Collective
Litigation.
[33] Members of the Scientific
Advisory Board are Oscar G Chase (USA), Vivian Curran (USA), Hazel Genn (England), John Haley (USA),
Moon-Hyuck Ho (Corea), Eduardo Oteiza (Argentina), Fausto Pocar (Italy), Paul-Gérard
Pougoué (Cameroun), Judith Resnik (USA), Rolf Stürner (Germany), Maciej Szpunar (Poland),
Janet Walker (Canada). Many members of the Advisory Board gave presentations in the online webinars or
participated actively in the teams.
[34] See the Overview in Annex
A.
[35] Initially, CPLJ was comprised of
18 segments. However, the two first segments on methodology and interdisciplinary topics were presented
as webinars during Covid-19.
[36] Eventually, the webinars
replaced the former Segments 1 and 2 of the project. Most of them will still be available via the CPLJ
website; CPLJ also makes the written texts of many chapters of the methodological and interdisciplinary
parts available.
[37] The following topics were
addressed: 4 December 2020: V Curran, Methods of comparative law applied to procedural law; R
Stürner, Legal families in comparative procedural law - a valid approach?
15 January 2021: H Muir Watt, Beyond Compare or Beyond the Pale? Comparative Law in the Age of
the `Post-`; T Ruskola, Acts of Comparison, Political and Ethical. 16 March 2021: O Chase,
Comparative procedural law and culture; F Pocar, Comparative procedural law: a view from practice.
7 May 2021: J Resnik, Puzzling about Trans-procedural Substantive Norms across Time and
Domains; M-C Foblets and H Elliesie, Extrajudicial Dispute Resolution in Europe: Anthropological
Insights on the Impact of Religion and Tradition. 4 June 2021: R Michaels, Decoloniality and
Comparative Civil Procedure; J Haley, Historical and Political factors Influencing Dispute Resolution.
2 July 2021: B Deffains, Comparative procedural law and economics; R v Rhee, The use of
foreign models of civil procedure in national law reform: ‘Lessons‘ from History?
21 October 2021: S Ali, Transcending Generalisations in Comparative Law Research - East Asian,
Perspectives in a Global Context; E Oteiza, Who knew only his Bible knew not his Bible: Thoughts from
Latin America. 28 January 2022: J Dashaco, Harmonization of Simplified Debt Recovery
Procedures in the OHADA Sub-Region: Appraisal of ‘Injonction de Payer’ Procedure under the
Uniform Act and the Common Law Undefended List Proceedings; S Bostanji, Droit judiciaire privé
comparé: regard général sur les droits des pays arabes 1 April 2022: R
Miller, Comparing Comparisons: A survey of approaches to Comparative law
[38] Most of the presentations can be
accessed via the website of CPLJ, available
here. Written versions of some presentations are found in pt 1 of CPLJ,
available here.
[39] Covid-19 also accelerated the
digitalization of civil procedure around the globe, cf CPLJ, pt IX ch 4 (F Gascón
Inchausti).
[40] The original designation was
segment. Later, the co-editors decided to rename the segments into parts to make the project better
understandable.
[41] This was a critical phase of the
project as personal meetings of the teams were not possible. In addition, the participants could not
travel to the MPI Luxembourg for research stays. Direct online access to the resources of the library
was not possible because of the limitations of copyright licences.
[42] FNR-RESCOM/2022/LE/17576191.
[43] The following lectures were
given at the Institute: 10 January 2023: L Passanante, Judicial Precedent in Comparative
Perspective; 19 January 2023: S Dodson, The Culture of Forum Shopping: a View from the United
States; 27 January 2023: F Pocar, International Civil Procedure and National Procedural
Reforms: Considerations in Light of the Italian Experience; 27 March 2023: N Alexander,
Comparative Mediation Law in the EU: an Analysis of Developments in Mediation Law Applicable to
Cross-Border Commercial Disputes in Light of the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements
Resulting from Mediation; 17 May 2023: S Ali, Advancing Community Dispute Prevention in
Multilateral Infrastructure Development; 12 June 2023: A Gonçalves de Castro Mendes,
The Introduction and New Patterns of Precedent Systems in the Procedural Law of the Traditional Civil
Law Countries: Possibilities and Innovations for the Stare Decisis; 04 July 2023: V Lipp,
Family Proceedings: Substance Driving Procedure?; 04 July 2023: M J Azar-Baud, Environmental
Disputes in a Comparative Perspective; 05 July 2023: W Vandenbussche, Consumer Protection
Proceedings in a Comparative Perspective
[44] Because of the lack of
communication of the MPG, the situation within the Institute had become unstable. The ‘special
envoy of the MPG-president’, had to come to Luxembourg several times where he tried to convince
researchers to stay at the future university institute. In October 2023, more than 70% of the
researchers of the Department for European and Comparative Law had left the Institute. Several
researchers moved with Burkhard Hess to Vienna. Pierre Henri Conac, Scientific Fellow at the Institute,
acted as interim director and supported greatly CPLJ.
[45] In June 2024, Prof T Trimidas
(London) accepted a call to become director of the Centre.
[46] I would like to expressly
mention Ms Séverine Mazyk-Mariani.
[47] There was a clearly formulated
objective to avoid one sided (therefore biased) perspectives on the research topics.
[48] Some teams included additional
scholars from other continents as ‘correspondents’, ie, team VII, and especially team V, cf
part V
[49] This original document was
authored by B Hess, L Cadiet and M Woo from a comparative and procedural perspective. It was intensively
discussed in the meeting with the Advisory Board in October 2019.
[50] By reviewing the topics of the
respective Segments, the team were able distance and to differ in the sense of G Frankenberg,
‘Critical Comparisons: Re-thinking Comparative Law’ (1985) 26 Harv Int’l L.J.,
411.
[51] Especially teams IV, V and
VII.
[52] In other segments, the
collaboration proved to be difficult because of changes in their composition.
[53] A comprehensive overview of
different methods applied (and criticized) in contemporary comparative law was given by R Miller in the
CPLJ-webinar no 9, available here.
[54] G Teubner, Law as an Autopoetic System (Oxford/Cambridge, Blackwell
Publishers 1996); P Legrand, ‘Negative Comparative Law – A Conspectus of the Argument’
(2017) 10(2) JCL, 405 ff; contra: J Gordley, ‘Comparison, Law and Culture: A Response to Pierre
Legrand’ (2017) 65 AJCL, 133 ff.
[55] This was stressed by R
Stürner in the 1st webinar on Legal Families and Comparative Civil Procedure. For a printed version
cf Liber amicorum Loic Cadiet (Paris 2023) 1511, 1514 ff (stressing the cultural and philosophical
background) and 1518 ff (on different structural approaches). For a different view cf CPLJ, pt VII,
Introduction, para 4: from the unfolding of the proceedings, where the common – civil law was not
applied.
[56] Especially the family of
‘socialist laws’.
[57] Especially the Arabic legal
family, as explained by S Bostanji, CPLJ webinar, 28 January 2022, available here.
[58] Cf R Michaels, Decoloniality and
Comparative Procedural Law, CPLJ webinar, 4 June 2021, available here.
[59] Cf CPLJ pt XV ch 6 on Mediation,
authored by N Alexander.
[60] Cf CPLJ pt X ch 0, Introductory
Remarks of E Silvestri.
[61] One might also talk about how
distaste for the American class action has largely influenced the legal developments in Europe.
Nevertheless, since 2010 some EU Member States have followed the US model of settlement class actions,
especially the Netherlands, cf CPLJ pt X.
[62] Stürner, (n 55) 1511, 1518
ff. For a different view on court proceedings cf pt VI, Introduction, para 13 ff.
[63] For a similar approach (but less
connected to political or economic integration) cf U Kischel, Comparative
Law (Oxford University Press 2017) who added to the traditional legal
families ‘African law’ and ‘Religious Laws’.
[64] In addition, there are
jurisdiction, as the US, Canada or Australia, where cooperation within large territories operates
similarly to cross-border cooperation, including even internal conflict of laws and jurisdiction
regimes.
[65] Here one must acknowledge that
France’s recent loss of influence in its former colonies obviously impacted on cross-border
integration in the region, too.
[66] CPLJ, pt XIV, Cross-Border and
International Dimensions, ch 2 (B Hess).
[67] Usually, the reports are
published by the organizers of the congresses, with most of the reports today freely accessible at the
IAPL conferences online library, https://www.iaplaw.org/biblioteca/ accessed 5 August 2024.
[68] S Huber,
‘Prozessrechtsvergleichung heute‘ in B Hess (ed), Europäisches Insolvenzrecht (Gieseking 2017) 77.
[69] K Zweigert and H Kötz,
Rechtsvergleichung (3rd ed, Mohr Siebeck 1996) 62
ff; P Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World (5th
ed, Oxford University Press 2014).
[70] In the Council of Europe, the
CEPEJ (Commission Européenne pour l’efficiacité de la justice) has been working on
statistics of justice systems since the 1990s. In the European Union, statistics on the funding and the
performance of the judicial systems of the EU Member States are published every year (Judicial
Scoreboard), https://commission.europa.eu/document/db44e228-db4e-43f5-99ce-17ca3f2f2933_en accessed 5 August 2024.
[71] The Doing Business Reports have
been discontinued as of 16 September 2021 after suspicions of serious manipulations had become
public.
[72] Statistical data are found in
CPLJ, pt XI ch 2 on Default Procedures and Payment Order Procedures, para 113 – 125 (V
Richard).