Video Tour of the CPLJ Website

A video tour of the Website is now available. Please find it here.

Wrap-Up: CPLJ Final Conference 11 and 12 July 2024

Experts from all over the world got together on 11 and 12 July 2024 in Luxembourg to present their results, accompanied by lively debates to provide additional multi-perspectival input.

The conference started with an introduction by editor Burkhard Hess. He emphasized the objectives of the CPLJ project, namely, to improve the understanding of the different national systems and to explore the current trends in dispute resolution. He also outlined the course of the past four years, with all the challenges and situational peculiarities put on the collaboration. To name only a few, geographical distances and therefore diverging time zones have required a high level of coordination; different approaches to research and writing originally constituted a challenge that eventually enriched the composition of the Parts. Burkhard Hess also stressed the significance of such a long-term collaboration, because Comparative Civil Procedure is still considered a relatively new discipline and therefore a comprehensive Publication combining multiple perspectives is even more important.

An extended version of the speech is available as Part I Chapter I here.

Editor Margaret Woo presented on Comparing Procedural Law in the XXI Century and continued highlighting the significance of the multi-perspectivity as it improves the understanding of the own system. She also addressed points of critique and challenges on comparative civil procedure, such as the lack of comparability or the risk of ‘over-harmonization’ and showed how the CPLJ project dealt with these issues by also considering the cultural and socio-economic contexts of the respective provisions and case law.

Leon Marcel Kahl and Janosch Haber presented the features of the CPLJ website. A dedicated video explaining the use of the CPLJ website will be available soon.

Speaking of contemporary trends, one cannot avoid dealing with aspects of digitalization. Accordingly, Fernando Gascón Inchausti and his team presented their main findings under the topic ‘The Digital Revolution’ (Part IX). They covered how digitalization can (or will) influence access to justice, the enforcement of rights and standards within the context of digital platforms as well as the role of AI for justice systems and legal professions. Cybercourts are already imminent, the private sector is pushing very hard in this direction.

Wendy Kennett and Michele Lupoi showed their findings in matters regarding Enforcement (Part XIII) – in particular, how the differences and specificities between enforcement systems impact cross-border enforceability.

Special subject matters like labour law, consumer protection or environmental issues require different forms of litigation. Wannes Vandenbussche highlighted the features that are generally decisive in shaping the character of procedures depending on the subject matter, the relation between the litigating parties and the degree of involvement either of the litigants or the judge (Part XII).

Away from the plenary sessions, the participants had ample room for academic exchange, culminating in a dinner on Thursday evening with a keynote speech by Advocate General Szpunar on comparative research notes at the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The conference ended with an outlook provided by the editors Burkhard Hess, Margaret Woo, Loïc Cadiet, Séverine Menétrey and Enrique Vallines García. They delineated the next short-term steps (full upload until autumn) and mid-term steps (possibility of an ‘on-demand’ print version). The editors also referred to plans for a Conference on Arbitration in Vienna in 2026 which will lead to another Part to the CPLJ publication.

The recordings of the conference (including the discussion) can be found here.

Upcoming: CPLJ Final Conference

We are delighted to invite you to the Comparative Procedural Law and Justice (CPLJ) Final Conference at the University of Luxembourg on 11 and 12 July 2024. This conference will present the results of the 4-year CPLJ project with over 100 collaborators. The rich two-day program encompasses numerous presentations by distinguished speakers who are contributors to the project, always followed by a discussion. The speakers will present highlights of their teams’ comparative procedural law research in their respective fields.

You can find the program here.

CPLJ Website Launch

The CPLJ Website is officially launched.