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El presente artículo discute el desarrollo del derecho procesal civil en varias ju-ris dicciones europeas desde el inicio del siglo XIX hasta hoy. El tema central es el cambio de la posición del juez, desde un árbitro imparcial a un administrador activo de casos. Las jurisdicciones bajo discusión son Francia, Austria, Suiza, Bélgica, los Países Bajos, Inglaterra y Gales

In many countries civil procedure is considered a subject hardly lending itself for scholarly investigation. To prove that this was not always the case, the present article starts by outlining the history of civil procedural law as an academic discipline. The outline shows that civil procedure was considered to be worthy of scholarly attention up to the period of codification. The situation changed after the laws of civil procedure in the various European countries had been codified. One of the reasons was the decline in significance of legal history and comparative law as a result of codification. The article subsequently discusses two questions of civil procedure particularly deserving academic study within the context of contemporary Europe. The questions are the following: 1) To what extent can the law of civil procedure be regarded as an international, European discipline? 2) What roles can legal history and comparative law play in shaping the future law of civil procedure?

The author of the present paper has been asked to discuss R. Helmholz, R. Zimmermann (eds.), Itinera Fiduciae: Trust and Treuhand in Historical Perspective (Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, 1998). He especially focuses on the possible (historical) ties between trusts and European Private Law or ius commune. The central question of his paper is whether or not the trust is a typical Anglo-American legal concept which must be placed outside the European ius-commune tradition.

In the 1980s, the Netherlands witnessed the start of a comprehensive programme of reform in the fields of judicial organisation and procedure. The reform programme consists of three stages, of which the first has now been completed. This has, amongst other things, resulted in the consolidation of several administrative procedures which were formerly adjudicated by different judicial bodies, in the Arrondissementsrechtbank. Consequently, the Arrondissementsrechtbank has obtained extensive administrative jurisdiction together with its jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. As part of the reforms in the second stage, a bill has been submitted to Parliament which contains changes in the court structure. It is proposed to abolish the Kantongerecht and to reallocate its jurisdiction to the Arrondissementsrechtbank, transforming the latter court into a general first-instance court. In addition, the bill contains changes in the Code of Civil Procedure. In the present report the author discusses the current situation January 1998.

The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Libertad Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act, envisages, amongst other things, putting an end to the trafficking in property having belonged to US nationals which was confiscated by the Cuban government on or after January 1, 1959. Measures against Helms-Burton have been implemented by many states. The European Community and the European Union have also legislated against this Act. The EC measures against Helms-Burton are encompassed by a regulation dated November 22, 1996. In addition to the EC regulation, the European Union took action against Helms-Burton on the basis of Articles J.3 and K.3 of the Treaty on European Union. The Union decided that all of its Member States should take the measures they may find necessary to safeguard the interests of natural or legal persons within their territory which are not protected by the EC regulation Official Journal 1996 L 309/7. In order to understand the above European measures and the way in which they were enacted, some knowledge of the structure and competences of the European Community and the European Union is required. In this note the author discusses the difference between the European Community and the European Union; the type of instrument encompassing the anti-Helms-Burton measures; the legal basis of the EC and EU measures against Helms-Burton and some related issues.

In 1553 the Edward Bonaventure set sail from England with two other ships to search for a Northeast Passage to Asia. Eventually the ship made it to the White Sea and the captain of the ship, Richard Chancellor, reached Moscow where he met Tsar Ivan IV, 'the Terrible', at the Kremlin. In 1554 the ship returned to England but was 'robbed by Flemings', according to Richard Hakluyt. The discovery of a case file in the archives of the Great Council of Malines, the supreme court of the Netherlands in the sixteenth century, concerning the robbing of the Edward Bonaventure on its return voyage offers a new perspective on the spectacular first English expedition which resulted in the discovery of the North Cape and Anglo-Russian trade connections and diplomatic relations. Besides offering new knowledge on England's pioneering voyage of 1553, this article explores possibilities and limitations of case files for historical research and offers a revealing example of political pressure on legal decision-making and shows that legal institutions were not necessarily the puppets of their rulers.

Introduction -- Comparing the Civil Court Structures of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau From A Case Management Perspective -- Case Management from a Comparative Perspective -- The Unified System of Adjudication and Administration of Chinese Courts -- Taiwan's Court Structure from a Case Management Perspective -- The Civil Court Structure in Hong Kong -- The Formal Adequacy Principle from the Perspective of Judicial Case Management: Macau -- The Litigation Superpower's Case Management Cure for Adversarial Ills -- Framing the Structure of the Court System from a Case Management Perspective: New trends in Brazilian Law -- Structure of the Court System and Case Management: Lessons from England & Wales -- Framing the Structure of Court Systems from a Case Management Perspective: Lessons from Hungary -- In Search of Efficiency: Court Structure and Case Management in Croatia -- A Brief Note on the Application of Information and Communication Technology in Civil Judicial Case Management -- A Prospective Court-Connected Mandatory Mediation Regime in Macau: A Brief Note. .