Dit boekje is de neerslag van een permanente vorming gegeven aan de Balie Brugge eind 2016. Het biedt de lezer een overzicht van de belangrijkste IPR bronnen op Europees niveau. Het toont de lezer dat het belang van het Wetboek van internationaal privaatrecht in veel domeinen uitgehold of verdwenen is. De auteur zet per Europese IPR bron de belangrijkste bepalingen uiteen en illustreert deze rijkelijk met concrete voorbeelden. Verder geeft het boekje de belangrijkste nieuwigheden binnen het domein van het internationaal privaatrecht aan.
In common law systems, there has recently been a trend to permit plaintiffs to serve process on defendants through social media networks. This trend raises the following question: Is this form of service also beneficial in civil law countries-in particular, Belgium? To answer this question, this Article analyzes the conditions under which this type of service has been allowed by US courts, where most of the new development has occurred. This Article concludes that social media service may be a valuable additional means of notice when the defendant does not have a known address. In such circumstances, Belgian law currently prescribes service on the public prosecutor as the method of last resort; however, service via social media platforms is far more effective at actually reaching the defendant. Consequently, the Belgian legislature could consider introducing social media service as a method supplementing service on the public prosecutor, provided the necessary safeguards are implemented.
Although European scholars have called U.S. punitive damages an ?(undesired) peculiarity of American law? and the ?Trojan horse of the Americanisation of continental law?, the European Union cannot close its eyes to this important feature of U.S. law. Despite being under constant scrutiny, punitive damages have a strong foothold on the other side of the ocean. Moreover, due to increased globalisation, transnational litigation is arguably on the rise. In cross-border law suits, it is inevitable that a jurisdiction will encounter legal institutions that are alien to the substantive law of the forum. 00This book examines the private international law treatment of American punitive damages in the European Union. It poses the crucial question whether U.S. punitive damages (should) penetrate the borders of the European Union through the backdoor of private international law. More specifically, three areas of private international law are analysed: service of process, applicable law and enforcement of judgments. 00In addition to describing the current positions in case law and scholarship, the book takes a normative perspective and attempts to formulate concrete guiding principles that can be used when the European legal order faces U.S. punitive damages. It, therefore, provides an invaluable resource for practitioners, judges and authorities confronted with this controversial remedy. Furthermore, as a nation?s private international law attitude indicates the country?s level of tolerance towards a foreign concept unknown in its own legal system, the book can form an essential building block for discussions amongst legislators surrounding the introduction of the remedy of punitive damages in substantive law
This Article discusses the implications of certain new technological developments on legislators and it seeks to answer the question of whether some of the existing long-standing legal principles are compatible with technological evolutions or whether new legislation will need to be adopted. ; N/A
