CIVIL PROCEDURE
Summary
ZINA AL JOUBORI
THE HAGUE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
, International Bachelor of Law 2020-2021
Summary
Program 151515 Civil Procedure Y2 – Q4
By Zina Al Joubori
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Case Liljeberg v. Health Services Acquisition Corp..................................................................................... 7
Arvo O. Karttunen v. Finland ...................................................................................................................... 8
bhopal litigation in the us ..................................................................................................................... 12
evidence ..................................................................................................................................................... 22
evidentiary rules ......................................................................................................................................... 22
The Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial
Matters ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
methods of exposing evidence .................................................................................................................... 23
UNIDROIT Principles on Evidence .......................................................................................................... 23
ecThr CASE LAW ON EVIDENCE .......................................................................................................... 28
Workshop 4 questions ................................................................................................................................ 29
UNIDROIT Principles on ENFORCEMNT APPEAL/EXPERT ............................................................. 31
ecthr cases on ENFORCEMNT APPEAL/EXPERT ................................................................................. 35
questions .................................................................................................................................................... 35
expert witness ............................................................................................................................................. 37
Expert testimony: Role of an expert ..................................................................................................... 37
Expert testimony: Appointment of an expert ........................................................................................ 37
Expert testimony.................................................................................................................................. 38
Expert testimony: costs for expert witness ........................................................................................... 38
court management ..................................................................................................................................... 38
The notion of party autonomy and the scope of proceedings ................................................................ 39
Obligation of the parties and lawyers ................................................................................................... 39
Possibility of multiple claims/parties and intervention ......................................................................... 40
Amicus curiae brief ............................................................................................................................. 41
Responsibility for the direction of proceedings .................................................................................... 41
ecthr case law on expert testimony............................................................................................................. 42
questions .................................................................................................................................................... 43
Lis Pendens and Res Judicata .............................................................................................................. 44
Alternative Dispute Resolution ............................................................................................................ 45
International Recognition..................................................................................................................... 46
International Cooperation .................................................................................................................... 47
1
, International Bachelor of Law 2020-2021
Summary
Program 151515 Civil Procedure Y2 – Q4
By Zina Al Joubori
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O C IV I L P R O C E D U R E
What is sovereignty?
• Every state possesses an exclusive sovereignty and jurisdiction within its own territory.
• Domestic laws = Binding to all property, persons who are resident, as well as contracts or agreements made
within it.
• When the laws of other states, differ in regards to the issue at stake in the case, then it is of difficulty to determine
which law has to be complied.
• Hence it is a conflict of laws (Ulrich Huber) / Private international law
UNIDROIT/ALI
• In 2004 ALI and UNIDROIT published their “Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure (PTCP)”.
• It aims at harmonising the differences among common law and civil law approaches of civil procedure, taking
account of the peculiarities of transnational disputes as compared to purely domestic ones.
• PTCP consists of 31 principles
• Rules of Transnational Civil Procedure (RCTP) – not formally adopted and it consist of 39 rules.
UNIDROIT Principles – Scope and Limitation
• These Principles are standards for adjudication of transnational commercial disputes.
• Transnational commercial transactions - may include commercial contracts between nationals of different
states and commercial transactions in a state by a national of another state.
• Commercial transactions - may include sale, lease, loan, investment, acquisition, banking, security, property
(including intellectual property), and other business or financial transactions, but do not necessarily include
claims provided by typical consumer protection statutes. – Comment P-B
What is arbitration?
• A form of alternative dispute resolution which is a way to resolve disputes outside the judiciary courts. The
decisions are legally binding.
What is class action?
• A lawsuit filed or defended by an individual acting on behalf of a group.
UNIDROIT – Comments
Comment P-E
These Principles are equally applicable to international arbitration, except to the extent of being incompatible
with arbitration proceedings, for example, the Principles related to jurisdiction, publicity of proceedings, and
appeal.
Comment P-D
These principles are not applicable, without modification, to group litigation, such as class, representative, or
collective actions.
What are the Differences between Civil and Criminal Proceedings?
2
, International Bachelor of Law 2020-2021
Summary
Program 151515 Civil Procedure Y2 – Q4
By Zina Al Joubori
• Non-exhaustive list
• In this course, we will be mainly dealing with procedural law instead of substantive law.
Civil Procedure Criminal Proceedings
Parties can be: individuals, corporations and the federal Only the federal or a state government (the prosecution)
government may initiate a case against the defendant.
Issues that constitute an injury or failure of duty (breach An offense against the public, society, or the state
of contract), tort to an individual or other private party
Judge/ Jury (rare) Judge/Jury
Compensation Sentencing, punishment, fine
Types of Jurisdictions
2 Traditional Types of Jurisdiction in State Courts
1. In Personam Jurisdiction 2. In rem Jurisdiction
• Against a person; Jurisdiction over a person. • Jurisdiction over an object/property.
• The judgment binds only to a person • Binding for everyone using that object
UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure
Independence, Impartiality and Competence
1. Independence, Impartiality and Qualifications of the Court and Its Judges
1.1 The court and the judges should have judicial independence to decide the dispute according to the facts and
the law, including freedom from improper internal and external influence.
1.2 Judges should have reasonable tenure in office. Nonprofessional members of the court should be designated
by a procedure assuring their independence from the parties, the dispute, and other persons interested in the
resolution.
1.3 The court should be impartial. A judge or other person having decisional authority must not participate if
there is reasonable ground to doubt such person’s impartiality. There should be a fair and effective procedure
for addressing contentions of judicial bias.
1.4 Neither the court nor the judge should accept communications about the case from a party in the absence of
other parties, except for communications concerning proceedings without notice and for routine procedural
administration. When communication between the court and a party occurs in the absence of another party, that
party should be promptly advised of the content of the communication.
1.5 The court should have substantial legal knowledge and experience.
1.1 The court and the judges should have judicial independence to decide the dispute according to the facts and the
law, including freedom from improper internal and external influence.
What is Judicial Independence?
• In an ordinary language, independence essentially means “freedom from influence”.
• Examples of Human rights provisions:
The right to a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal is articulated in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (Article 10)
3
