This seventh volume in the Swedish Studies in European Law series brings together some of the most prominent scholars working within the fast-evolving field of EU civil justice. Civil justice has an impact on matters involving, inter alia, family relationships, consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, small and medium-sized businesses and large multinational corporations. It therefore has great power and potential. Over the past 15 years a wealth of EU measures have been enacted in this field. Issues arising from the implementation thereof and practice in relation to these measures are now emerging. Hence, this volume will explore the benefits as well as the challenges of these measures. The particular themes covered include forum shopping, alternative dispute resolution, simplified procedures and debt collection, family matters and collective redress. In addition, the deepening of the field that continues post-Lisbon has occasioned a new level of regulatory and policy challenges. These are discussed in the final part of the volume which focuses on mutual recognition also in the broader European law context of integration in the area of freedom, security and justice.

This book focuses on four topical and interconnected, innovative pathways to civil justice within the context of securing and improving access to justice: the use of Artificial Intelligence and its interactions with judicial systems; ADR and ODR tracks in privatising justice systems; the effects of increased self-representation on access to justice; and court specialization and the establishment of commercial courts to counter the trend of vanishing court trials. Top academics and experts from Europe, the US and Canada address these topics in a critical and multidisciplinary manner, combining legal, socio-legal and empirical insights. The book is part of ‘Building EU Civil Justice’, a five-year research project funded by the European Research Council. It will be of interest to scholars and policymakers, as well as practitioners working in the areas of civil justice, alternative dispute resolution, court systems, and legal tech. The chapters “Introduction: The Future of Access to Justice – Beyond Science Fiction” and “Constituting a Civil Legal System Called “Just”: Law, Money, Power, and Publicity” are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The regulation of cross border civil and commercial litigation is a burgeoning EU policy area. Legislative measures and other initiatives now provide a framework for the regulation of cross border service of documents, obtaining evidence, establishing jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments, enforcement orders, legal aid, alternative dispute resolution, payment orders, and small claims. In addition, overarching measures have been enacted including the creation of a judicial network and judicial training structures. This book offers the first detailed analysis of the EU's activity in procedural harmonization, spanning civil procedure, private international law and European law. The book situates the development of the policy area and its regulation in relation to broader themes of the European integration process: market building, citizenship, fundamental rights, subsidiarity and governance. It provides a detailed analysis of the legislative measures and assesses their impact on fundamental principles of civil justice, including due process rights. The case-law in the area is also analysed, including the introduction of the principle of mutual recognition. The book concludes with a comparative analysis of the EU's approach with broader international efforts for procedural harmonization.

This book presents a collection of essays on key topics and new perspectives on the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) and has a Foreword by the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Prof. Dr. Koen Lenaerts. Europe’s area of freedom, security and justice is of increasing importance in contemporary EU law and legislation. It is worthy of special research attention because of its high-stakes content (particularly from an individual and a state perspective) and because its development to date has tangentially thrown up some of the most important and contentious constitutional questions in EU law. As the AFSJ becomes more and more intertwined with ‘mainstream’ EU law, this edited collection provides a timely analysis of the merger between the two. Showcasing a selection of work from key thinkers in this field, the book is organised around the major AFSJ themes of crime, security, border control, civil law cooperation and important ‘meta’ issues of governance and constitutional law. It also analyses the major constitutional and governance challenges such as variable geometry, institutional dynamics, and interface with rights around data protection/secrecy/spying. In the concluding section of the book the editors consider the extent to which the different facets of the AFSJ can be construed in a coherent and systematic manner within the EU legal system, as well as identifying potential future research agendas. The European Union as an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice will be of great interest to students and scholars of European law and politics.

Zwanzig Jahre nach der Verabschiedung des Amsterdamer Vertrags über die justizielle Zusammenarbeit in Zivilsachen wurden vom europäischen Gesetzgeber zahlreiche Instrumente des EU-Zivilprozessrechts entwickelt, die heute in der nationalen Rechtsprechung fest verankert sind. Diese Instrumente haben einen grenzüberschreitenden Raum der Rechtssicherheit geschaffen, dem Bürgerinnen und Bürger sowie und Unternehmen vertrauen können. Das vorliegende Buch fragt nach den "best practices" gemeinsamer Regeln und Praktiken. Inspiriert von der Verschiebung des Schwerpunkts von der Schaffung neuer Rechtsvorschriften hin zu einer Konzentration auf die konkrete Umsetzung, bietet der Band einen Überblick über einen einheitlichen europäischen Rechtsraum und seinen Regeln.

For some years now, certain EU Member States have been promoting their national courts as the best places to litigate cross-border commercial disputes. This has led to a competition between jurisdictions, which recently has been re-energised by the upcoming withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. This civil justice competition affects, among other things, governments' policies, court organisation, and cross-border litigation strategies. Building on an interdisciplinary methodology, this book offers an in-depth theoretical and empirical research analysing the competition currently taking place between civil justice systems. It focuses in particular on the motivations and attitudes of governments and litigants, and presents the findings of a survey conducted with lawyers from the largest law firms in Europe. Contributing to the current debates in a novel way, this research will be a go-to-point for academics, policymakers and practitioners across the EU.