Forum Selling and Forum Marketing in International Commercial Disputes

In recent years, international commercial courts are mushrooming across the world. Examples include the Netherlands Commercial Court or the Singapore International Commercial Court. These courts are national courts specializing in cross-border, commercial disputes. Their multiple innovative features, such as the use of English as the court language or the appointment of foreign nationality judges, distinguish them from ordinary courts and have attracted the attention of academic literature. In addition, commentators have noted that, unlike ordinary courts, international commercial courts are part of broader state policies to attract foreign investment or dispute resolution and therefore aim at attracting cases. However, little is known on how this aim is actually shaping the courts’ practices, rules and case law. This research studies international commercial courts from a novel perspective; that of forum marketing and forum selling. It explores why and how exactly international commercial courts are engaging in forum selling and forum marketing. Drawing from interviews with lawyers and judges, the study of case law as well as academic literature it presents a comparative analysis of how different international commercial courts make themselves more attractive to prospective litigants and identifies forum marketing and forum selling practices. Finally, the research explores how forum marketing and forum selling reshape civil procedure and their implications on access to justice. While acknowledging that international commercial courts may improve international commercial dispute resolution, it highlights that under circumstances the courts’ practices may have negative implications with regard to access to justice and the role of courts as public institutions.<br/

Minimum wage in Greece and Southern Europe: Towards a new model for shaping labour relations

Το άρθρο επικεντρώνεται στο θεσµό του γενικού κατώτατου µισθού στην Ελλάδα και τον ευρωπαϊκό Νότο, κατά τη διάρκεια της κρίσης και µέχρι σήµερα. Η οικονοµική κρίση και ο τρόπος αντιµετώπισής της από τους ευρωπαϊκούς και διεθνείς θεσµούς οδήγησε εκτός των άλλων τόσο σε περιστολή των κοινωνικών δαπανών όσο σε περιοριστικές εισοδηµατικές πολιτικές. Ειδικά στα κράτη που βρέθηκαν σε «πρόγραµµα οικονοµικής στήριξης ή δηµοσιονοµικής πειθαρχίας», όπως η Ελλάδα, η Ισπανία και η Πορτογαλία, το σύνολο της αγοράς εργασίας και των εργασιακών σχέσεων υπήρξε πεδίο ριζικών µεταρρυθµίσεων. ∆ιακηρυγµένος στόχος ήταν η αύξηση της ευελιξίας στην αγορά εργασίας, η µείωση του εργατικού κόστους, η σταδιακή αποκέντρωση (decentralization) των συλλογικών συµβάσεων, η αλλαγή στον τρόπο διαµόρφωσης των µισθών, η ενίσχυση των ευέλικτων µορφών εργασίας. Στην έρευνά µας, µας απασχολούν οι αλλαγές στη θεσµική διαµόρφωση του κατώτατου µισθού στις χώρες του ευρωπαϊκού νότου που βρέθηκαν σε προγράµµατα δηµοσιονοµικής προσαρµογήςThe article focuses on the institution of the general minimum wage in Greece and Southern Europe during the economic recession and up to the present day. The economic crisis and the way it was dealt with by European and international institutions led not only to constraints in social expenditure but also restrictive income policies, among other things. Especially in countries that found themselves involved in ‘fiscal adjustment programmes’, like Greece, Spain, and Portugal, the whole of the labour market and labour relations became the arena for radical reforms. The declared targets were increasing flexibility in the labour market, decreasing labour force costs, gradually decentralizing collective agreements, changing the way wages are determined, and strengthening of flexible forms of work. Our study examines the changes in the established method of determining minimum wage in the countries of Southern Europe that were part of fiscal adjustment programmes