Acts of torture as an instrument of government policy in the Colony of Cyprus in the 1950s and choice of law

This article notes the judgment in Sophocleous v Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in which the High Court dealt with the law applicable to civil claims arising out of alleged acts of torture committed by British military and security services in the colony of Cyprus in the 1950s. The judgment is important because it sheds light on some underexplored corners of choice of law (law governing the external aspects of vicarious liability and of accessory liability in tort) and reaches the conclusion, which runs against the grain of other recent judgments given in civil claims brought against the Crown for the external exercise of governmental authority, that English law governs

Tort Law and State Accountability for Overseas Violations of International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law: the UK Perspective

This article argues that tort law has a role to play in holding the British government to account for overseas violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The context of tortious claims for overseas violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law brings to the fore, on one hand, issues of attribution and Crown and foreign acts of State and, on the other hand, issues of private international law. This article describes the approach of UK courts to key issues raised by tortious claims for overseas violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, namely subject-matter jurisdiction and the law applicable to the merits

Recent Developments in the European Private International Law of Employment

This article outlines the main recent developments in the field of European private international law of employment. The developments include judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the concept of ‘individual employment contract’, jurisdiction over individual employment contracts and choice of law for individual employment contracts, changes to the posted workers regime through the adoption and transposition of the Posting of Workers Enforcement Directive and the revision of the Posted Workers Directive, and the forthcoming withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. The article demonstrates that the European private international law of employment is fit for purpose, although there is scope for improvement

Civil claims against the Crown in the wake of the Iraq war: Crown act of state, limitation under foreign law and litigation funding in Alseran v Ministry of Defence

This article notes the High Court judgment in Alseran v Ministry of Defence which follows the first full trial of claims for compensation in what is known as the “Iraqi civilian litigation”. This article focuses on three aspects of the judgment of importance for civil justice in England: 1) the adoption of a strict interpretation of the Crown act of state doctrine, 2) the claimant-friendly interpretation of the public policy exception to the rule that the issue of limitation in a tortious claim is governed by the foreign applicable law, and 3) Leggatt J’s observations which disclose the adverse effect of the changes introduced to the regime of civil litigation costs and funding following the Jackson Report. The first two aspects of the judgment have the potential to exert a considerable impact on cross-border public interest litigation in England. But the potential of the law in this area cannot be fulfilled without a regime of civil litigation costs and funding that enables claimants to bring their claims

Illegality in English Arbitration Law after Patel v Mirza

This article examines whether the Supreme Court judgment in Patel, which recast the law of illegality in English substantive private law, is relevant for English arbitration law and, if so, what the relevance of Patel may be. We argue that Patel is indeed relevant for English arbitration law either, at least in some cases, as a matter of substance or as a matter of methodology

L’effet du Brexit sur le droit international privé du travail

Cet article décrit l’effet probable du retrait du Royaume-Uni de l’Union européenne sur le droit international privé du travail. Plus précisément, il traite de l’effet probable du Brexit sur le droit du travail, le droit de la compétence internationale en matière de travail et le droit du choix de la loi applicable en matière de travail tant au Royaume-Uni que dans l’Union européenne, en se concentrant principalement sur l’effet probable du Brexit sur le droit international privé en Angleterre. This article describes the likely effect of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on the private international law of employment. More specifically, it deals with the likely effect of Brexit on employment law, the law of international jurisdiction in employment matters and the law on choice of law for employment matters in the United Kingdom and the European Union, with particular emphasis on private international law in England

European labour market: Posted Workers Directive and the social implications of the movement of labour

The European Union protects, on one hand, freedom of movement and establishment; and on the other hand, the right to take industrial action. The interaction between these two principles becomes highly sensitive in situations where the purpose of collective action by workers is to limit the free movement of the employer. Such is the case in the context of the cross-border posting of workers needed to carry out a service in another Member State. This difficult issue arose in 2007 between the company, Laval, and the Swedish Workers’ Union Byggnads. The dispute led to a ruling by the ECJ and a subsequent decision of the European Committee of Social Rights. Laval un Partneri Ltd was a Latvian construction company that won a public tender offer for construction work on a school near Stockholm. Laval then proceeded to post Latvian workers to Sweden in accordance with the 96/71/EC Posting of Workers Directive (‘Directive’). It was estimated that Latvian workers earned 40% less than Swedish workers. The Swedish Building Workers’ Union demanded Laval to sign a collective agreement that would align the conditions applicable for Latvian workers to applicable Swedish standards enforced in the industry. As Laval refused to sign the agreement, the Swedish Workers Union, joined by the Swedish Electricians Union, initiated a strike against Laval and barricaded Laval’s construction site. The strike had caused its Swedish subsidiary, Baltic Bygg, to declare bankruptcy, forcibly sending all of its workers back to Latvia

Unjust Enrichment and the Brussels I Regulation

This article examines how the jurisdictional rules of the recast of the Brussels I Regulation, namely the rules of exclusive jurisdiction for immoveable property and company law and governance matters and the rules of special jurisdiction for contracts and torts, deal with unjust enrichment claims and issues concerning unjust enrichment. It also asks whether a new special jurisdiction rule for unjust enrichment should be added to the Regulation