Representing Future Generations - 4th EU Civil Justice Seminar Series
News
Visiting Researcher Zilin Hao
We are currently hosting visiting researcher Zilin Hao, PhD researcher at Wuhan University, in January-June for a six-months research stay. She is working on her PhD thesis (Exclusive jurisdiction for cross-border litigation) and got LLM and LLB in Law (China University of Political Science and Law).
She presents herself: “My research interests focus on the fields of private international law and international civil procedure. Before I came to Rotterdam, I learned a lot from the publications of Prof. Xandra Kramer. Thus, I appreciate Professor Kramer, who integrated me into her research group. During my stay, Xandra Kramer and her team gave me warm welcome and care. Most
importantly, by participating biweekly academic seminar with professional
teammates, I can consider my thesis question from the comparative perspective of
European private international law and civil procedure law in a straight way.
I cherish this rare opportunity for an academic visit and look forward to learning more in the coming months.”
Published: June 23, 2021
The Fourth seminar of the EU Civil Justice Seminar Series took place on Thursday July 1st. The seminar focused on the private law aspects of climate litigation. Striking a bridge between his current work on (self)representation in civil justice and past work on strategic litigation and the representation of public interest through law, Jos Hoevenaars brought together a panel to discuss the most recent developments in climate change litigation.
In that context, the recent Milieudefensie/Shell decision of the district court of The Hague signifies a move in climate change litigation from targeting mainly the responsibilities of governments in curtailing the effects of climate change, like in the already famous Urgenda case, to suing corporations, and using the courts to force multinationals to adjust their practices. The panel of speakers discussed the implications the Shell decisions at the crossroads of strategic litigation, collective representation, civil tort law and human rights in climate litigation.
Chantal Mak, professor of Professor of Private law at the Amsterdam Centre for Transformative Private Law (ACT) analyzed the Shell decisions and highlighted the human rights angle of climate change litigation. Professor Geert van Calster, Head of the department of European and international law at the University of Leuven, gave an overview of the private international law aspects of climate change litigation. And finally, Sanne Biesmans, PhD candidate at the Business Law Institute of the Radboud University Nijmegen, analysed the Shell decision from a corporate liability perspective and sketched a future outlook for corporations and how this decision may affect their practices going forward.
The seminar was very well-attended, with some 65 participants joining for the subsequent discussions.