European digital constitutionalism and remedies - 3rd EU Civil Justice Seminar Series
News
Research methods in Private International Law - launch events
Following the publication of the book Research Methods in International Private Law: A Handbook on Regulation, Research and Teaching (Elgar, 2024), edited by Xandra Kramer and Laura Carballo Piñeiro (see our earlier news item), two launch events were held.
The first webinar took place on 10 September 2024. After a brief introduction by the editors, eminent contributors to the book presented their views on methods of regulation, research and education in private international law. Topics addressed included recognition as a method, European law perspectives, the essence of comparative law, law & economics, and feminism in private international law. The webinar is co-organised by the University of Vigo. Speakers were Dulce Lopes (University of Coimbra), Adriani Dori (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Diego P. Fernández Arroyo (Sciences Po Law School Paris), Giesela Rühl (Humboldt University of Berlin), and Mary Keyes (Griffith University of Brisbane).
The second webinar took place on 23 September 2024. This webinar will zoomed in on the importance and methodology of education in private international law, addressing general educational aspects from the perspective of laymen and colonialism as well as teaching private international law in different jurisdictions, including The Netherlands and Nigeria. This webinar was co-organised by the University of Vigo, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and hosted by the University of Sydney (moderated by Jeanne Huang). Speakers were Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (University of Edinburgh), Chukwuma Okoli (Birmingham Law School), Abubakri Yekini (University of Manchester), Ramani Garimella (South Asian University) and Aukje van Hoek (University of Amsterdam).
Published: June 9, 2021
The third seminar of the EU Civil Justice Seminar Series took place on Friday 4th of June 2021. The Seminar touched upon the topic of European digital constitutionalism and remedies. In the past two decades, the European Union has developed a framework of European digital constitutionalism. This framework was prompted as a reaction towards the predominance of digital private norm activities which were accelerating within the EU. Within this EU framework, there are various remedies and dispute resolution mechanisms available. These remedies are not just public remedies, but also bottom-up approaches to enforcement. For example, the Facebook Oversight Board presents a form of private adjudication. The European Commission proposal for a Digital Services Act (DSA) acknowledges the need to regulate such online platforms, for instance it requires online platforms to be transparent about why they take particular decisions.
Giovanni De Gregorio, who is a postdoc at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford, kicked of the seminar with providing the introduction of the topic European digital constitutionalism. He explained how the remedies within the framework are shaped and why these remedies have been made available. He noted the shift which is experienced from digital liberalism to digital constitutionalism.
The second speaker, Catalina Goanta, who is an assistant professor at Maastricht University, touched upon the platform powers. She explained that platforms are offering much more functions than just content, such as commercial functions of social commerce. She gave the example of Instagram, through which people can buy shoes. Catalina stressed the importance of asking the question on how to answer to this increasing power of these platforms. In this regard, Catalina addressed the potential of the DSA.
The third speaker was Clara Iglesias Keller, who is a postdoc research fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Media research and at WBZ Berlin Social Sciences Centre. She touched upon the topic of judicial review and constitutionalism. She highlighted the complexity of drawing up regulation for the Internet and also raised concerns of how claims can be redressed, as she pointed out that some claims are not brought to court.
A vivid discussion followed raising numerous insights and food for future thought.