This year's Projects Conference and General Assembly will be held at the stunning premises of the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb. ELI President Diana Wallis will address the attendees during the opening ceremony on 24 September 2014 and speak about the Institute. Joining her in welcoming the guests to Zagreb will be Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Zagreb, Hrvoje Sikirić and Rector of the University of Zagreb, Aleksa Bjeliš.
The Projects Conference, which will take place on 25 September 2014, marks a pinnacle in the European Law Institute's yearly calendar. The opening keynote will be delivered by Ivo Josipović, President of the Republic of Croatia. After that, progress reports on the current ELI projects will be presented and panels will focus on specific legal topics such as collective redress and competition damages claims and the future of human rights litigation in Europe. An exploratory session on potential ELI future projects and the increased involvement of practitioners will round off the Conference. Bringing together legal experts from a variety of disciplines and nationalities, the Conference provides an opportunity for the hard work of the project teams to be presented to ELI Members and external attendees, who are invited to make comments on the work in progress. The annual Projects Conference provides the perfect opportunity to get involved in the work of the Institute.
In the evening of 25 September 2014 the Conference dinner will take place at the Gradska Kavana (“City café”), a beautifully renovated art nouveau venue in the heart of the city. For your convenience, exclusive deals for ELI conference participants have been arranged with four hotels in Zagreb. Each hotel is conveniently located in the city centre, within easy reach of the conference venues.
The Projects Conference is free of charge for ELI members, who are also invited to attend the General Assembly on 26 September. A small conference fee of EUR 80 will apply to non-ELI members. Please consult the ELI website for registration details:
http://www.europeanlawinstitute.eu/about-eli/eli-bodies/general-assembly/ga-2014
1st Panel session: Collective redress / competition damages claims
Chair: Mark Clough QC, ELI project leader, Specialist EU and Competition Lawyer
The evaluation of the new European legal framework for collective redress and competition damages claims consisting of a Recommendation on collective redress and a recently approved Directive on competition damages claims - has been the core objective of the ELI Project on Collective Redress and Competition Damages Claims in the past few months. At this panel session participants are invited to discuss, together with the panelists, some of the complex issues identified as controversial or critical in the draft ELI Statement on the topic, and propose solutions to potential weaknesses of the new framework. Some critical questions of outmost importance will be asked, such as: Is there a way to reconcile the compensation basis for all damaged parties with national laws on causation/passing on so as to comply with the general principles of EU law?
2nd Panel session: The future of human rights litigation in Europe
Chair: Diana Wallis, ELI President
Since the publication of the ELI Statement on Case Overload at the European Court of Human Rights in July 2012, lively discussions on the future of human rights litigation in Europe have continued. The panel which will feature representatives of the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union, national courts and academia, will give a platform to some key players in the field of human rights, and aims to give rise to a new ELI project.
As the European Court of Human Rights authoritatively interprets the Convention it is disputable how much power is to be given to the Member States when applying and implementing the Convention; will the accession of the European Union to the Convention enhance the coherent application of human rights in Europe? What is the role of a supranational court in the complex and sophisticated European legal order? Is the relationship between national and supranational courts truly a strictly hierarchical one? These are just some of the issues which will be deliberated during the session.
3rd Panel session: Exploratory session on future projects and increased involvement of practitioners
Chair: Christiane Wendehorst, ELI Vice-President
The gathering of expertise and ideas from a wide range of legal experts is the very essence of the ELI and the input of practitioners is of particular importance. This panel session invites panelists and audience members to focus on three questions:
- By what methods can the ELI ensure that its activities and information can penetrate the ever increasing load of information with which legal practitioners are confronted, ensuring that they can efficiently follow and contribute to the collective endeavours of the ELI?
- Which current legal issues require attention of the ELI?
- How can the ELI address topics and produce results which are useful to practitioners?
(Source: ELI)
