Meeting of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ in Paris on 21 June 2013

The Scientific Council of the UIHJ was installed on 20 June 2008 in Paris. The Scientific Council was established as part of the Institute Jacques Isnard, the Institute of Private Judicial International Law and Enforcement Law, a branch of the UIHJ.

The mission of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ consists in directing research, bringing an analysis on the development of the law as regards globalization, participating in the works of the UIHJ, particularly at the occasion of congresses, and contributing to the publishing of legal articles or studies done under the auspices of the UIHJ. Since its creation, it is closely associated with the overall work of the UIHJ, helping to strengthen its scientific scope.

The Scientific Council is composed of professors of universities, high-ranking magistrates, and lawyers specialized in international law, all of them having a good experience in the relations with the enforcement professionals. Its composition is set to represent the geographical expression of the UIHJ. It currently consists of twelve members coming from African, America, Asia and Europe.

The Scientific Council met in Paris on 21 June 2013 to discuss on-going and future work. Were present Robert Emerson, Huber Hurst Professor of Business Law, Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida (USA), Frédérique Ferrand, Professor at the Faculty of Law of Nice (France), Natalie Fricero, Professor at the Faculty of Law of Nice (France), Director of the Institute of Judicial Studies (France), Aida Kemelmajer Carlucci, Judge of the Supreme Court of Mendoza, Professor at the University of Mendoza (Argentina), Jacqueline Lohouès-Oble, Professor at the University of Cocody (Côte d'Ivoire), Vladimir Yarkov, Chair of civil procedure and enforcement procedures in the State Legal Academy of the Urals, Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation), Jacques Isnard, Past and Honorary President of the UIHJ and Thierry Guinot, judicial officer (France), Secretary of the Scientific Council. The UIHJ was represented by its President, Leo Netten, Françoise Andrieux, General Secretary and Mathieu Chardon and Jos Uitdehaag, First Secretaries.

The meeting began with a presentation by Jos Uitdehaag to the members of the Scientific Council on the work of the next International Congress of judicial officers to be held in Madrid (France) from 2 to 5 June 2015 of which he is the general rapporteur. The conference theme will be centred on the importance of enforcement - in its broadest sense - in the context of the financial crisis, including alternative dispute resolution, bankruptcy, insolvency, or transparency of assets. The judicial officer, who carries out various activities, such as those recognized in the guidelines of the CEPEJ on enforcement of 17 December 2009, has an important role to play in helping to resolve the crisis.

A discussion followed on the enforcement of contracts. In this regard, Professor Emerson noted the distinction between substantive law and procedural law in this area, recognizing that in the United States, many procedures are in favour of banks. Aida Kemelmajer Carlucci referred to the recent judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities on abusive clauses (Mohamed Aziz c. Catalunyacaixa, C-415/11 of 14 March 2013), a decision "resulting from the crisis" she said.

Legislative changes induced by the financial crisis can rely on the work of the Scientific Council on the Global Code of Enforcement. For this, the UIHJ intends to involve the major international organizations in its work and rely on the support offered by universities as part of the cooperation agreements signed with the UIHJ. This code should not be left to its theoretical state but implemented "into the reality of the law," said President Netten. Following him, Jacques Isnard recalled that it was agreed to enact rules likely to be easily transferable to propose a harmonization, a "harmonization without too much detail" added Jacqueline Lohouès-Oble, focusing on the question of terminology, according to Frédérique Ferrand, together with Natalie Fricero who reported having listed a number of definitions that will be submitted to all members of the Scientific Council and then put in the glossary to be annexed to the Code.

Professor Yarkov recalled a major international conference to be held in Yekaterinburg from 18 to 20 September 2013. He invited Françoise Andrieux and Natalie Fricero to come and present the work of the Scientific Council on the Global Code of Enforcement. The work will also be presented at the 3rd African European meetings of judicial officers to be held in Lomé (Togo) on 26 and 27 September 2013. They will also be presented at each event organized by the UIH until the Madrid Congress.

On cooperation with universities, President Netten recalled that two agreements have been signed so far, one with the University of Mendoza and the other with the University of Valencia (Spain). He said that the idea is to work on specific themes with universities. In this regard, Françoise Andrieux said the University of Valencia is very interested in the work of the Stobra 2 Commission of the Council of the European Presidents of the UIHJ on Cross-border service of documents in Europe.

Other topics were discussed during the day, such as mediation in enforcement, a very relevant issue yet unknown in many countries according to Professor de Carlucci, access to information and transparency of assets, the Thesis Price of the UIHJ or a possible minor expansion of the Scientific Council in view of the strategic developments of the UIHJ. The day, very productive, in a friendly atmosphere - a family atmosphere in the words of President Isnard - ended with a pleasant dinner in the warmth of a very nice Parisian restaurant setting.