Unfinished business: Rome II in practice and the need for a Hague Convention on non-contractual obligations Brief: Reflections on the French Supreme Court’s First Decision on Rome II

Publishers Abstract
The French Cour de cassation recently delivered its first judgment on the Rome II Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations . It held that Rome II could not override the Hague Convention on traffic accidents. Therefore, in France, the Hague Convention applies instead of Rome II. The decision is legally sound but has the unwelcome effect of encouraging forum shopping. Several suggestions have been put forward to address this issue, which is common to numerous EU Member States and also affects the relationship between Rome II and another Hague Convention.

A solution would be to draft a Hague Convention on non-contractual obligations along the lines of Rome II, given the fact that few provisions of Rome II are EU-specific. This would reconcile the need for uniformity within the EU and the EU’s efforts to engage with the outside world through the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

• Primary Source

Sweet and Maxwell: European Law Review http://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/catalogue/productdetails.aspx?recordid=427&productid=6968

ESO: Background information: Hague Convention http://www.europeansources.info/record/website-hague-convention/

ESO: Background information: The Rome II Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations. A new international litigation regime http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-rome-ii-regulation-on-the-law-applicable-to-non-contractual-obligations-a-new-international-litigation-regime/

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