This paper argues that the principle of unity of succession is one of the key concepts of the Succession Regulation. By operation of this principle on the jurisdictional level, the Regulation tends to favor a perspective of a single Member State when it comes to all issues related to succession. The principle of unity of succession does not of course eliminate the need to proceed to the characterization and to delimitate the scopes of conflict of laws rules at stake. However, this principle — aiming to promote a unitary vision of a single estate in all the Member States bound by the Regulation — sets a tone for some interpretative techniques that tend to favor succession-related characterization of the issues having some importance in the context of succession with cross-border implications. According to the Author, effet utile-driven characterization, on the one hand, and succession-friendly characterization of the issues falling within ‘gray areas’ created by the operation of Article 1(2) of the Succession Regulation, on the other hand, are among them.
The conflict-of-laws rules laid down in an international agreement binding Poland and a non-Member State enjoy priority over rules of national origin (where a situation does not fall within the scope of EU conflict-of-laws rules), as well as over EU private international law rules (on the basis of the clauses provided for in the EU Regulations), yet in both cases exclusively in scenarios falling within their own scope of application.With regard to conflict-of-laws rules of a bilateral international agreement, such as those provided for in Article 35 of the Agreement of 1993, the characterization has to be carried out independently from the understanding of specific concepts that may be inferred from national substantive law or from private international law, be it of domestic or EU origin.As to the determination of the “material scope” of such conflict-of-laws rules, the textual interpretation of a bilateral agreement in question should play crucial role. Although the conflict-of-laws rules of such agreements generally call for characterization of the legal institutions established by the legal order of one of the two Contracting States, the comparative study limited to those two legal orders can merely serve as guidance when it comes to the determination of the “material scope” of those conflict-of-laws rules.While it is difficult to formulate generalizable conclusions concerning the “spatial reach” of the conflict-of-laws rules provided for in a bilateral agreement, it can be argued that — in the course of a dispute before a court — the law designed as applicable under Article 35 (1) of the Agreement of 1993 applies to the assessment of tort liability originating in an event that occurred on the territory of Poland or Ukraine, if the individuals involved in the tort have their domicile (seat) on the territory of Poland or Ukraine, and — although this is highly debatable — insofar as they have the nationality of one of these States, provided that all the above-mentioned elements do not link the situation underlying that dispute exclusively with only one of those States.
Professor Paul Lagarde is one of the most outstanding contemporary lawyers dealing with private international law. An author of numerous publications in this field, he has been, for the last 60 years, a source of inspiration for scholars around the world. His impactful contributions has been profoundly studied, discussed and cited also in Poland, and in particular in Katowice, which has been the centre for private international scholarship in Poland since the 1970s.
On 12 September 2019, the premises of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland) witnessed one of such events, which will arguably go down in history of private international law in Poland. On that day, the University hosted an international conference on the Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession (“the Succession Regulation”), and on the various issues relating to the succession matters within the European area of freedom, security and justice.
The terms ‘characterization’ (‘classification’) and ‘exercise of characterization’ refer in particular to the efforts made to determine which conflict of law rule — and in the sense presented in this paper, also rule on jurisdiction — which is part of the law of the forum State, should be applied to the circumstances of a particular case. In relation to the norms of private international law of the European Union, the triumph of an autonomous characterization at first sight seems undeniable. The term autonomous characterization (in principle — ‘autonomous interpretation’, the case law usually does not distinguish between exercise of characterization and exercise of interpretation) has been referred to over the last fifty years in order to describe the vast majority of operations of interpretation undertaken in relation to the norms of EU private international law. The contemporary concept of characterization in private law of the European Union, although consistently referred to as ‘autonomous’, does not fully meet the criteria thereof. The papers argues that while the starting point was the autonomous characterization in its pure form (stage one), over time it partially gave way to the place of characterization according to the EU law-oriented legis fori (stage two), and finally it was enriched with new elements which gave it the form of a specific functional characterization (stage three). It is not so much about the consistency of the results of the exercises of characterization with the universal understanding of certain concepts. Exercises of characterization are carried out through the prism of their effects, so as to ensure the effectiveness of the norms of EU law (effet utile) other than rules on conflict of laws and on jurisdiction.
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