Background of the project

To improve cooperation between courts in different Member States in these cases, Leiden Law School and Nottingham Law School have been working on what is called the ‘EU Cross-Border Insolvency Court-to-Court Cooperation Principles’ (‘JudgeCo Project’). The project is initiated and co-funded funded by the European Union and the International Insolvency Institute (III). It is a part of a larger EU initiative called “European Cross-border Insolvency: Promoting Judicial Cooperation”. This initiative is being promoted by the European Commission's Directorate General on Justice. Further funding has come from the EU's Civil Justice Programme, which aims to strengthen freedom, security and justice in the European area, and the International Insolvency Institute established in Toronto (Canada). The EU JudgeCo Principles and Guidelines will have the character of non-binding recommendations and will be developed for application in cross-border communication and cooperation in insolvency cases between courts within the European Union.

The EU JudgeCo Principles and Guidelines will further research developments on judicial cooperation in insolvency principles in general and, specifically, in court-to-court communication and coordination matters. The need for this development within the context of the European Union is clear: the Recast of the the Insolvency Regulation ('EIR'), emphasising court-to-court cooperation, calls for a more concrete and detailed approach to judicial cross-border cooperation (recital 45 and Articles 41-44 and 56-59 EIR Recast).

Project outline

The project will be carried out in gradual stages. The first work stream (January 2013-September 2013) focused on developing a draft text of EU Cross-Border Insolvency Court-to-Court Cooperation Principles and Guidelines. Two surveys have been developed and sent out to a representative group of some forty experts – insolvency judges, senior insolvency court representatives, insolvency lawyers/trustees/ practitioners, academics – located in the majority of EU Member States and some five non-EU jurisdictions. Based on further analysis and discussion the draft Principles and Guidelines are reviewed by a Review & Advisory Group of some forty insolvency experts, including twenty judges. Subsequently, the EU JudgeCo Principles and Guidelines were made available as Public Draft to the general public, whereby everyone with an interest in it was invited to sent in considerations and comments.

Training session for judges

After the Principles and Guidelines had been drafted and renewed, the Reporters will subsequently provide training for selected judges, court staff and legal practitioners. These training sessions enable judges to test the EU Cross-Border Insolvency Court-to-Court Cooperation Principles and provide comments as to their usefulness in practice. Also, it allows judges to enlarge their European network and to discuss other pending issues with colleagues. Click here for more information.

Contact

For more information about the project, go to the EU JudgeCo Platform. 

The project is coordinated by professors Bob Wessels (Leiden Law School) & Paul Omar (Nottingham Law School), and directed by Dr. Bernard Santen and Gert-Jan Boon. The Reporters can be contacted via judgeco@law.leidenuniv.nl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judicial Training Sessions

As of October 2014 training sessions will take place in several cities across Europe. Judges deciding on matters of insolvency are offered the chance to participate in a two-day interactive training. (link)

Below you will find an overview of all the training materials for the JudgeCo Judicial Training Session. (link)