European Rules of Civil Procedure

by R.A.U. Juchter van Bergen Quast

UNIDROIT and the European Law Institute (ELI) are working together towards the development of European Rules of Civil Procedure. Leading academics, practicing lawyers, judges, and members of European institutions are represented in the various committees. The instrument is expected to be finalised and adopted by the UNIDROIT Governing Council at its 98th session in 2019.

Recent years have seen the emergence of a growing body of rules at European level in the field of procedural law, in the wake of the enlargement of the EU competences towards judicial co-operation. The ELI/UNIDROIT project could serve as a useful tool to avoid a fragmentary and haphazard growth of European civil procedural law.

The ELI/UNIDROIT project may be considered a first attempt towards the development of other regional projects adapting the ALI/UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure to the specificities of regional legal cultures, paving the way to the drafting of other regional rules.

Full information regarding the current status of the project, including all documents related to the various committees and conferences, is provided here.