Vale of tears: Case C-292/05 Advocate general's opinion

If you need reminding of what manner of a vale of tears today's EU was built in, have a look at Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer's erudite opinion in Case C-292/05 Lechouritou and Others.

The case is about whether claims for compensation which are brought by a number of Greek citizens against a Contracting State (Germany) as being liable under civil law for acts or omissions of its armed forces fall within the scope ratione materiae of the Brussels Convention in accordance with its Article 1 where those acts or omissions occurred during a military occupation of Greece, the plaintiffs' State of domicile, following a war of aggression on the part of the defendant, are manifestly contrary to the law of war and may also be considered to be crimes against humanity.

The case also concers a case of sovereign immunity raised by Germany.

The Advocate General recommends that the Court hold that such claims are outside the scope of the Brussels Convention.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

So goes Psalm 23. And so did walk the plaintiffs in Case C-292/05 but no compensation to comfort them if the Advocate General is followed by the Court.

UPDATE: There is a much fuller write-up over at the Conflict of Laws blog here.

Comments

[Martin George]

Good work - we've summarized the case here:

http://www.conflictoflaws.net/2006/cases/brussels-convention-the-law-of-war-and-crimes-against-humanity/

...and linked to your post as well.

[Philippe]

Hello Dear Friends,

Its not the first time AG Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer uses literature in his opinions.
His opinion in Gaston Schul was very good !

"2. Dans la mythologie grecque, Sisyphe a été condamné au dur labeur de porter une lourde pierre jusqu’au sommet d’une montagne pour, une fois arrivé à la cime, la laisser rouler jusqu’à un ravin, descendre la chercher et recommencer indéfiniment l’ascension, sans aucun égard pour son évidente fatigue (3).

3. Les raisons de ce terrible châtiment restent empreintes de mystère, mais font apparaître certains comportements téméraires du héros, que les dieux ont considérés comme un défi à leur supériorité (4).

4. À l’instar de Sisyphe, fondateur et roi de Corinthe, le juge national se voit contraint de procéder de façon permanente à un renvoi préjudiciel sur l’invalidité des actes communautaires."

Not in English though ...
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62003C0461:FR:HTML

ph.

[Bartolus]

Advocate General Ruiz Jarabo Colomer is indeed very erudite. He even manages to quote Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in an otherwise dry case on standing to sue and on direct and individual concern in particular (see Case C-417/04 P Regione Siciliana v. Commission).

[Christoph Herrmann]

These quotes of literature make him look intellectual, don't they. However, remember that this stuff all has to be translated, like e.g. in the Gaston Schul case 2 out of 16 pages of the conclusions (incl. endnotes). And look at the footnotes: the translater even had to find translations of Camus in the respective languages to quote the right pages (cf. Greek, Swedisch, Finnish and other Conclusions). So guess who`s doing the "useless work"?

[LilaSeedA]

Hi,

I liked your site. An excellent content. Fine the schedule.

Thanks.