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The work of the Institute of Civil Procedure and Insolvency Law, Faculty of Law, University of Graz focuses on austrian, european and international civil procedural law, including its links with commercial and civil law, insolvency and restructuring law, credit insurance law, enforcement law, procedural law dogmatics and legal issues at the interface between civil procedural law and substantive law. The Institute's Chair, Prof. Dr. Bettina Nunner Krautgasser, who is also council member of the Institute of Civil, Comparative and Private International Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor and of the Accsess to Civil Justice portal (ACJ), is a professor of Civil Procedure Law at the University of Graz. Prof. Dr. Nunner Krautgasser is also the author or co-author of numerous publications and highly regarded textbooks. It must also be highlighted that Prof. Dr. Nunner Krautgasser has always been willing to share her wealth of expertise and experience with partners, especially with partners in Maribor.

The long-standing cooperation between the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor and the Faculty of Law in Graz, as the two closest law faculties in the region, began in 1992. The Institute of Civil Procedure and Insolvency Law has a special place in this cooperation, as since the time of its former chair, the esteemed Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Jelinek, numerous joint activities have been taking place, ranging from joint seminars to research projects. Prof. Dr. Bettina Nunner Krautgasser has continued to be very supportive of her Institute's outstanding willingness to cooperate with the Institute of Civil, Comparative and Private International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor and the Institute of Civil Procedure and Insolvency Law, Faculty of Law, University of Graz remains the first partner in the long-standing successful application and implementation of projects in the EU programme on cooperation in the field of civil and criminal justice.

As Prof. Dr. Bettina Nunner Krautgasser was temporarily detained, the award was accepted by the Chair of the Institute of Civil, Comparative and Private International Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor Full Professor Dr. mult. Dr. h.c. Vesna Rijavec.

With the start of the new academic year 2024/2025, a new Law and AI laboratory has started operating at the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor.

The Law and AI Lab is a pioneering research hub dedicated to exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and law. Its mission is to train the next generation of legal professionals who can effectively navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by AI.

Lab is at the intersection of computer science knowledge and in-depth legal expertise.

Based on the Law and AI Lab, clinics, summer schools, and specialized courses can be offered to prepare law students to navigate the fast-evolving landscape of AI technologies in legal practice.

We kindly invite all those interested to join us in the work at the laboratory!

Dear Sir / Madam! 

You are kindly invited to a SEMINAR on the revised Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 on the service of documents organised in the framework of the DIGI-GUARD project (Digital communication and safeguarding the parties’ rights: Challenges for European civil procedure), coordinated by the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor (https://www.pf.um.si/en/acj/projects/pr10-digi-guard/). The seminar is free of charge and will take place on 23 September, starting at 16:00. The seminar will be held online via the ZOOM app. 

We kindly ask you to register for the seminar using the online form at the following link: https://forms.gle/uMxNpt4Rd2cCJjbTA 

Speakers: 

16.00: Prof. dr. Tjaša Ivanc: Uvodno o projektu Digi-Guard (in Slovene)

16.20: Dr. Urška Kežmah: Pravni vidiki vročanja z ozirom na nove tehnologije (in Slovene)

16.50: Dr. Boštjan Kežmah: Tehnični vidiki e-vročanja (in Slovene)

17.20: Petra Zupančič: Vročanje z vidika operaterjev (in Slovene)

17.50: Sabina Valek Derganc: Revision of the Regulation on service of documents (in English)

           Haldi Koit: Revision of the Evidence Regulation (in English)

           e-EDES digital system for the exchange of e-evidence

19.30: Questions 

Prof. Dr. Vesna Rijavec is also the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the REWI Faculty at the University of Graz!

In his address, the Dean of the Faculty Christoph Bezemek, recalled the impressive career of Prof. Dr. Vesna Rijavec and underlined her importance as a mediator between worlds and disciplines. Prof. Dr. Vesna Rijavec has been associated with the University of Graz in many ways since 1994. In the context of her research and teaching collaboration with the Institute of Civil Procedure and Insolvency Law, she initiated the "Common Lecture" lecture series, the conference series and a number of joint EU projects. Since 2004, Prof. Dr. Rijavec has been regularly transferring her knowledge as a lecturer at the University of Graz and has supported students in the writing of their theses and doctoral dissertations. In addition, she has participated as an expert in, among other things, the evaluation of the research activities of the Department of Private Law.

On Friday, 26. January 2024, Prof. Dr. Vesna Rijavec was awarded a second honorary doctorate, this time by the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Before the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Rijavec gave a lecture entitled: Right to a Legal Remedy in the European Judicial Area. Prof. Dr. Rijavec has been cooperating with the Faculty of Law of Uppsala University for many years on EU research projects in the civil justice programmes coordinated by the Faculty of Law of the University of Uppsala. Links have also been forged in other international meetings, especially in the field of civil procedural law and private international law. It is also worth pointing out that doctors and professors at Uppsala University in Sweden wear black half-cylinders with the university's emblem.
 

The project focuses on addressing challenges related to electronic service of documents, electronic evidence, and videoconferencing in civil and commercial matters across EU borders.

Apart from the University of Maribor, project partners include Leibniz Universität Hannover, Universiteit Maastricht, Sveučilište u Rijeci, Pravni fakultet, Universität Graz, Uniwersytet Wroclawski, Institute for Comparative Law at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, and Cepris d.o.o.
Attending members of the Maribor Faculty of law include Prof. Dr. Vesna Rijavec, Prof. Dr. Tomaž Keresteš, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Katja Drnovšek, Assist. Dr. Denis Baghrizabehi, and Jasmina Klojčnik.
The participants outlined crucial guidelines for the project's final research phase, particularly emphasizing the need for comparative legal analyses. These analyses will draw upon a comprehensive collection of national reports from the 15 EU Member States to identify effective procedural legal frameworks and opportunities for adopting best practices or achieving future harmonization.
 

The book discusses and comments on the issues and problems that arise when foreign judgments in the area of property law are recognised and enforced in Sweden, based on the supranational rules of the 2012 Brussels I Regulation, the 2007 Lugano Convention, the 2005 Hague Convention and the 2019 Hague Convention, and partly on Swedish private international law and procedural law. In recent years, it can be said that these legal issues have undergone a lively development.

The book will be of indispensable help to Swedish companies, lawyers and other legal advisers, as well as to courts and other authorities dealing with the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, which have to assess legal issues that often give rise to numerous problems in this respect.

The author of the book, Marie Linton, Associate Professor at Uppsala University Faculty of Law and President of the Swedish Comparative Law Association has published in Sweden and abroad in numerous journals and edited books on primarily issues on private international law and international civil procedure, as well as matters relating to university education. She has been involved in a number of projects within the Institute Access to Civil Justice. She is also currently participating in a European Union project called Digi-guard, coordinated by the Faculty of Law University of Maribor and by the Institute Access to Civil Justice (ACJ).

It should also be recalled that the Uppsala University in Sweden recently awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Vesna Rijavec, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor for International Cooperation and Promotion.

More information about the book

You are kindly invited to read the book!

Monograph (i) explains the significance of the fact that judicial cooperation falls within the EC Treaty; (ii) sets out the background of measures and proposals which will form the basis for further work by the European Commission in developing legislative proposals; (iii) compares the enforcement frameworks of selected national laws (England, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain); (iv) examines in detail the existing position in relation to key enforcement issues (obtaining information about a debtor's assets, provisional and protective measures, service of documents, exequatur, transfrontier garnishee orders and the transfrontier enforcement of injunctions) under the selected national laws and European/international instruments; and (v) assesses the scope for improvements in collaboration between Member States and the obstacles that may impede harmonisation.

The book will provide an invaluable source of reference for practitioners and policy-makers, and will also be of assistance as a starting point for those who want to engage in further comparative research on the topics covered.

The author of the book, Wendy Kennett is a professor at School of Law and Politics at University of Cardiff and one of the Associate Members of the Institute Access to Civil Justice of the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor. She is currently teaching Contract at undergraduate level and International Commercial Arbitration on the LLM programme. Her work on civil procedure and enforcement is also widely internationally recognised.

More about the monography

You are kindly invited to read the book!

As first, the book offers some general considerations and presents attempts at a systemisation of enforcement titles. The authors have drawn content from the data collected within the project "Diversity of Enforcement titles in cross-border debt collection in the EU" - EU-En4s of the institute Access to Civil Justice (ACJ).

The 5 parts the monograph is divided into are:

• Part I: General considerations and Classification of Enforcement Titles
• Part II: Judgement
• Part III: Effects of Judgements
• Part IV: Court Settlements and Authentic Instruments
• Part V: Other Cross-Border Considerations

The monograph also contains several chapters authored by teachers and senior staff of the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor and the Institute Access to Civil Justice (ACJ):

• Vesna Rijavec: Enforcement Titles Under Brussels I bis Regulation from National to EU Frameworks ter Pendency Rules
• Tomaž Keresteš: Enforcement Titles in the EU: Common Core After All?
• Tjaša Ivanc in Denis Baghrizabehi: Related Actions
• Katja Drnovšek: Comparative View on the Divergence of Structure and Substance of Judgements
• Denis Baghrizabehi: Searching for Res Judicata at the Edges of National Procedural Autonomy

This book provides a valuable contribution to the Theory of European Civil Procedure. Since it is based on a comparative approach and employs both empirical and doctrinal viewpoints, it should also greatly benefit practitioners involved in cross-border dispute resolution. Overall, the findings should be of interest to a broad audience, including policymakers, judges, practitioners and scholars.

The book can be ordered in e-form as well as in physical form.