European Law Institute

European Law Institute

Location	Schottenring 16, Top 175, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Established	June 2011
President	Diana Wallis
Vice president	Christiane Wendehorst
Treasurer	Johan Gernandt
Members	over 1.000
Website	www.europeanlawinstitute.eu

The European Law Institute (ELI) is an independent non-profit organisation established to initiate, conduct and facilitate research, make recommendations and provide practical guidance in the field of European legal development with a goal of enhancing the European legal integration. The idea of an ELI was inspired by the activities of the American Law Institute (ALI), founded in 1923 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Similar to the ALI, the ELI has individual members (Fellows) and Individual and Institutional Observers.

Former Member of the European Parliament Diana Wallis^[1] was elected as the new President of the European Law Institute on 6 September 2013, succeeding Sir Francis Jacobs.

History and Founding of the Institute

In Europe, the idea to found a European Law Institute had been discussed for more than a decade. Two main initiatives were launched: In October 2008, a group of scholars from leading European law schools and research institutes convened in Brussels to discuss the project. Follow-up meetings took place in Prague, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Frankfurt. In March 2010, the Association for a European Law Institute (ELIA) was founded, which served to initiate and coordinate a Europe-wide debate. By 2011, the ELIA had around 250 members, academics from more than 100 European law faculties as well as judges, many of them from Member States' supreme courts, and legal professionals.

An independent initiative towards the foundation of a European Law Institute was taken by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. Four colleagues from the EUI launched a conference in April 2010, inviting many leading figures from European institutions and networks to discuss the idea.

Due to a great deal of overlap between the ELIA and the EUI initiatives, they came to be seen as possibly competing, prompting an inquiry into whether the two initiatives can be brought together and whether common guidelines can be developed for the establishment of a European Law Institute. A meeting in that regard was held on the premises of the Hamburg Max Planck Institute on 22 and 23 June 2010. Following the Hamburg meeting, a joint project group was formed by the ELIA and EUI initiatives and further networks and stakeholder organizations. A first meeting of this joint project group and of observers from the European Commission was held in Vienna on 23 and 24 November 2010 on the premises of the Austrian Supreme Court.

The resulting Vienna Memorandum provided a roadmap for the establishment of the European Law Institute.

Following an agreement between 52 founding members made in Athens on 16 April 2011, the ELI was recognised as an International Non-Profit Association (AISBL/IVZW/IVoG) under Belgian law by Royal Decree of 1 June 2011 and presented to the public in Paris on the same day.

On 31 May 2011, former Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union Sir Francis Jacobs was elected as the first President of the ELI.

The Institute's Secretariat is located at Schottenring 14, 1010 in Vienna, Austria and is hosted by the University of Vienna. The Secretariat was inaugurated in a ceremony on 17 November 2011. The keynote speech was given by Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.

ELI's Work

Among ELI’s core tasks are:

to evaluate and stimulate the development of EU law, legal policy, and practice, and in particular make proposals for the further development of the acquis and for the enhancement of EU law implementation by the Member States;
to identify and analyse legal developments in areas within the competence of Member States which are relevant at the EU level;
to study EU approaches regarding international law and enhance the role EU law could play globally, for instance in drafting international instruments or model rules;
to conduct and facilitate pan-European research, in particular to draft, evaluate or improve principles and rules which are common to the European legal systems; and
to provide a forum, for discussion and cooperation, of jurists irrespective of their vocation or occupation, inter alia academics, judges, lawyers and other legal professionals, who take an active interest in European legal development and together represent a broad range of legal traditions.

To accomplish its tasks, ELI operates on its own initiative. It is also, however, available for consultation by institutions involved in the development of law on a European, international or national level.

Structure

Since September 2013, former MEP Diana Wallis has been heading the Institute as its President, succeeding Sir Francis Jacobs in that role. The highest body of the Institute is the General Assembly which elects from among its Fellows the main governing body: the Council. The Council ^[2] is made up of 60 elected individuals representing different legal traditions, professions and disciplines, as well as of up to 10 ex-officio members from selected institutions. Many prominent figures in the European legal arena form this body, including Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales John Thomas, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd. The Council in turn elects from amongst its members an Executive Committee,^[3] the Association's administrative body. Furthermore, there is a Senate^[4] in place to provide advice, which appoints from among its members an Arbitral Tribunal,^[5] tasked with settling any disputes within the organization. The Speaker of the ELI Senate is the former President of the Austrian Supreme Court Irmgard Griss. The Council delegates many of its tasks and powers to its standing committees ^[6] which deal with matters such as projects, membership and international relations.

Hubs

Currently the preparations are underway for the establishment of so-called ELI hubs throughout Europe. The hubs are envisioned as communication points that will enable members in the country where the hub is located to keep closer relations with the Institute. The hubs will also make information about the Institute available to potential new members and will facilitate their recruitment. At the moment the ELI has hubs in France,^[7] the United Kingdom,^[8] Austria and Germany.^[9]

Projects

Projects carried out under the auspices of the ELI must be at the service of the European citizen by improving the law or facilitating its application; aim at results that potentially have immediate practical impact; be effectuated through collaboration between jurists from academia and from legal practice; and take a genuinely pan-European perspective as well as consider the achievements of the various legal cultures.

ELI's projects can take two forms:

ELI Instruments

Medium- to long-term projects, the added value of which is to provide well-founded solutions that find the support of the European legal community.

ELI Statements

Short-term reactions to current developments, the added value of which is to coordinate, and so far as possible to reconcile, the views taken by various European constituencies. So far the ELI has published the following Statements:

Statement on Case overload at the European court of Human Rights^[10]
Statement on the Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law^[11]
Response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the review of the EU copyright rules^[12]

Membership

There are currently ca. 950 members of the European Law Institute, representing all branches of law and legal professions.^[13] The Institute has three categories of members:

Fellows are natural persons and must actively engage, by their professional, vocational or scholarly activities, in European legal development. They must undertake to speak, vote and participate in activities carried out within the framework of the Association on the basis of their own personal and professional convictions without regard to the interests of particular stakeholders.
Individual Observers are natural persons who take an active interest in European legal development but cannot undertake to speak and vote without regard to the interests of particular stakeholders.
Institutional Observers are legal entities, or natural persons representing organisations, institutions or networks, which are actively involved in European legal development.

References

↑ Diana Wallis Statement of Acceptance Accessed on 12 March 2014.
↑ ELI Council Accessed on 13 March 2014.
↑ ELI Executive Committee Accessed on 13 March 2014.
↑ ELI Senate Accessed on 13 March 2014.
↑ ELI Arbitral Tribunal Accessed on 13 March 2014.
↑ ELI Standing Committees Accessed 13 March 2014.
↑ ELI Hub meeting in Paris Accessed on 13 March 2014 .
↑ UK Hub launched in London Accessed on 13 March 2014.
↑ German Hub Event in Berlin Accessed 13 March 2014.
↑ Statement on Case Overload at the European Court of Human Rights Accessed on 12 March 2014.
↑ Statement on the Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law Accessed on 12 March 2014.
↑ Response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the review of the EU copyright rules Accessed on 12 March 2014.
↑ ELI Membership Accessed on 12 March 2014.

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