Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
EUROPEAN UNION MARITIME LAW
Simon Baughen*
REGULATIONS
269. Council Regulation (EU) No 42/2013 of 20 January 2014
amending Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran [2014] OJ L15/18
The Regulation gives effect to the six-month suspension of sanctions against Iran in relation to:
- – the prohibition on the provision of insurance and reinsurance and transport of Iranian crude oil;
- – the prohibition on the import, purchase or transport of Iranian petrochemical products and on the provision of related services;
- – the prohibition on trade in gold and precious metals with the Government of Iran, its public bodies and the Central Bank of Iran, or persons and entities acting on their behalf.
The temporary suspension took effect on 20 January 2014 and expires on 20 July 2014. The suspensions only apply to obligations that arise and are completed during the suspension period.
270. Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast) [2012] OJ L351/1
The recast Brussels I Regulation will apply to legal proceedings instituted on or after 10 January 2015.
The Recast Regulation involves some renumbering. For example, Art.2 is now Art.4. It also introduces the following changes.
- – Article 31(2) now provides that, where an EU Member State court in favour of which an exclusive jurisdiction clause exists is seised, then any other EU Member State court shall stay its proceedings, and this is reinforced by Recital 22.
- – The arbitration exception is retained and Recital 12 emphasises the free-standing nature of the process and states that a ruling that an arbitration agreement is not binding will not be recognised under the Regulation, so reversing the decision in The Wadi Sudr.1 Recital 12 of the Recast Regulation says that a court’s decision that an arbitration clause is void
2. * Professor of Shipping Law, Swansea University.
1. National Navigation Co v Endesa Generacion SA (The Wadi Sudr) [2009] EWCA Civ 1397; [2010] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 193.
160