Application of Article 7 of the Rome II Regulation in the case of Begum v. Maran

Abstract

The subject of this article is an analysis of the English court’s consideration of the applicable
law in Begum v. Maran. It concerned a claim against a multinational corporation for compensation
for the death of a shipyard worker in Bangladesh. The court in that case addressed the appropriateness
of using Article 7 of the Rome II Regulation, a special conflict of laws rule that determines the law
applicable to environmental damage. The purpose of the paper is to show that the construction adopted
in Article 7 Rome II is favourable to persons injured by environmental pollution, however, the scope and
interpretation of this provision is narrowly applied. The paper will present the position of litigants and
the court, as well as the views presented in other decisions of English and EU courts and representatives
of the doctrine of private international law.