dear all,
did not keep up with the mailing here for many reasons (see below as well) - but now i'd like to present you in brief a case that might be relevant for our fight against arbitration courts like the ones imbedded in TTIP.
our NGO NEUER WEG (new way) in romania had been sued in june 2015 at the commercial court in vienna by the austrian wood processing giant HOLZINDUSTRIE SCHWEIGHOFER (known for its blatantly illegal activities and forest destruction in RO) to scare us and prevent us from disseminating the illegal deeds of this company in romania. the court obliged us to be represented by an austrian lawyer which we could not afford (13.000 EUR) and therefore it did not accept our statement of defence.
on january 19 the court has therefore accepted in full the accusations of the company against us (including the "accusation" of us having sent emails to media enterprises (without them even publishing our information!) - and now we are obliged to refrain from disseminating in the future certain allegations against the company in austria. ...otherwise we might be fined 35.000 euro!
this means for other NGO's that any big corporation could simply open a letter box office in vienna in orther to convict any grassroot NGO wherever in europe that can't afford or find an austrian lawyer. i don't know but this case might be a foretaste of what TTIP might bring in the future, so maybe we can use this case for our fight against TTIP?
i'd very much like to go to the european court of justice with our case - what do you mean? how to proceed best? is there a chance to win? do you have any suggestions (lawyer recommendation) for us?
would be great to get your feedback!
please find below our press release concerning the ruling of the vienna commerial court against us!
best,
hans
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NGO Neuer Weg
16, Piata Republicii
505200 Fagaras
ROMANIA
hanshedrich@gmx.de
PRESS RELEASE
The Austrian wood processing company HOLZINDUSTRIE SCHWEIGHOFER (HS) has won a lawsuit against the Association Neuer Weg (NW) from Romania at the Commercial Court in Vienna on January 19, 2016. HS had filed the lawsuit in June 2015 against the environmentalist NGO for allegedely disseminating untrue information about the company on its website www.neuerweg.ro and via email to several media institutions in Austria.
Since the Commercial Court in Vienna obliged the NGO to be represented by an Austrian lawyer, it did not accept its statement of defence, therefore ruling ex officio in favor of the company and its (false) accusations.
The statement of defence of NW included the following points:
1. The Commercial Court in Vienna has no venue jurisdiction in this case, since HS and NW do not have any contractual relationship.
2. Since the owner of HS, Mr. Gerald Schweighofer, is a wellknown and influential person in Vienna (HS having conducted several transactions at the Court of Commerce), the Court might be biased, the court proceedings be transfered to another court.
3. For its statement of defense NW does NOT need the help of any lawyer, even less from abroad (since the trueness of its allegations can be proven very easily), hence the Court should not oblige NW to be represented.
4. The Court did not communicate a deadline for filing a statement of defence.
Hence we consider the ruling of the Vienna Court of Commerce being unjust, illegal and infringing EU regulations as well as he basic right of access to court. In other words, HS is trying to "muzzle" with the help of a "friendly" court the NGO Neuer Weg, one of the watchdogs against illegal logging in Romania... The value in litigation indicated by HS is 35.000 Euro, in case NW will not comply with the decision of the Commercial Court.
We think as well that this highly questionable decision of a court in a UE member state shows the dangers that lie in the establishment of arbitration courts like the ones proposed in the TTIP agreement and call for a strong opposition against this type of neocolonial, corporate friendly, semiprivate courts, of which mainly big and controversial companies will benefit.
NW will keep you on its webpahe about its further steps against this court decision.
LINK: Press release in Romanian (pages 1-2) and court ruling (in German), pages 3-8.
Hans Hedrich, deputy chair
Neuer Weg Association
Fagaras/Fogarasch, Romania
February 9, 2016
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PS: In case you consider supporting the law suits of NW in ROmania against the illegal construction and functioning of the wood processing plant of HS in Reci/Rety, COvasna county, we would highly welcome any donation! Our bank account data is the following: